Heart-Shaped Hack(86)

“What else do you have in that bag of tricks?”

“Chocolate-dipped strawberries, of course.”

“Of course,” she said, opening her mouth so he could feed her one.

They ignored the beach chairs in favor of stretching out on the blanket. Around them, children built sand castles and chased each other holding sparklers. The sun began to dip lower on the horizon, its fiery reddish-gold color fading as the light slowly disappeared from the sky. A strong breeze was blowing in off the ocean, and Kate shivered. Ian reached for his faded MIT sweatshirt and pulled it down over her head, freeing her hair while she put her arms through the sleeves.

“Ah, much better,” she said.

When it was fully dark, he sat down in one of the beach chairs and tucked Kate in front of him, nestling her between his legs. “While we’re waiting for the fireworks, I thought I’d tell you a story.”

“A story? I’m intrigued.”

“Once upon a time there was a hacker. He saw a woman on TV and he thought she was beautiful and selfless and kind. And even though he’d hacked her, she agreed to go out with him. He tried to play it cool, but he was really happy about that. He didn’t even mind when she whipped out her pepper spray and made him take off all his clothes.”

“You wanted me to see your naked body, which I will concede I now enjoy having unlimited access to. God, you were so cocky that night. I can’t believe I agreed to go out with a man who’d hacked my computer and wouldn’t tell me his last name. What was I thinking?”

“I have no idea. Frankly I thought you’d run.” He reached around with the champagne bottle to top off her flute. “So when this hacker was younger, he never thought much about settling down or having a wife.”

Kate took a sip of her champagne and smiled.

“But one day he started thinking about it. He was deeply in love with the girl he’d seen on TV and wanted a future with her. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned and he was scared that he’d lost her forever. But one of the things he’d always admired was her tolerance. Though he’d really pushed it, she found it in her heart to forgive him for what he’d done. And after several tense hours of negotiation, her dad reluctantly agreed to give the marriage his blessing.”

At this point, Ian turned Kate around so that she was facing him.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Katherine Watts, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”

Tears rolled down Kate’s face despite her resolution that there would be no more crying. “Nothing would make me happier than marrying you, Ian. I would be honored to become your wife.”

He embraced her, and she pressed her face to his chest. She had never felt more sure about a decision in her life. Feeling movement between their bodies, she pulled back slightly and wiped her eyes. “Are you trying to put your hand down my shorts?”

“I’m trying to dig your ring out of my pocket.”

“There’s a ring?”

“Of course there’s a ring.” Once he’d managed to remove the box, he told her to close her eyes, and he turned on the flashlight app on his phone so they’d have enough light to see by. “Now give me your hand.”

She worried that he might have spent too much. Any man who could pay seven million for a car could have easily gone overboard in the ring department. But when he slipped it onto her finger and told her to open her eyes, she gasped because it was exactly the type of ring she would have chosen. At approximately two and half carats, it definitely wasn’t small, but it wasn’t ostentatiously large either. A halo of smaller diamonds surrounded the center princess-cut stone, giving the ring a vintage feel that she loved.

“Oh my God.”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect. Have you had it the whole time?”

“It was a custom design. FedEx just delivered it yesterday.”

“Let me guess. Right around the time you asked if I’d run back to the coffee shop to grab you a muffin.”

“I was tracking the delivery on my phone.”

Kate laughed. “Of course you were.”

“Remember the day I spent with your parents while you were driving from Minneapolis? I really wanted to get it right, so I asked your mom to help me design the ring. It made her cry.”

“It’s amazing. I love it.”

“You were worried it might be too big, weren’t you?”

“No, not at all.”

He laughed. “Kate.”

“Maybe a little.”

Just then the fireworks began, and as the colors streaked across the sky, the future Mrs. Bradshaw snuggled with the man she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with.



The next night, when they were seated at a table at 1587 Restaurant, which had quickly become one of their favorite places to eat on Roanoke Island, Ian said, “My fiancée would like a glass of chardonnay and I’ll have a bourbon.”

“You are so sweet,” Kate said, smiling back at him because his happiness was palpable.

“Congratulations,” the hostess said. “When’s the big day?”

“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Ian said.

“We do weddings at the inn. You should stop by the front desk and pick up some information on the way out.”