You'll Say Yes (34 page)

He scoffed. "Ha ha," He said. "Not a chance!"

I guessed not.

And then an idea popped in my mind and I smirked. The playful Abby was coming back. I could surprise him when we were swimming and maybe I could do it again right now. I raised my head and Joshua looked at me curiously. I smiled seductively and I could feel he tensed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and began kissing his jaw. He exhaled and trembled slightly.

"Have I told you that you look handsome tonight?" I whispered to his ear with sultry voice.

"Uh...um...no...not yet," He answered shakily.

I smiled and looked into his face. His eyes already turned dark and I almost gave up when I saw the longing on those dark orbs. I braced myself and leaned closer pretending to kiss him while he parted his lips. When our lips were inches apart, I grinned and said, "Race you back to the house!"

I pushed him and he fell to the sand. I turned around and started to run to the house direction. I burst out laughing when I glanced at him behind my shoulder. He sat there, completely stunned, before he shook his head and grinned devilishly. I continued to run and laughing along the way.

"Abbbyyy...I can catch you..." He said to me in playful tone.

I stopped far away from him and turned around. The wind blew softly, messing both of our hair. He was still sitting there, but I could tell he was ready to catch me. I raised my eyebrows. "No, you can't. My legs are longer."

He titled his head and quickly stood from his sitting position.

I yelped and turned back again to the house direction. I continued to run until I felt he lifted my body and carried me bridal style into his arm. I giggled when I saw his face. His eyes glinted playfully.

"You are a vixen," He growled at me.

I put my hand on my chest, feigning hurt. "Who? Me?"

He laughed and kissed my forehead briefly before carried me to the house.

~O~

"Shouldn't we tell our family about this?" I asked him when we both lay down on the mattress. Joshua put a classical music on the stereo and the soft voice calmed my mood.

He shrugged. "We can tell them tomorrow. It's already late to call now."

I nodded and he played with my engagement ring. "I've always dreamed this ring being on your finger," He whispered.

I smiled and leaned my head to his shoulder. "When did you get this ring?"

He cleared his throat and I raised my head to look at him. He grinned sheepishly while I narrowed my eyes. "Um...actually my dad gave it to me when we went to Long Beach for the reunion."

My eyes widened. "You mean...you kept this ring all the time?" I asked in amusement.

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. I lay back on my pillow. "Everything is worth it, Abby. I told you I will wait for you."

I nodded.

"Um...my dear?"

"Yes?"

"What about our wedding? Have you ever thought about that?"

I froze.

My heart beat turned erratic when I heard he mentioned about the wedding. I knew he won't wait for another year to marry me and I had to deal with wedding preparation and also the..uhm...wedding night.

"Abby?"

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I looked over to the ceiling. "I don't know about that. I've seen my mom's wedding with Steven and it was nothing to me. I mean, wedding and marriage is the last thing on my list. I never had an ideal wedding or a dream wedding. I just thought when the minister said the words, you are married and you are a wife."

That was true. I had never dream to have a perfect wedding, not until Joshua came along and reminded me about our 'engagement'.

I felt the mattress shifted and the next thing I knew Joshua was hovering me. I shivered and the warm feeling surged into my core.

"I can make a different wedding for you, Abby. It doesn't have to be big or extravagant, but you will never forget it. Besides, you agreed to marry me since you were six years old," He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and he chuckled. "That's right and I'm engaged for 19 years. Unbelievable!" I said sarcastically.

He smiled and started to kiss me. As always, his kisses were so good and I knotted my fingers to his hair again. This time there was a difference between our kiss. This time I could feel both of our love from the kiss. Our kisses were getting deep and passionate. Joshua pulled me into sitting position and we were both panting. We looked at each other lovingly before he attacked my lips again. His fingers knotted in my hair while I helplessly clutched to his neck. A strange feeling crept to my body.

I wanted more!

I gasped and gently pushed him away. I put my hands on his chest and tried to control my breathing. "Joshua, please, don't..." I said weakly.

He tried to control his breathing too and enveloped me on a hug. "I won't, Abby. You have to trust me."

Trust him?

My eyes widened when I realized something. A realization hit me like an epiphany. I knew why I didn't say I love him yet. I still didn't trust him completely. Some part of my brain always told me that he is bad and he will hurt me someday; my conscious part trying to protect myself from being hurt by not telling him that I love him.

"Come on. It's late. Let's go to sleep," He whispered and kissed my temple.

I smiled slightly and leaned my head to his chest. I was staying awake for a moment until I heard Joshua steady breathing. He must have been fallen asleep now. I raised my head and lay back on my pillow. I watched his peaceful face and his chest rose up and down along with his breathing.

Slowly, I stroked his hair and he leaned to my touch. I smiled again; even when he slept, he knew when I touched him. I kissed his temple and whispered, "I want to trust you, Joshua. Sweet dreams."

I lay back on the pillow and turned my body to face him. I fell asleep with Joshua's breathing lulled me into the deep slumber.

~O~

"Oh, honey, that's wonderful. Congratulations! Did you already set the date?" My mom asked me when I called her in the morning about my engagement.

I scratched my head and grimaced. "Um...no, Mom. Not yet. But, it's not a long engagement, I think."

"Hmmm..." She sounded to be thinking. "Well, just let me know, honey. So, you're still being safe, aren't you?"

My eyes widened. "Mom!" I hissed.

Joshua popped his head from the kitchen and looked at me curiously. He was cooking our brunch while I volunteered myself to call my family first and told them about the engagement.

