One in a Million

  the window—although Cole had his hands over Troy’s eyes.

  “Are they done macking on each other?” Troy asked.

  “Yep,” Cole said, and dropped his hands. “It’s safe.”

  Callie felt her face heat as she hopped off the counter. “We were just…”

  “We know what you were just,” Sam said, laughter in his voice, the guys filling Lucille’s tiny kitchen with testosterone.

  “What the hell are you all doing here?” Tanner asked.

  “The kid insisted,” Cole said. “Called me for a ride.”

  “I wanted to make sure Callie knew it was my fault that you forgot her,” Troy said. Horror crossed his face. “Wait! Forgot is the wrong word. He didn’t forget you,” he said to Callie. “Forget I said forget, okay? He got busy kicking ass and taking names at the school and—”

  “It’s okay,” Callie said, and hugged him. “Not your fault.”

  Troy wrapped his lanky arms around her in return. “So you forgive him, right?” he asked, his voice muffled against her. “You’re not going to dump him because of me?”

  “Never.” Choked up again, she squeezed him tight. “I’m not dumping him. I’m keeping him. I’m keeping you too, if you’ll have me.”

  Troy pulled back to stare at her and then turned to his dad. “You haven’t asked her yet?”

  Callie looked at Tanner. “Ask me what?”

  Cole turned to Sam, palm out. “Pay up.”

  “Hell, no,” Sam said. “He hasn’t asked yet. The deal was fifty when and if he asked.”

  “One hundred, not fifty,” Cole said. “And he’s going to ask. So pay up.”

  “Jesus.” Tanner pinched the bridge of his nose and then pointed at the door. “Everyone out.”

  “You sure?” Cole asked. “You might not do it right and need backup.”

  “Do what?” Callie asked, heart thudding in her chest.

  Tanner closed his eyes, muttered something that sounded like “fucking nosy bodies,” and then reached for Callie’s hands to pull her into him. “I told you I had things to say to you.”

  “I thought you said them. You told me what you feel for me.” She hesitated. “Right?”

  “Right.” Tanner wrapped his arms around her and pressed his jaw to hers because she looked so damn anxious. “And—”

  “Dad.”

  Tanner gritted his teeth and turned to his son to give him a this-better-be-good look.

  “You can’t just say ‘right,’” Troy whispered. “You have to use the words. The three words. With the biggie. You know, the L-word.”

  Tanner opened his mouth, saw that Troy was utterly earnest and serious, and bit back his pithy response. He gave a short nod and turned back to Callie. “I love you,” he said, and knew he’d never get tired of the immediate response she gave him. She lit up from within, as if he’d just given her the moon. “I also told you my world doesn’t work without you in it. I—”

  “Wait!”

  This time it was Sam interrupting. “You’re supposed to be on a knee,” he pointed out.

  Callie put a hand to her chest as if she were trying to keep her heart inside it.

  A gasp came from the other side of the kitchen door, and then it was opened and her grandma and Mr. Wykowski squeezed into the kitchen. “If they’re here, I get to be here,” Lucille said. “I can’t miss this!” She pushed her way through the big bodies until she had a front-row view. “Okay, go ahead, Tanner. Ask her.”

  Tanner sighed. When he caught Callie’s gaze, she was staring at him wide-eyed, her hand over her mouth. She let out a low laugh and shook her head.

  He had no idea if that was “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” or “please God, don’t do this.” Taking his chances, he sank to a knee.

  Callie’s hand dropped from her mouth and she gaped at him.

  “Callie,” he said. “You’re the love of my life and my closest friend.”

  “Wait a minute,” Cole said. “What am I, chopped liver? Whatever happened to bros before—”

  Sam wrapped an arm around Cole’s neck and covered his mouth. “Got him,” he said to Tanner. “Carry on.”

  Jesus. Tanner looked at Callie again. “You’re it for me,” he told her. “To the bone. And I want to be it for you. The end of the line.”

  Callie’s eyes filled but she was smiling. He was going to take that as a good sign. “You’ve said you never felt particularly special,” he said, “but you’re the most special woman I’ve ever met. You’re smarter than me, far prettier, and frankly, I’m not going to lie—you should really give this some serious thought because you could do better.”

  She choked out a laugh.

