She nodded, her heart too full to speak.
‘I want us to do this properly,’ he told her. ‘If we move in together, then it means something. It’s a commitment from both of us. That we want to be together. That we want more.’ He leaned down, brushing his lips against her cheek. ‘This is where I want to propose to you, in front of the beach and the palm trees and the waves. And this is where I want us to bring up our kids, where the sun always shines and the sand’s always warm.’
It was strange how in-sync they were, and yet perfectly normal, too. They were both thinking about the future – about their future – and it didn’t frighten either one of them at all.
It made perfect sense, because they made perfect sense. Together, they were so much more than the sum of their parts.
‘I want that too,’ she said, her voice hoarse with emotion. ‘So much.’
His lips crashed down on hers, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his warm embrace. She hooked her arms around his neck, rolling on to her tiptoes to kiss him harder, her fingers stroking his closely cropped hair.
When they pulled apart they were both breathless. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to calm her rushing pulse. He was still holding her, his arms loosely circled around her waist, his palms pressed into her spine.
‘I can’t wait to wake up to this view every morning,’ he told her.
‘You’re not even looking at the beach,’ she pointed out.
‘That’s not the view I’m talking about.’ He leaned forward to kiss the tip of her nose. ‘It’s you I want to wake up with. Whether it’s here in Malibu, or in a snowy cabin in West Virginia, you’ll always be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’
‘You always know the right things to say.’
‘That’s because I love you.’ He slid his hands up her back, cupping her neck with his hands. ‘I love you and I want you, and now I’ve got you I’ll never let you go.’
‘I love you too,’ she told him, a huge smile breaking out on her face. ‘But you may need to rethink the letting go bit. We’re already late for the party.’
He lifted his hand from her neck, checking the silver watch on his wrist. ‘Shit, you’re right. OK, I’ll let you go for long enough to drive us over to Everett’s place. After that all bets are off.’
Sliding her hand into his, she let him lead her back out to the front of the bungalow, watching as he locked the house up before they walked back down to his car. As he pulled away, she found herself turning around, craning her head to look back at the house. Taking in the location, the beauty, the feeling of home.
It was the first step in their for ever, but it wouldn’t be their last. That thought made her happier than she ever thought she could be.
‘Uncle Adam!’ Jonas called out from his spot beside his father. Adam turned to look at him, a glass of champagne in his hand. Kitty had wandered off to talk to some friends from the costume department, leaving him to order drinks from the bar.
He raised his hand to his nephew, who beckoned him with an impatient hand. Smiling, Adam walked over to him, giving his brother a curt nod when Everett turned to see him.
‘How’s it going?’ Adam asked Jonas, ruffling his hair. ‘School OK?’
Jonas grinned, nodding rapidly. ‘I got a gold star today for my reading. And Angela Merritt told Kirsty Evans that she likes me.’
Everett looked down at his son. ‘That’s high praise indeed.’ There was no trace of irony in his voice. In the past few months the producer had mellowed out even more. Ever since Mia had left him, shortly after Christmas, he’d started spending more time with his son. According to their parents, Everett was a changed man.
Adam wasn’t rushing to judgement, but even he’d seen the way Ev had bonded with Jonas. That counted for a lot, in his book. The two of them might never be as close as they had been, but the hatchet had been buried, and neither one of them was planning on digging it up again.
‘Is Kitty here?’ Jonas asked. In spending more time with his father, he’d also been hanging out a lot on the production sets. Whenever he was there he’d singled out Kitty, shadowing her like his puppy shadowed him. Not that Kitty minded – she’d fallen in love with Jonas the way she’d fallen for Adam. He’d joked with her that maybe she just had a thing for Klein men.
Then she’d pointed out Everett was a Klein man, and that was the end of that conversation.
‘She’s inside somewhere,’ Adam said. ‘She’ll be out here in a while – I bet she’d love to see you.’
‘Can I go find her, Dad?’ Jonas asked, pulling at Everett’s hand.
‘Sure, just make sure you come back in twenty minutes. I want you with me when I make my speech.’
As Jonas pushed his way through the crowds that lined his house, Adam found himself turning to Everett. ‘He seems happy.’
‘He is. We both are.’ Everett cleared his throat. ‘Mia and I have agreed on joint custody. Fifty-fifty down the middle. It works for me.’
‘That’s good to hear.’ Adam found the corner of his lip turning up. Was he smiling at his brother?