Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Anything for you. I want us to be a team.”
“I want that, too,” I said with a sniffle. “Now, kiss me, you dummy. I missed you so fucking much.”
He laughed, both dimples appearing in full, and drew me into him. His lips slanted against mine, light and tempting. I wanted to devour him, but my body was still too shaky. I’d had all this anticipatory anxiety over the fact that we might have walked into a scenario both of us were too stubborn to walk out of. Instead, we’d come out stronger on the other side.
“I missed you, too,” he said against my lips. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I said, pressing myself against him.
“But calling the board wasn’t the only reason that you had to wait.”
I pulled back just enough to arch an incredulous eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
Then, Chase put his hand back in his pocket and pulled out a small black box.
My brain couldn’t process what I was seeing. That he was sliding from my grasp and to one knee. That his smile was magnetic as he looked up at me. That he popped the top of the box.
That there was a ring inside of it.
Then, I caught up. I gasped, my hand going to my mouth in disbelief.
This wasn’t just some ring.
This was the ring.
My ring. I didn’t even know how he could have found something more me in the entire world. Who knew Lubbock, Texas, would even have something so unique and quintessentially me?
The center stone was a large black oval diamond, surrounded in a halo of smaller diamonds, on a gold band. It was delicate and badass, and if I’d ever wanted a wedding ring, this would have been the one.
“I spent the last twenty-four hours realizing that I never wanted to go a single day without you again. Not a single solitary day if I could help it. We had three years to make sure this was right, and I know it down to my bones that you’re it. You’re the one I love—mind, body, and soul. I can’t promise perfection. Only that I will always be here to work on it with you, that I will always cherish your brilliant opinion, and I will always love you.
“Harley, will you marry me?”
“Oh my God,” I whispered in disbelief. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes.”
He laughed, coming to his feet and plucking the dainty band out of its box. He slid it onto my left hand, and I stared at it in awe before he wrapped his arms around my waist and swung me in a circle.
Twenty-four hours earlier, I’d been worried that this would be the end of us. And now, here I was, with a ring on my finger, knowing it was completely right.
“I don’t want to wait,” he said as he put me on my feet. “We’ve waited long enough.”
I laughed. “What? Do you want to fly out to Vegas? My family will flip.”
“I wasn’t thinking Vegas.” He smirked like he’d actually already planned this. “I was thinking…New Mexico.”
“Are you serious?”
“There’s a ski resort that’s empty for the offseason,” he said. “I happen to know the owner.”
“Have you already spoken to Blake? Before you knew if I’d say yes?”
He shook his head. “No, but I know he’ll say yes. What do you say? Elope with me? We’ll deal with our families later. I’ve had enough of waiting for them to accept what we have. I want this to be for us. If you want, we can have a huge party when we get back.”
“You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.”
My mind was firing on all cylinders, but I couldn’t see a negative to this. I’d never been the kind of girl who dreamed of her big wedding day. When I thought of it now, the only thing I wanted was my groom there.
“Let’s do it.”
PART IV
FOREVER
19
HARLEY
“Well, that makes sense.”
I grinned at Bailey, thrusting my hand out to her. “Doesn’t it?”
“This morning you thought you’d break up, and now, you’re engaged.”
“Yeah, fucking wild.”
“Are you going to tell your brothers? Because I’m just imagining Whitt’s face right now, and I would really like to see that.”
I bit my lip. “That’s actually why I asked you to meet. We’re, um…eloping.”
Bailey tipped her head up. “Like, to Vegas?”
“New Mexico actually.”
Bailey opened her mouth and then closed it.
“We’re going to Holliday Ski.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Blake is going to meet us. I want you two to be our witnesses.”
“Me…and Blake?” she repeated.
“Yes! I know you two hooked up, so there’s tension, but…”
“There isn’t tension,” she said, her voice flat.
“Uh-huh.”
“It was a one-night stand. I left my number. He never called. It’s whatever.”
I shot her a disbelieving look. “Okay. If you’re still upset about it, then you don’t have to go.”
“One,” she said, holding up a finger, “I’m not upset about it. He was a good lay—a great lay, mind you—but he’s just a guy.”