Page 151 of Protecting Love

On the beach at a secluded venue shut down to the public.

No expense spared that he could see.

And now they were back at the hotel, walking distance from where they’d been, his son going to the balcony to look at the waves below.

“Can I go swimming?” Ian asked. “Rowan said he was going surfing now. He said he’d show me how.”

He found it funny that after the wedding most were going in the water, but it seemed to fit that Carlisle’s personality.

“Sure,” he said. “We’ll be down once we change.”

“I’m almost afraid to put a bathing suit on,” Paris said. “I ate so much food I might have a pooch in my belly.”

“No one is going to notice,” he said.

Ian went to the door of the two connecting rooms, he and Paris going into their room to change into their swimsuits.

He heard the door shut, then popped his head into his son’s suite, saw him gone and returned to Paris. She was grabbing towels and moving toward the door.

“Wait up,” he said. “I wanted to talk for a minute.”

She turned and smiled at him. “Okay. What’s up?”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the couch.

He couldn’t believe how nervous he was over this.

Maybe it was the fact that Austin Westerly knew exactly what was happening this weekend and sent him a questioning glance when they left the reception.

Finding the right time was hard.

There was no right time.

And he couldn’t wait another minute.

“Fletcher?” Paris asked, laughing softly as he pulled her down beside him. “You look like you’re about to testify in court.”

“It feels worse,” he muttered.

Her smile shifted, more curious now. “Okay. That’s not making me feel any better.”

He still had her hand in his. He hadn’t let go.

He didn’t want to.

“Being on that jet with your entire family,” he started, glancing toward the balcony where the ocean stretched wide and endless, “was probably the most intimidating thing I’ve done in years.”

She laughed. “More intimidating than organized crime?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “At least with them I knew the rules.”

Her thumb brushed over his knuckles. “You did great.”

“I was outnumbered.”

“You survived.”

“I haven’t always gotten family right,” he said quietly. “I didn’t protect mine the way I should have.”