Читать книгу 3 Seductions and a Wedding - Julie Leto, Julie Leto - Страница 8

“MARRY ME.”

Bianca Brighton threw a coy look over her shoulder and watched the man who’d just proposed dive into the water beneath the breathtaking falls at La Fortuna, deep in the Costa Rican rain forest. He swam directly toward her, his strokes powerful and measured, his body lean and muscled. When he stood, the water sluiced down his sun-kissed skin and made her totally forget his question.

“Excuse me?” she asked, still not turning to face him.

His exasperated grin nearly melted her from the inside out. She knew what he wanted. He’d asked her to marry him a thousand times before—and yet, each and every proposal acted like a major aphrodisiac. Honestly, what could possibly make a woman hotter than knowing that a guy like Cooper Rush wanted to love you for the rest of his life?

He slid his hands around her waist and tugged her tight against his chest. The cold water dripping from his hair drizzled down her shoulders, making her shiver even as her skin absorbed his intoxicating body heat.

“You heard me,” he said. “Marry me.”

Despite the tourists frolicking in the water around them, squealing at the beauty of the lush green plants, turquoise-blue water and massive, volcanic rocks, Bianca closed her eyes and marveled in the intimacy of Coop’s arms. They’d lived together since college graduation ten years ago, but the familiarity of his touch had not lessened its potency one bit. He splayed his fingers across her middle. With his pinky finger, he toyed with her belly ring, practicing the precise flick and swirl she loved—only much lower down her body.

“Okay,” she replied, sighing contentedly.

“Okay? Okay?“ He twirled her around, hands tight on her arms, his eyes rolling with his exaggerated loss of patience. “That’s the answer I get to a heartfelt marriage proposal delivered in one of the most beautiful places on Earth?”

Bianca closed the inches between them and pressed against the curve of his erection, hidden by the water from everyone but her. “Actually, when you say Marry me, it sounds more like an order than a question.”

“So the question has been asked and answered,” Coop replied, clearly having spent way too much time with her client, an attorney who needed legal documents translated from Spanish to English, which was what brought them to Central America. Bianca’s career as a linguist allowed her to travel the world—which was doubly perfect because as a software designer, Coop could follow her or sometimes lead the way. They’d been to every continent except Antarctica, always together and yet never as man and wife. “And yet, I continue to ask.”

“And I continue to say yes!” she said, watching her engagement ring twinkle against his tanned shoulder.

“Actually,” he said, tilting his head so he could nibble on her chin, “the first time I asked, you said something like, ‘Of course, now grab that zip line and let’s go!’”

Laughing, she kissed him, remembering that trip they’d taken to Hawaii nearly a decade ago, when they’d gone on a treetop tour of Maui and Coop had chosen one of the most adrenaline-filled moments of her life to slip a diamond solitaire on her finger and ask her to be his wife. She’d flown across the wires hyped up on love. In the ten years since, the rush had not diminished, even if the marriage had yet to materialize. They’d applied for a marriage license so many times, the clerks of the court in their hometown knew them by sight. But she and Coop had simply been too busy exploring the world to plan the wedding of their dreams.

Well, more like their families’ dreams.

“Let’s get married here,” he suggested.

Bianca sighed. They had, after all, had this conversation before. “Coop, our parents will kill us if we elope.”

His eyes twinkled as he pulled her full against his powerful body. “I’m willing to take the risk … are you?”

Unwilling to immediately reply, Bianca pushed against his delicious pecs and threw herself backward into the water, enjoying the momentary disorientation of falling beneath the surface. In the cool, churning waters, she didn’t have to deal with expectations and responsibilities. She didn’t have to think about how long her mother had dreamed of Bianca wearing her vintage couture dress and how much her father had waxed poetic about walking her down the long aisle at their family’s church.

Then there was Coop’s family. In light of his sister Annie’s not-so-recent yet unexpected divorce, the Rushes spoke of little else but the grand party they wanted to throw for Coop’s trip to the altar—which they were sure, since Coop and Bianca had been inseparable for so long, would last a lifetime, as marriages were intended. Even Bianca’s baby brother, Drew, had once offered to fly out to Montreal to retrieve them from an uneventful seminar if they agreed to a shotgun wedding at the courthouse immediately upon their return. Every single one of their blood relations had some suggestion for dragging Coop and Bianca into marital bliss.

Even their friends had opinions on the topic.

Jessie, Bianca’s best friend since college, supported their right to elope since she hated most bridesmaid dresses. Leo, Coop’s best friend since college, wanted them to pick their favorite exotic locale for a destination wedding they could all attend.

The last time Coop’s boss, Ajay Singh, met up with them in Paris, he’d hinted that since his mother had no wedding to plan for him, she might jump at the chance to arrange one for his friends—if they were willing to do the deed in either London or India. And when Mallory Tedesco, Bianca’s boss, had broken off her engagement to the slick automobile mogul Bianca detested, she’d forwarded every bridal book, magazine and Web site link she’d once treasured for her own.

Anyone and everyone who crossed paths with the couple seemed to know exactly how they should tie the knot, which perplexed Bianca to no end. As far as she was concerned, that rope had been twisted into an irreversible figure-of-eight since the moment they’d met. What did it matter if they had a legal document to seal the deal?

Though a ceremony would be nice.

Great clothes.

A fabulous party.

A honeymoon trip which, despite their extensive travels, they’d never forget.

Emerging from beneath the surface of the mountain pool, Bianca waylaid Coop’s litany of reasons for why they should elope with a long, luxuriant kiss. Inch by inch, she maneuvered him closer to a quiet cove they’d discovered a few days ago, where none of the tourists would follow. Between the dappled sunlight, churning water, wild jungle and their insatiable passion, a quickie would be all they’d need to remind each other how little a wedding would affect their special connection.

Ten years and she was still hot for him. And vice versa. And yet, even as they glided behind an outcropping of rocks that no one seemed to know was there but them, Bianca couldn’t help but wonder what might happen to the magic once they finally said “I do.”