  “Dad! Don’t tell her that. You might make her think.”

  Sam snorted.

  Cole grinned.

  Tanner did his best to ignore the peanut gallery. “No one will ever love you as much as I do,” he told her.

  “Nice,” Sam said.

  Lucille sniffed.

  Callie yanked Tanner up and threw herself at him. “Yes. God, yes!”

  “Um, honey,” Lucille said. “He hasn’t actually asked yet.”

  “Oh, my God.” Callie tried to pull back, but Tanner wouldn’t let her. No fucking way. He was grinning when he kissed her.

  “Callie Sharpe,” he said against her mouth, “marry me.”

  She was laughing and crying when she kissed him back, and from behind her she heard her grandma say, “Well, that was more like telling her than asking, but it looks like she’s good with it.”

  “I don’t know,” Troy said. “She didn’t really answer, did she?”

  “The answer is yes,” Callie said, staring up into Tanner’s warm gaze. “Always yes.”

  “Good to know,” Tanner said.

  “Don’t forget I’m a minister,” Lucille said. “Got ordained on the Internet. I could marry you! Just think of the wedding you could plan for yourself.”

  Horrified, Callie looked at Tanner. “Do you want a big wedding?”

  “I want you, babe,” he said. “However that comes. Whatever makes you happy.”

  “That’s a good answer,” Sam said to Troy. “You should take notes.”

  Callie hadn’t taken her eyes off Tanner. “After all the weddings I’ve planned and all the crazy brides I’ve met,” she said, “I don’t think I want to plan ours. How do you feel about just picking a day and doing it on the beach?”

  Tanner grinned and she smacked him on the chest. “You know what I mean!”

  He caught her hand and brought her fingers up to his mouth. “Whatever makes you happy.”

  “A kiss would make me happy,” she said, and he was quick to oblige.

  “But you’ll let me perform the ceremony, right?” Lucille asked over Callie’s shoulder.

  Tanner was shaking with laughter when he tore his mouth free of Callie’s and pressed his face into her hair. “This, Callie,” he breathed against her.

  “This what?”

  “I’ll never get tired of this. With you.”

  And with those last few words, she melted into him. “I feel the same,” she said softly. “After a lifetime of not belonging, I found my place, my home, and my heart.”

  Epilogue

  On the first day of spring, Callie heard the front door open and remained still. Tanner might be a morning person but she still was not. Eyes closed, she listened to him move about his house. He murmured something and then came Troy’s muffled response.

  The front door closed again.

  It was a Saturday morning, which meant Troy was off to work, prepping the boat for the day’s activities.

  She didn’t hear Tanner move toward their bedroom down the hall, but that was the Navy SEAL in him. Silent but deadly.

  Deadly perfect for her.

  She felt the bed depress slightly and knew he’d put a knee on it.

  “I know you’re awake, faker,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. Her eyes flashed
open to see it dancing across his face.

  “And I know you’re sneaky,” she countered, and rolled to her back. “Why are you tiptoeing in here?”

  He fisted the blanket covering her and slowly but inexorably tugged it down, revealing first her shoulders and then her nipples, which puckered in the cool air.

  He smirked.

  “It’s cold,” she said.

  “Liar.” He tore the blankets off her entirely, and when she squeaked and tried to grab them back, he grabbed her ankles, slowly spread her legs, and then made himself at home between them.

  She squeaked again because he’d been swimming and was icy cold.

  Laughing, he buried his face—and his still-wet hair—into the crook of her neck for a moment before lifting his head and grinning down at her. “So.”

  Her breath caught at the look of love in his eyes. She’d never tire of seeing it. “So.”

  “Today’s the day you become mine,” he told her.

  Her heart sighed. “I’ve been yours all along,” she said, and kissed him gently, teasingly, delicately licking his lips with just the tip of her tongue until he growled, tightened his grip, and took over, crushing her mouth to his.

  He slid down her body, leading with his mouth. When he found her hot and wet, he groaned his approval. He took her achingly slow and achingly sweet, building her up until she was begging before letting her fly.

  Twice.

  It took her a moment to come back to herself, and when she did, she found him poised between her legs waiting for her to return to planet Earth. Smiling, she rocked her hips against his. A groan shuddered through him as she teased the both of them. She curled her fingers around the back of his neck as she deepened the kiss until they had to break apart to breathe.

