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“Well, I am.”
I open and close my mouth.
“I’m not your father, baby,” he says. “You’ve owned my heart for a very long time and you always will. I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”
I smash my lips together. My brain is melting. I never thought I’d feel this kind of love, ever. But . . . marriage?
Ben grabs my hands. “I want you to be my wife. The mother of my babies. I don’t want to move in with my girlfriend. I want to make a home with my wife. And I want to do it before my career takes off—if it does.”
“It will. It absolutely will.”
“Well, then. Let’s do it. Let’s commit to this crazy ride together. You and me.”
I feel like I’m going to hyperventilate. I’ve always said I’ll never get married. Not after my parents’ messy divorce. Not after watching their love morph into bitter hate. But, by God, I want to be with Ben forever. I know I do. And yet . . . Ben’s career is just beginning to take off. Who knows what adventures will await him when he’s a big star? “Let’s take it one step at a time,” I say. “We’ll move in together and take it from there.”
Ben eyes me for a very long time like I’m some sort of Sudoku puzzle he can’t quite make out. “Bloody hell, you’re a tough nut to crack, Kaylee Rae.” He smiles. “But you know what, sweetheart? You’ve met your match.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.” He winks. “I happen to be a highly motivated nutcracker.”
Seven
Two months later . . .
Everyone is having a blast around the campfire, talking and laughing and singing while my brother, Carter, plays his guitar and stares at his girlfriend’s boobs. Ben and I hadn’t planned on joining Carter and his crew on this trip, but when Carter mentioned it, we decided to join in on a whim. Why not? Ben had just finished shooting his scenes for the Trent Dowager movie and won’t be shooting that TV pilot for another two weeks, and Tatiana and her new boyfriend said they’d love to come, too. So off we went.
Ben sits next to me and hands me a bottle of beer.
“Thanks,” I say. I bring the bottle to my lips . . . and suddenly realize the paper label wrapped around the bottle isn’t a label at all. It’s a note. Smiling, I unfold the scrap of paper . . . and instantly smile wickedly.
Feel free to come into my sleeping bag tonight after your brother and everyone else have gone to sleep. No need to bring a condom. If we make a baby, that’s perfectly fine with me because I intend to make you my wife. Ben
I turn to look at him and find him smiling broadly. He raises his eyebrows like he’s asking me if I’ll come. I make a face like, “Maybe, maybe not,” and he laughs. But, of course, I slide my hand in his and squeeze, telling him I can’t wait.
Several hours later, while hanging out with Tatiana and her boyfriend next to what used to be a roaring campfire, I look around and suddenly realize Ben is nowhere to be found.
“Oh,” I say out loud. I pop up. “I think I’m gonna hit the sack, guys.”
“Yeah, we’d better hit it, too.”
We say our good-nights.
I make my way in the dark to the tent Ben set up for us for the night. Once there, I poke my head into the tent and whisper, “Ben?”
“Kaylee?” comes Ben’s familiar voice.
I chuckle. “Yeah. Can I come in?”
“I’m naked. Is that a problem?”
“Fuck no.” I enter the tent, every cell in my body surging with joy, and begin stripping off my clothes. “It’s fucking freezing,” I say.
“Get in here and I’ll warm you up,” comes the sexy reply.
“I can’t see,” I say. “Turn on the light on your phone, babe.”
I hear Ben shuffle around. And then a dim light fills the tent. Just enough light for me to make out Ben’s smiling face in the sleeping bag . . . and the sparkling ring he’s holding up toward me.
My jaw drops.
“You want to come into my sleeping bag?” Ben says, a huge smile on his face. “Then say yes. That’s the password. Say yes, Kaylee. Otherwise, you can stand out there all night long and freeze your perfect tits off.”
I laugh.
“Say yes.”
My naked flesh is covered in goose bumps. My chest is heaving. “What’s the question, again?”
“Will. You. Marry. Me?”
Every cell in my body surges with certainty. Love. Joy. He’s right. I’m a tough nut to crack. But he’s also right that he’s a damned talented nutcracker. “Yes.”
He whoops loudly. “Get your hot arse in here right fucking now!”
He opens the sleeping bag to me and I practically dive inside. He slides the ring on my finger and pulls me in for the most euphoric kiss of my life. In short order, we’re mutually swept away in each other, our lips and tongues and fingers busy. And when Ben finally pushes inside me without a condom for the first time in our relationship, every nerve ending in my body comes alive all at once. I’ve never let down my walls and loved this completely before. I’ve never felt so utterly and completely loved.
