Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I’m still in a haze as I sit down across from Peter. He makes a show of unclipping his briefcase and pulling out a manilla envelope. He produces a stack of stapled papers from it, just like when he’d shown me the old contract that meant I had to be married in six months the first time.
I stare at it, dread building inside me.
“If you’ll just take a look at this,” Peter says. “I think you may want to read carefully. I have to take a call if you don’t mind. But please, get started…” Peter gets up and pulls out his phone. He steps out the side exit of the kitchen and into the snow, holding the phone up to his ear.
Jake sinks down into the chair opposite me, face grim. “Shit,” he says softly. “I’m sorry, Caroline. Is it bad?”
“I… don’t know yet.” I lift the first page of the packet and pause, confused. The stack of at least a hundred pages is mostly blank except for a single line of text at the top and a perfectly cut-out square of paper in the center. There’s a jewelry box stashed inside the cut-out. The words on the page read, “WILL YOU MARRY ME, FOR REAL THIS TIME?”
I’m still staring dumbly, not comprehending, when I notice everyone filing into the room. It’s everybody. Mia, Paisley, Andi, Grams, Edgar, all the now-retired guys from the Vandals. Even Cade and the Frosty Harbor high school hockey team is here.
I look down at the page again. “Did Peter Ralmadue just ask me to marry him?”
Carter shakes his head. “Dude, I told you. You should’ve put ‘from Jake’ at the bottom.” he looks to Maddox. “Didn’t I say she would think badger boy asked her to marry him?”
Maddox nods sadly. “You did say so.”
“What?” I whisper.
Jake gets up, chair scraping as the room goes quiet. He gets on one knee, looking up at me. He plucks the box from the fake contract and clicks it open. It’s the ring I picked out a year and a half ago sparkling up at me. It looks like he even got it freshly cleaned. It looks perfect.
“Caroline… Will you marry me? Again,” he adds with a smirk.
“So, is this the birthday party, too?” I hear Carter asking in a loud whisper. “Because I forgot to get her a present. You think she’ll care since this is pretty cool and all?”
I hear a dull thud, which I assume is somebody punching Carter to get him to shut up.
I’m kissing Jake, so I barely notice any of it.
He pulls back. “You haven’t answered,” he prompts gently.
“Yes,” I whisper. “But can we do a real wedding this time?”
“Of course,” he says. “We’ll do the drive-through, and I’ll even let you get the large fries and drink this time.”
I swat at him, smiling.
He kisses my forehead. “You’re going to get a ceremony fit for a princess. Just like you deserve.”
I hug him tightly, almost afraid to let go incase this is a dream. If it is, I hope I never wake up.
The End
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37
A NOTE FROM PENELOPE
If you’re just looking for the sneak peak of One Frosty Pucking Meet Cute, you can swipe on by this!
I did want to quickly thank all my readers, though. I’ve been writing romance for about 8 years, now, and it feels like such a long time ago when I look back on my early books. I’ve definitely had ups and downs, both emotionally and as far as my career has gone. There have been moments when I’ve been up at the tip-tops of rankings and among one of the top-selling romance authors. And there have been times when I’ve been sort of in the obscure corners of the genre and not getting noticed by any but my biggest fans and readers.
And I wanted to say how much I appreciate all of you for letting me do this as long as I have. It’s easy to forget how incredible it is to have the opportunity to write words for a living.