“You don’t like it?”

“I do.” I reached for her hand and led her down the shore.

We paused ever so often to take in the waves or watch another couple run into the water. We were halfway down the shore when I walked her over to a small clearing that was hidden away from everything else.

I slipped my arm around her waist and sighed.

“You promised me that you weren’t going to do any work while we were on this trip, Jonathan...” She looked up at me.

“I did, and I meant that.”

“Does that promise not cover when I’m sleeping?”

“Excuse me?”

“I was going in and out of consciousness when we had that layover. I heard you talking about the CS account again...We could have pushed this trip back if you were that worried about the deal. You’ve pushed things back for my projects before.”

“Claire...” I released her hips and shook my head. “There is no CS account.”

“What? So what have you been doing for the past eight weeks?” She paled. “Is that—you made up the biggest deal of your career to...to do what? Why? Why would you lie to me?”

“CS stands for you, Claire...It stands for what I want—what I need you to be.”

She raised her eyebrow in confusion, shaking her head as if she didn’t understand.

I gently grabbed her hand and got down on one knee. “Claire...” I stopped once she gasped. “I need you to know that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Nothing. Ever. And I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you.” I resisted the urge to stand up and wipe away her tears. “I fell in love with you the moment we stopped at those vacation rental houses in San Fran, the moment I realized whatever it was between us was more than physical. Much more. And I—” I felt her trembling.

“I told myself that no matter how much you frustrated me, no matter how much you tried to deny that you were falling in love with me too, that I would never let you go.”

“Jonathan...” She was crying.

“This is the biggest deal of my life and it’s worth much more than my company or any other billion dollar deal that’s come across my desk. And I can’t go another day without knowing.” I pulled the eighteen carat ring out of my pocket. “I want you to be mine—officially. I want you to be Claire Statham.” I paused for a few seconds. “Claire...Will you marry me?”

“Yes. Yes!” She joined me down in the sand as I slipped the ring onto her finger.

I kissed her lips—again and again, wiping all her tears away with my fingertips, stifling her cries with more kisses.

When we finally pulled away to catch a breath, we simply stared at one another in silence, smiling. Then I pulled her on top of me.

“What are you thinking about?” I looked into her eyes.

“You...How do you think Claire ‘Gracen-Statham’ sounds?”

“Like it’ll never happen.” I narrowed my eyes. “It’s an all or nothing deal.”

“Is your jealousy included in the package?”

“It’s the best part.”

“Hmmm...” She smiled. “How many days do I need to set aside for negotiations and paperwork?”

“Paperwork?”

“Yeah...” She lowered her voice. “I’m not silly enough to believe that you won’t draft a pre-nup for this. I mean, I’m sure you wouldn’t rake me over the coals if you and I didn’t work out, but—”

“Stop.” I pressed my finger against her mouth. “There is no pre-nup. And there won’t be one. Ever.”

She gasped.

“This is forever, Claire. Do you understand? It’s you and me, together forever, until the very end.” I kissed her lips. “Would you like a wedding?”

She nodded.

“A big one?”

She nodded again.

“Okay.” I smiled. “We can plan that the second we get back. In the meantime...” I slipped my hands underneath her dress and untied the strings of her bikini top. “I’d like to explore the future Mrs. Statham right now.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you over and over that sand and sex don’t go together.”

“I remember you saying that...” I ripped off the bottom of her swimsuit. “But I’d like to find out for myself.”

Mid Life Love: At Last

Whitney G.

Friday August 15, 2014

Jonathan

Claire drives me fucking insane...

I’m sitting next to her at Timeless, Weddings Inc.—an event planning firm, listening to her ask the director a list of never-ending questions: “How many people do you have on your staff?” “How confident are you about finding us the perfect venue?” “What’s the highest budget you’ve ever worked with?”

Even though it looks like I’m paying attention to everything the director says—casually glancing up and making eye contact every now and then, my attention is definitely elsewhere. The only thing I can think about is the woman at my side and how, although she is undoubtedly the love of my life and the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, she never ceases to find new ways to frustrate the shit out of me.

I’ve given her three months to marry me and in the past five days she’s managed to schedule us for twenty three catering interviews, forty wedding venue showings, and sixteen cake testing appointments. She’s turned my parlor room into a hoarding cell for hundreds of bridal magazines and fabric swatches, and every day when she gets home she insists on showing me the newest wedding ideas she’s found on Pinterest and YouTube.

“What do you think about that, Jonathan?” Claire interrupts my thoughts.

“What do I think about what?”

“Having a celebrity singer at the wedding and the reception. Two different ones...Would that cost too much? ”

“We can have whatever you want, Claire.” I hold back a sigh and she smiles.

I’ve told her over and over how I don’t need—much less want a damn wedding, but I know it’ll make her happy so I’m willing to spend however much it costs.

“It was a pleasure having you two here today, Mr. Statham and Miss Gracen.” The director stands up and shakes our hands. “I hope to be chosen as the director of your wedding.”

Claire says a few more words to the woman and then the two of us leave the room hand in hand.

“Is this the last meeting for today, or do we need to meet with every wedding firm in the city before you make up your mind?”

She rolls her eyes. “There’s two more and then we’re done. Oh, and don’t forget about our pre-marital counseling session. I scheduled it for tomorrow morning at nine.”

Marriage counseling. That’s another thing she’s doing, another thing that’s completely unnecessary. Outside of her testing my nerves every so often, we don’t have any serious problems and we don’t need any counseling.

As a matter of fact, I’m going to make her cancel those appointments. Marriage counseling is for couples with trust issues, couples who lack intimacy and have problems connecting. As soon as we get back into my car, I’m going to show her just how well we connect. Literally.

Chapter 1

Claire

“We don’t need pre-marital counseling, Claire.” Jonathan looked over at me as the elevator doors closed. “This is a waste of time.”

“I didn’t say we needed it. I said we should try it—to make sure we both have honest expectations about being married.”

“And what expectations are those?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.” I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes.

I’d told him I wanted to attend a few sessions before we got married—something Ryan and I didn’t do, just to make sure we were on the same page about a few things. Of course, he was one hundred percent against the idea, but after I told him it would make me “happy,” he slowly gave in.