Brooke had let him all the way into her soul.
And he was the luckiest man who had ever lived.
Seconds later, he had his clothes off and was kneeling between her thighs as starlight spilled in the bedroom window, illuminating every beautiful curve, every sinful stretch of skin. Her mouth was warm and giving beneath his as he kissed her, and though his lips and hands repeatedly wandered over all of her most sensitive spots, he kept coming back to her lips...and to the kisses that had brought him back to life.
Knowing she trusted him enough to completely let go like this—and that he trusted her enough to completely let go, too—was the most beautiful thing he’d ever experienced.
"I need you, sweetheart."
He quickly untied the silks and as Brooke wrapped her arms and legs around him, with Rafe holding on to her just as tightly, he finally saw that the true love that he’d once thought was as rare as the blue moon had been there all along.
* * *
Though Rafe wasn’t even close to having his fill of Brooke, for a few precious moments it was enough to hold her in his arms and know that he’d made her happy tonight. Truly happy.
He gazed down in wonder at the beautiful woman beneath him on the bed. "Once upon a time you said I could ask you anything."
"Anything," she confirmed as she wrapped herself tighter around him, her cheek pressed against his.
He’d planned everything else that night, but pure instinct—and love—was what drove him to ask, "Will you marry me, Brooke?"
"Now, that," she said as she lifted her big green eyes to meet his, "sounds truly wild." And then she pressed her lips to his and whispered, "Yes."
Epilogue
Later that summer...
"Mom, Dad," Rafe said with Brooke beside him holding his hand, "there’s something I want you to have."
Mia made sure to take a picture of the surprise—and utter joy—on her parents’ faces at the exact moment they realized Rafe had deeded them the lake house. It was theirs again, only this time no bank could ever take it away from them.
"Rafe? You’re giving us the deed for the lake house?" Her mother, Claudia, had tears of joy in her eyes as she pulled her son into a warm hug. "Oh, honey, you’re simply amazing."
Her father, Max, wrapped his arms around his wife and his son. "Thank you," he said, his low voice thick with emotion.
Mia sniffled a little, but she refused to cry during the best day she could remember having in years. Along with her parents, all of her brothers except Ian were back at the lake for the weekend. So far they’d been swimming and waterskiing and hiking, and she’d laughed more with her family and her new sister-to-be than she had in a very long time. The sun had set, the bonfire was roaring, and they were about to bust out the s’mores, when Rafe had decided it was finally time to give his parents their anniversary gift.
She’d thought he would do it earlier, but Rafe had seemed a little distracted ever since Brooke had tied her hair back with some really pretty silk scarves after their swim. Lord knew the heat from the way they looked at each other would have been enough to roast the marshmallows even before they’d lit the bonfire. They’d disappeared into the house with some lame excuse that no one bought for a second and hadn’t returned to the group on the beach for quite a while.
First her eight cousins had all found love, and now her brother. She had no doubt whatsoever that Rafe and Brooke had what it took to make love last, just like her parents.
Who, she wondered, was going to be next? Adam? Dylan? Ian? Or maybe one of her many cousins on the East Coast?
Just then, Dylan picked up the guitar he’d brought with him and started playing one of her parents’ favorite songs, The Way You Look Tonight. Just as they had when she was a kid, her parents started slow dancing in the sand, the water from the shore lapping over their bare feet. Soon, Rafe and Brooke joined them, so much in love that it was almost hard for Mia to watch them without longing for something that beautiful for herself.
When the song ended, Dylan quickly switched gears from the old standard to a new rock song. Damn it, she thought as the s’more she was eating turned to cement in her stomach, did he have to play that song? Even all these years later, Mia couldn’t believe she’d been stupid enough to fall for a rock star whom her family and friends never even knew she’d been with...
Her father sat beside her on the log and put his arm around her. "Penny for your thoughts, Pumpkin."
Mia knew she should tell her father she was too old for the nickname he’d given her as a little girl. Maybe next year.
"I’m just so happy for Rafe and Brooke, and that her relationship with her parents seems to be a little bit better now, too." The Jansens had spent part of the day at the lake with everyone before heading into Seattle to meet with some colleagues that evening. Things weren’t perfect between Brooke and her parents, but Mia could see how much it meant to her friend that they were trying. Just as much as it clearly meant to them that Rafe would obviously give his life for the daughter they’d always protected so carefully.
"Your mother and I are happy for them, too." She could feel her father’s warm brown eyes on her. "I’ve got another penny on me if there’s something you need to talk to me about."
Mia forced herself to take another bite of her dessert. "Everything’s great," she said a little too brightly. "My business has never been better, I’m with my favorite people in the world tonight, and I’ve got a date tomorrow with a hot firefighter I met in town. What more could I want, apart from another s’more?"