Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
All looked delicious.
With two plates in his hands, he was about to take an assortment of food. He and Molly were starving.
“Well, hello, handsome,” Rachael said.
Before he even knew what was happening, the plates were pulled out of his hands, and he didn’t have time to react as she pressed him up against the wall.
“What the fuck?”
Women had attacked him in the past, but he’d also been drunk, and he’d been single. He was trying to find the right time to propose to Molly, and Randy, with his stupid big mouth, might have spoiled it.
He knew Molly was nervous about what he wanted to talk about. Fuck, he wanted to propose to her in an elaborate, story-worthy way. He wanted her to think about her books, and in all honesty, he wanted to put them to shame in how he proposed.
“You’re playing hard to get, I can understand that. You want me to chase you.”
He put his hands on Rachael’s shoulders, and he wished he could smell alcohol on her breath, but there was not a damn thing wrong with this woman, other than she clearly couldn’t accept he was with another woman.
“Stop,” Nate said. “I’m not playing hard to get. I don’t want you. I never wanted you.”
“Please, you and I both know it makes sense, you and I being together. Not you and that fat little bitch.”
“Do not ever call her that!” Nate growled out each word, feeling the anger fill his body. They had already started to gain an audience, and then Rachael suddenly screamed as she was jerked away.
“Yeah, do not ever call me that again, and next time, don’t attack my man. Nate doesn’t want you,” Molly said. “Get it through your head, there are plenty of other men out there. Stop chasing after mine.”
There was silence and Nate realized that the music had been turned off. Molly jerked as a round of applause ensued.
Nate looked around to see a lot of people had witnessed this.
“I’m going to sue you,” Rachael said, suddenly getting to her feet and glaring at her. “For assault.”
“You do that, I will do the same to you, and let’s talk about the harassment as well,” Nate said. “You think I won’t? Come after my woman, and I’ll make you pay.”
There were a lot of cheers. Rachael had upset a lot of men and women in town. No one was on her side, with how she’d treated everyone. Seeing that she was not going to win this, she scrambled out of the room, and Molly turned toward him as the music started to play.
Nate cupped her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“What’s this?” Molly asked, holding up the velvet box. “I was waiting in line for the bathroom, and I got cold, and so I shoved my hands in my pockets, and I found this, and I … what is this?”
Nate took the engagement ring from her and lowered to one knee.
Bethany and Randy were close by, and he reached for Molly’s hand.
“I want to marry you, Molly. Shit, fuck, that is not what I meant to say. I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time, and I didn’t think I deserved you. You’re a special kind of woman, Molly. The kind of woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?” He had been practicing his speech for a long time, and he didn’t even use it. It had failed him.
“You’re not breaking up with me?” Molly asked.
“Breaking up with you? Why would I do that? I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old with you, have lots of kids, but in time. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Molly didn’t answer, but cupped his face and kissed him.
Nate wasn’t sure if this was a yes, but he had a feeling it might be.
“Is that a yes?” Nate asked, when she broke the kiss.
“Yeah, it’s a yes, because, Nate Sinclair, I love you more than anything in the world, and I have for quite some time.”
And now, there was a different kind of applause, as he slid the engagement ring on her finger, wrapped his arms around her waist, and then spun her around the room, knowing she had just made him the luckiest man in the whole freaking room.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
“Relax, trust me, your kids are in good hands. I know, and I do speak from experience,” Bethany said.
Molly glanced at the other woman and knew she spoke the truth. This was not the first Halloween she’d allowed her kids to go on the annual sleepover. When they were babies, she and Nate had enjoyed Halloween in front of a roaring fire, a bowl of candy between them, and movies to enjoy.
The last few years, once Michael, their eldest, had gone to school, and wanted to do the Halloween sleepover, they had been enjoying the party. Especially as Macy, their youngest, was about to head to school and wanted to join in.