Marry me?
My hand comes up to my mouth, shock hitting me. I look over and see Harley coming towards me. When he gets in front of me, he drops to one knee, and pulls out a velvet box from his pocket.
He opens it up and inside is a rose gold ring, with a black square center, and tiny diamonds surrounding it. My heart flutters, and tears run down my face.
“Ember, I have loved you since the moment you sat at that horrific orange metal lunch table at fifteen years old. You terrified me then, and you still terrify me today, in the best way. You make me want to be the best version of myself, and protect you from all that is evil in this world. I hate that I was young and dumb, and walked away at a time you needed me most. We lost out on so much time, and because of that, you went through hell and back more times than I can count. But you still stand, tall and strong. Even now, you don’t need me, but I know you want me, and if you’ll have me, I’d love to spend the rest of our lives together, until we’re old and gray, making all the young people grossed out with our horny old people behavior. Will you marry me, and make me the happiest man alive?”
I sob into him, kissing his lips, tears smearing onto his face. I kneel down and wrap my arms around his neck. “Yes, a million times yes, Harley!” I tell him over and over. He stands, taking me with him, sliding me onto the counter, standing in between my legs, and kisses me again. He pulls back and plucks the ring out of the box. I hold my finger out and it slides right on.
“It’s perfect,” I tell him, admiring the ring.
The End.
EPILOGUE
EMBER
Three MonthsLater
I unlock the door of the shop, pulling the door open, and kicking the stopper down. Harley backs my new SUV right in front of the door. He quickly hops out and opens the trunk. We’re setting up bookshelves and the customer counter today.
It took a few months to get all the details ironed out for the shop, but we open Books & Brews in just under two weeks. Much to my dismay, we ended up using part of the money Dean left me to open the shop. It’s the only good thing he ever did in my life, and I took the advice of the lawyer that visited all those months ago to deliver the news. I have a solid chunk set up in an account to collect interest for Rawley. Charlee and Theo wanted me to hold on to it, until he was older and we knew what it would be invested in.
Our first book shipment is arriving tomorrow, which is why we decided to start putting bookshelves together today.
Round wooden tables take up one side of the open shop. The shipment of chairs haven’t arrived yet, but they’ll be here within the week. We got the commercial espresso machine delivered earlier this week, and Harley has been in the shop every day to play with it and make sure he’s set for opening day. He’s got magic hands with that thing.
“Over here, babe?” Harley asks me, cutting through my thoughts.
“Yep, we will line some of them up on this wall.” I gesture to the back wall. “And the rest will go here and here.” I point to both sides of the fireplace. We hired a mason to put it in after we signed the paperwork for the building to be ours officially. “After they’re up, we can move them around if we need to, but I think that’s what I want.” I smile hard, holding my hands together in excitement, a smile permanently residing on my face. This is everything I ever dreamed it would be, and we’re not even done setting things up yet.
“Whatever you want, princess,” he tells me as he wheels the dolly full of boxes over. With that, he gets to work ripping boxes open.
I head over to crank on the music while we work. We get lost in the music, getting all the bookshelves set up and in their place. Standing back and admiring our handy work, Harley wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“It’s going to be amazing, Harley,” I squeal. Harley bends over, lifting me by my ass, and I wrap my legs around his waist. My arms wrap around his head, hands running through his hair, pulling it. He carries me over to the customer counter and sets me down. He grabs the back of my head, bringing me closer to his body, his other arm wrapping around my body. We push and pull and bite and kiss, and suddenly Harley pulls away.
“Hey!” I yell, lost in him.
I watch as he walks over to the door, pulls the shade, and locks it. “No need to give anyone a show while we break in the shop.”
I throw my head back and laugh before he resumes his position in front of me, bending to kiss up and down my neck. He kisses me feverishly from my neck to my lips, running his hands up and down my shoulders, barely touching me, but driving me crazy. His lips land on my weak spot on my neck and I let out a breathy moan, “Harley.”
“Fuck,” he says before pulling me flush with his body, his cock already hard and ready. I kiss his neck and run my hands down his chest. I bite his neck, just a little, and he lets out a growl.Holy fuck that was hot.
Harley pushes me back, flat on my back across the counter, and begins peeling my leggings down my legs, keeping his eyes on mine.
When he realizes I’m not wearing any panties, his eyebrows shoot up. “Were you planning to get fucked in the shop, baby?” He leans in, kissing my thighs, throwing my legs over his shoulders.
“Maybe,” I tell him, arching my back, feeling every kiss he trails down my thighs. Everywhere except my pussy. I can feel myself losing it, needing him to touch me where I need it most.
“Filthy girl,” he says, and licks up my wet center. I swear he’s writing cursive poems with his tongue, and suddenly he slaps my clit. The contact sends my head back, eyes rolling and back arching. I let out a loud moan.
“Baby, please,” I beg him to fuck me.
“I love when you get whiny for me.” He smiles and I look down and meet his eyes as he inserts a finger over and over, curling it into the spot I need him to.
“Harley, please, fuck me,” I practically moan, panting on the counter.
