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Windswept sailor… Perhaps this is how he used to dress when he was aboard his family’s ships

Whatever he had done, he looked handsoaze

A smile formed on his lips as, wordlessly, he walked up to me and held out a hand I took it and he pulled ly He just continued to hold aze as he slid his hands down my waist and rested the in ainst the most sensitive part of my neck, just beneath my ear His kiss was slow, tender, intense, hisme into a dance I felt my cheeks flush red as he finally raised his head, the expression on his face now serious as he stared deep into ulped

"Uh… Hello, Caleb"

Still, he didn’t respond He just reh he were co my every detail into his ine into Whatever tune it hen it finished, Caleb slowed us to a stop His hands slid down ers with his

I cocked my head to one side What is all this, Caleb?

Finally, he broke the silence

"You are oes by when I’ myself that I’m here with you But I want to be here with you I want to be here with you all your life, however long that o of my hands and lowered hi I had ever seen in my life Coated with silver and studded with a fiery ruby, it dazzled even in the pale an to well behind theasped

"Rose," he said, his voice husky, his brown eyes never leaving entle kiss over the back of it "Will youin joy, I barely knehat I was doing as I grabbed his hands and pulled hitosuch a forceful reaction on ainst hi back and we both fell with a splash into the ocean I feared for a , but he hadn’t

"Should I take that as a yes?" he asked, his voice tinged with laughter

"Yes," I choked, even as I sed ahis face, he held out the ruby ring and slid it onto ainst his, he raised ht his lips in ain, the seawater onwithsea He laid ently on the wooden floorboards of the jetty His hands either side of my shoulders, he crouched down over ainst mine

Playfulness sparked in his eyes as he dreay and flicked back his soaking wet hair "Well, Aunty Corrine’s efforts didn’t last long…"