The screen went white for a couple of seconds and then letters began appearing. I inhaled and began.
“Shannon, will you—” I stopped because it wasn’t any special programming message. I heard laughing around the set. Out of the darkness, behind one of the camera operators walked Marco, dressed in a stunning royal blue suit with a red tie, holding a bouquet of red roses. And he was smiling, headed right for me.
I looked around the stage. Even Clarence was grinning at his podium. Everyone must have been in on it because they kept me live. Marco knelt before me, held out the beautiful diamond ring I’d seen all too briefly the other night, and asked, “Shannon Marr, I’ve been a complete fool. Will you forgive me, and will you agree to be my wife?”
They didn’t even wait for my answer before the canned cheering and clapping was played. I looked into his face, the handsome face of my one true warrior, the love of my life, the man who was so right for me in too many ways to count.
And I said yes, even though everyone else was already celebrating.
Marco slipped the ring on my left hand fourth finger, and it fit perfectly. But of course it did.
I kissed him, as he stood and properly showed me, live, like a hurricane headed for the Gulf, that he loved me and would never leave me again.
I touched the sparkling jewel and whispered, “What does all this mean, Marco? What are we going to do with Rebecca?”
“I’m not marrying Rebecca again. Did that. Didn’t work out so well. And for the record, I’m not asking you to either.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He winked at me. “Waiting for Rebecca to start playing nice and not being a thorn in my side would be like waiting until there were no more wars overseas before we get married. I don’t have that much time. Even you don’t either.”
“But doesn’t it bother you?”
“It has nothing to do with my decision.”
I don’t want to quit my job. You live in Boston. How is this going to work?”
“Well, since I won’t be a bachelor, I should probably move out of the Bachelor Towers. I thought maybe you’d be able to put me up at your place until I could get that house built.”
“House?”
“The lot on the bluffs? I own it. I want to build a house there. For us.”
“But what about my bungalow?”
It took him a couple of seconds. His eyes blinked fast while he thought of something to say. “You always manage to throw curve balls, don’t you?”
“Well, I was just thinking—”
He turned to the camera man. “Is this all being recorded?”
“No, we’re off the air.”
“Could you turn off the lights, please?” he asked.
It was dark, with a deep blueish reflection on the equipment, the desks and the metal surfaces of the studio to keep people from tripping.
Marco cleared his throat. “Let me try this again. Shannon,” he said, his patience being tested to the max, “Would you like to live in your house, or the new one I’ll be building? It would be big enough for your parents to come visit. If we have children, they can each have their own bedroom. But, my dear, if you say no, then we’ll live at your sweet little home. And I’ll pay rent.”
He said it with a completely straight face. With tears streaming down mine, I crushed the roses he was holding between us, hugged him, and whispered, “I’d like to do both. I don’t want to sell the house I lived in when I met and fell in love with you. We can take vacations there, just down the street.”
He smiled as we parted. “Anything you want, sweetheart.”
You are going to see more of Marco and Shannon next year, as they make tough decisions, battle the unstoppable Rebecca and find their way to that peaceful place at the Florida Gulf Coast to eventually settle down.
This was their first adventure together as a couple. But the adventure is just starting! Stay tuned for more books in the Bone Frog Bachelor Series, a spin-off of the Bachelor Tower series.
Do you want more Florida white sugary sand beach? Read Book 5 in the Sunset SEALs series, The House At Sunset, coming out just in time for Thanksgiving, but you can preorder it now. It’s the continuation of Aimee and Andy Carr as they work on their DIY project and uncover the mystery of a long-forgotten love story, while Aimee searches for her lost brother.
Experience the magic and glory of the sunsets and love stories at Sunset Beach.
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About the Author
Sharon Hamilton
NYT and USA Today best-selling author Sharon Hamilton’s award-winning Navy SEAL Brotherhood series have been a fan favorite from the day the first one was released. They’ve earned her the coveted Amazon author ranking of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance categories, as well as in Gothic Romance for her Vampires of Tuscany and Guardian Angels. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love.
Now that he’s out of the Navy, Sharon can share with her readers that her son spent a decade as a Navy SEAL, and he’s the inspiration for her books.
Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read about before, since they don’t go to ground and can walk around in the full light of the sun.
Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.
She lives in Sonoma County, California with her husband and her Doberman, Tucker. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmers Markets looking for new Heirloom
