“Okay. Sure.” Brooklyn took his hand and led the way, through the living room, then up the dark and narrow stairs. Inside his room, she went straight to the bed. He pulled her against his body, and she molded her lips to his. She pitched back, pulling him down on top of her, sprawling out on the mattress. Alec’s hands didn’t know where to travel first. Everything about Brooklyn was soft and inviting and luscious. And he couldn’t wait for what came next.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brooklyn had considered gettingmad about the condoms. But Alec was sticking to the rules. Rules that they had put in place together. And now that they were naked and that damn condom was on, she was over it. All she needed right now was physical closeness with Alec. They could do this part with zero problems.Thiswas always right. It never, ever went wrong. And that was a hell of a statement. She clung to it.
Alec kissed her softly, threading his hands through her hair, and she hitched her leg up over his naked hip, needing him closer. Skin against skin, hot breaths, and body weight—everything was perfect and hot and exactly what she wanted. The pressure was already building for Brooklyn, the sheer anticipation, and when Alec rolled her to her back and drove inside, it was… well, it was way more than she’d been ready for.
A flood of emotion rushed through her. She felt it on a visceral level, and she pulled him closer, wanting there to be nothing left between them. She wanted only his skin against hers, all space between them erased, and kisses that lingered forever.Forever.That wasn’t a word she played around with. But it had a lot of heft right now. It was what she wanted from Alec, and she might not get it, and if that was the case, she might never get over it. When she’d said that she didn’t want to throw around words like “I love you” because someone might get hurt? She knew now just how badly she’d meant it. She loved him. And someone way smarter than her had once said that only love could break your heart. She got that. Completely.
This was a lot to think about while she was on the verge of orgasm, her body clutching hard and her breaths coming out in ragged bursts. She and Alec had this down though, the pitch of their bodies in near-perfect sync, and they were both close. At the same time. A miracle in waiting. Rocking hard. Need building. Feeling fitful and desperate. Brooklyn gave way first, and then Alec went.
But he froze in a particularly odd way. It wasn’t a normal holy-crap-I’m-coming freeze. It was something else.
“Are you okay?” she asked, gasping.
“The condom broke.” He practically jumped off of her and rushed to the bathroom.
Brooklyn was still climbing out of that gauzy post-orgasm state of mind, so words didn’t mean a whole lot to her right now, but she did understandthe condom broke. Her first, purely reactionary thought wasYippee! I might get pregnant. The old-fashioned way, no less.Her second thought was,But this is the world’s worst timing.
Alec rushed back into his bedroom and stopped at his dresser, pulling out a pair of pajama pants. “I am so sorry,” he blurted as he stepped into them.
Brooklyn sat up, doing her best to ignore the distinct edge of panic in his voice.Someonehad to encourage calm. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault.”
“But I was the one who got all romantic tonight. I started it.” He sat on the bed and faced her.
“You were happy. I want you to want to have sex with me when you’re happy. Plus, we’ve had sex every time we’ve been alone since Halloween. It was going to happen.”
“This is horrible timing.”
“Yes. That occurred to me, too.”
He raked his hand through his hair, seeming burdened by everything in the world. But then his demeanor changed. His eyes got brighter. He sat a little straighter. “No. That’s not right. You know what? I’m tired of talking about timing. Does anyone have perfect timing? No.”
Brooklyn wasn’t sure when he’d gotten so philosophical. “I suppose.”
“All of this waiting and wondering has been stupid. We belong together. I love you. I will turn down this job. And we will get married. And everything will be fine.” His eyes lit up like the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree. “In fact, it’ll be great.” He pushed himself back until he was kneeling next to the bed. “Let’s do this, Brooklyn.”
Now she was no longer the calm one. These leaps he was making were a lot to digest, and they were definitely not part of the plan. “Alec. What are you doing?”
He slapped his forehead. “Oh, my God. You’re right. What am I doing? This is all wrong.” He popped up to his feet and jogged into his closet.
What the hell? Did he change his mind already?
“Found it!” he exclaimed, still out of sight.
“Found what?” Brooklyn climbed off the bed, tugged on the sheet, and wrapped it around her body, prepared to go after him.
“This.” Alec burst back into the room with a Tiffany blue box.
Brooklyn froze, her heart beating so fast she thought she might need a doctor. “What is that?”
He went down on one knee, this time at Brooklyn’s feet. He gazed up at her and took her hand. She’d never been the girl who’d taken much time to think about what this moment might be like, but she definitely hadn’t imagined it like this. Everything was so tangled between her and Alec, just like the sheet wrapped around her. He flipped open the top of the box and revealed the glittering platinum and diamond ring inside. It was beautiful. And he was everything she’d ever wanted. Her eyes welled as a slew of competing emotions bubbled up inside her. Hope. Gratitude. Love. But also, regret. And hesitation.
“I want to tell you that I love you,” he said.
“I think you just did.”
“Well, good. Because that’s the way I feel. And all of this stuff that we’ve been letting get in the way, none of it is more important than what’s between us. Will you marry me?”