  “Look at me,” he commanded, and she managed to fix her eyes on his, watching his face as he slid into her in one smooth, hard thrust. All the air left her body as she rose to meet him. “This is forever,” he said, and began to move.

  “Forever,” she gasped, and tried to pull him in even further.

  He couldn’t get any closer.

  But she needed more, needed it desperately but didn’t know what or why, and she whimpered in frustration.

  Still holding her gaze in his, he bent low over her. “I love you, Callie.”

  That was it, that had been what she needed. Something deep inside her burst right along with her body. She was pulsing, throbbing, tightening around him, and somehow he filled more of her than he had a moment ago, and not just her body. Her eyes flooded with tears but she didn’t try to hold back. “I love you, Tanner.”

  Gaze burning into hers, he paused. “I’ll never get enough of that.”

  “I love you,” she said again, a mindless chant now as she was unable to focus on anything but the sheer necessity of his body inside hers.

  He sped up but she still met every movement with one of her own, born of a frightening level of passion. She could hear his ragged breathing in her ear, could feel his heart pounding against her chest. And then he cupped her head so that she met his mouth. The kiss was hot and demanding, as if he needed as much of her as she was begging of him. She gave him everything she had, her hands on his body, her heart his for the taking. Planting her feet, she lifted her knees, pulling him into her.

  His control seemed to snap, and he pounded into her a final time, taking them both over the edge.

  When she could breathe again, her heart felt so full it was heavy.

  No, wait.

  That was Tanner’s full weight on her, which she welcomed. His hand squeezed her hip and then he rolled to his side, taking her with him.

  Tucking her head low, Callie swiped the moisture off her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to shed tears, but somehow her emotions couldn’t be held in, not today. She cuddled closer and his arms tightened.

  “Always,” he said into her ear. “Me and you for always.”

  He got her, and he always would. “Good,” she managed to say lightly. “Because you’re stuck with me now.”

  He laughed low in his throat and lifted her face to kiss her, as always able to erase her doubts with just a single touch of his lips.

  He held her until his phone buzzed. He looked at it and let out a breath. “They’re waiting.”

  Even a simple wedding wasn’t all that simple in the end. The guys were going to get ready at the warehouse. Callie would go to Becca’s, where Becca and Olivia would be waiting to help her. “I guess this is it,” she said softly. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours. On the beach.”

  It took him another twenty minutes to say good-bye, and she was a limp, sated, boneless mass by the time she showered.

  Just like every other morning since they’d gotten together last fall. But unlike any other day, she slipped into the simple white sundress she’d so carefully picked out with Becca’s and Olivia’s help.

  And when it was time to walk down to the beach to meet Tanner, she got the surprise of her life.

  Someone had set up a beautiful arch. And flowers. And tables and food…While she stood there gaping, Becca and Olivia filled in the blanks.

  “It was Troy and your grandma,” Becca said. “In cahoots together, they’re unstoppable.”

  “They put the word out that after all you’ve done for all your brides, Lucky Harbor needed to step up and do for you,” Olivia said.

  The flowers were gorgeous, the food looked amazing. “Where is everyone?” Callie asked.

  “Hiding in the warehouse,” Olivia told her. “They didn’t want to intrude if you didn’t want company.”

  Callie pulled out her cell and called Tanner.

  “I’ve seen it,” he said.

  “Where are you?”

  “On crowd control here in the warehouse.”

  “Let them out,” she said. “Let’s get this party started.”

  “You sure you want them all there?”

  “The wedding planners should be on-site,” she said, and laughed. “In case something goes wrong.”

  “Nothing’s going to go wrong but if it does, we’ll handle it,” Tanner said with such calm that she took a deep breath and realized it was true.

  And the same was true for the rest of their lives. She wasn’t naïve enough to think it would be always smooth sailing. Life didn’t work that way. But they were solid, and whatever came, whatever happened, they would handle it, together.

  “Turn around,” Tanner said, and she did.

  He was standing there in front of her, phone to his ear. Behind him was a crowd of people. He grinned at her and said into the phone, “Gotta go, babe, I’m going to marry the most gorgeous, wonderful, amazing woman I’ve ever met.”