I grimaced sheepishly while he smirked. I rolled my eyes when he disappeared into the kitchen.

My mom giggled. "Just kidding, Abby. I know you still keeping yourself for your wedding night, right? And speaking of that, have you thought about that?"

I groaned. "Oh, please..." This was much worse than the first 'talk' in my office.

"It's your wedding night, Abby," My mom continued to rant, oblivious with my discomfort. "You can ask me or maybe learn from some other resources."

I was positive my face was red right now. "Mom...can we...can we not talk about that, please?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable.

She laughed lightly. "Sorry. I'm just happy that my daughter is going to get married. Congratulations, honey. Give Joshua my best wishes, all right? I have to go. Bye, honey."

I smiled grimly. "Bye, Mom." I pressed the end button on my BlackBerry and exhaled.

I opened my phone book and searched for my dad's home number at Long Beach. I was just testing the water; he usually went fishing with Ethan's dad. I bit my lip when I heard the dial tone. It was ringed three times before I heard my dad's gruff voice.

"Jason Bennett."

I smiled. "Hi, Dad."

"Abby! Hi, honey. How are you? Your mom said you are in Florida with Joshua."

I rolled my eyes. Trust my mom not to tell my dad was a big mistake. "Yeah, we are leaving back to Seattle in the afternoon, though. How are you, Dad?"

"Same old, Abby. I was just about to go fishing with Bobby. You call in the right time."

"Wow, lucky me," I said nervously and I bit my lip.

"So, is there any particular reason for you to call your old man?" My dad asked.

I took a deep breath. "Joshua proposed to me."

My dad laughed lightly. "It's about time, Abby. That didn't surprise me. Did you say yes?"

I smiled slightly. "Yes, I did."

"Honey, that's wonderful. Hey, is Joshua with you now? I want to speak with him."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're not going to shoot him, are you?" I remembered my dad used to say he will shoot all the irresponsible boys who set their eyes on me when I was older enough to date.

He chuckled. "Of course not, Abby. He makes you happy, doesn't he?"

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, he does."

"Good! Now, let me speak to him."

"Ok!"

I rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Joshua was still busy with the stove and the sight warmed my heart. I just hoped he still cook for me after we were married.

"Joshua!" I called him and he turned off the stove when he heard my voice.

"Yes, love?" He asked me.

"Um...my dad wants to talk with you," I said in low voice.

He raised his eyebrows and took my BlackBerry from my hand. I was expecting to see him walked from the kitchen and answered the phone, but he just stood next to me and wrapped his free hand to my waist while his other hand put the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Jason...I'm good, thank you. How about you...?" He chuckled. "Yes, I proposed to her yesterday and she said yes...Thank you, Jason...No, we haven't set the date yet...Yes, and you have my word...Bye, Jason." He pressed the end button and handed me my phone back while I was looking at him curiously.

"Well...what did he say?"

He pursed his lips. "He gave me his blessings, of course. That's the most important thing. Even if he didn't, I could ask my dad to help me about that. And he just asked me to take care of you." And then he looked at me deeply. "Which I will do it with all that I am."

I shivered. I asked to myself again, is this man for real?

He grinned and pulled me to follow him. I walked obediently and we sat together on the couch in the living room. He grabbed his cell phone from the desk and I instantly knew what he would do. I blushed slightly. Joshua pressed a call button and put the phone into loudspeaker. I heard the dial tone ringed two times before a man's voice answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Hi, Dad," Joshua greeted him.

I heard William chuckle. "Ah, I do have a son after all."

Joshua rolled his eyes and I giggled. He must have been told his dad not to disturb us while we were here. "That's funny, Dad. Thank you."

William laughed. "So, did you enjoy your weekend? How's Abby?"

My heart felt warmer when I heard William was asking for me. I once had a doubt Joshua's parents loved me because they had a plan to pair Joshua with...her.

Joshua chuckled. He hugged me tighter. "Of course I enjoyed my weekend with Abby. As for her, she really loves the house, Dad."

"Well, that's good. Are you still in Florida now?"

"Yes, Dad. We will return to Seattle in the afternoon."

"All right. Be careful on your way home, son."

"I will, Dad." Joshua looked at me briefly before he cleared his throat. "Um...Dad, I want to give you some news."

"News?"

"Yes."

"Let's hear it."

Joshua took a deep breath. "Abby and I are getting married."

"Joshua! That's wonderful," William said happily. "It's about time. So, let me guess now. Is Abby sitting next to you?"

I blushed while Joshua chuckled. "You know me too well, Dad."

William laughed. "Hi, Abby."

I gulped. "Er...hi, William."

He chuckled when he sensed the nervousness from my voice. "It's all right, Abby. I know Joshua will tell me the news with you by his side. I know him well."

I giggled when I saw Joshua rolled his eyes.

"Congratulations on your engagement, Abby. It's an honor for us to have you in the family. Joshua, did you give her the ring?"

He snorted. "Of course I did, Dad. What makes you think that I didn't?"

"Hmmmm...I don't know. Perhaps you were too happy and forgot to put the ring on her finger."

I burst out laughing while Joshua was blushing.

"Oh...you forgot? Joshua!"

"Oh, please, Dad. It's not that bad, all right."

I stifled my laugh and buried my face to his chest. His scent calmed my mood again and I knew I could do this forever with him after we were married and maybe without our clothes on.

I blushed.

Focus, Abby!

"Once again congratulations to both of you. We'll visit you as soon as we can in Seattle. Did you already set the date?"