Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 104682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“I know, I know, he loves me, and he wants to be with me. But it’s been such a hard year and maybe it’s not the right time. He’s my entire world, Dannie.”
“Yeah, I know, Jude, but—” Dannie tried again.
“What do I do if he doesn’t want the same things as me? Like kids. We’ve never talked about that. I didn’t think I’d ever want to be a dad but being around his family… I do, I want it. I haven’t told him this yet, but I found this piece of property near his parents’ bakery. It’s big enough for two houses. There’d be enough room for a yard for Natalia and Maks and our kids but what if he doesn’t want to live next to his family forever—”
“Jude!” Dannie shouted.
“What?” Jude asked, clearly shocked by her outburst. Dannie’s next words were muffled so I didn’t know what she was saying but I had a feeling she was telling Jude he’d somehow managed to accidentally turn on the PA system because Jude said, “What?” again, his voice now filled with dread. I found myself smiling as there was a scramble to turn the PA off.
Everyone behind me had fallen silent. When I turned, I handed the weapon to the nearest guy and moved past the men and women. A couple of them patted me on the shoulder and Harvey, the guy I’d berated so long ago for allowing his crush on Dannie to be a distraction, good-naturedly called, “Go get ’em, boss!”
I had every intention of doing just that.
I hurried to the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time. Once I reached the main floor, it was easy to find Jude. He was slowly making his way down the open stairs that led to the third floor. Every eye in the room was on him and I could see that his face was beet red. When he spotted me, he didn’t run, though. In fact, he lifted his chin a little and continued down the stairs like nothing had happened. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he turned toward me instead of making a break for the exit.
I was so fucking proud of him.
I didn’t move as he walked to where I was standing in the center of room. The men and women who should have been working out or training had all stopped to watch the show, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was the man walking toward me.
“Nikolai, I’m sorry—” he began.
I dragged him to me and kissed him hard. Jude’s arms went around me and he kissed me back without hesitation. When I forced myself to break the kiss, I whispered, “You beat me to it.”
Jude’s beautiful blue eyes went wide as he realized what I was saying. “Really?” he asked.
I nodded. “You’ll see it when we get home.”
“What did you do?” Jude asked as his fingers stroked my jawline.
“Let’s just say it involves a lot of rose petals and Post-it notes,” I said.
He laughed. “It sounds perfect.”
“It should be. I had to endure a two-hour history lesson on roses before Cliff would give up a few.”
“You went to see Cliff?” Jude asked in surprise.
“Had to,” I said softly. “Needed your family’s permission.”
He began to blink rapidly. “You asked Cliff if you could marry me?”
I nodded as I reached up to wipe away a tear that slipped down his cheek. “I love you,” I murmured and then I claimed Jude’s mouth again.
“So is that a yes?” someone yelled. It sounded a lot like Mike.
I took my time ending the kiss. When I finally forced myself to release Jude’s mouth, I pulled back a little but kept my eyes on him as I answered. His smile told me he already knew what my answer would be.
“It’s a yes,” I said softly.
It took a few seconds before the person closest to Jude and me could convey the response to everyone else. I took the opportunity to kiss Jude again before pulling him into my embrace and settling my mouth next to his ear. “It’s a hell yes… to everything.”
The crowd around us broke out in applause but I barely heard any of it because I was too focused on Jude. I felt his smile against my shoulder and then his fingers were caressing the back of my neck.
“Take me home, Nikolai,” he whispered.
“Always, Jude,” I said as I pressed a kiss to the skin just below his ear and reached my hand down to link our fingers together. “Always.”
The End