Page 76 of Come A Little Closer

NIALL

At a certain point, no amount of confidence or surety in the world could make a guy any less nervous, and right now, I was at that point. I was so completely sure about Tallulah and my feelings for her, and generally, I was a pretty confident guy, but it just didn’t seem to matter right now.

While I knew what I was doing was right, I’d been shitting bricks all day when I considered actually doing it—and then having to wait for her to answer. It was nerve-wracking. How the institution of marriage had survived when men had been going through this for centuries, I didn’t know.

All I knew was that I was on my knee now, staring up into her very surprised hazel eyes, and asking myself where I was supposed to even start. “So, uh, I know this is soon. For me, it doesn’t feel like it’s too soon, but I want you to know from the get-go that if it’s too soon for you, I won’t be a dick about it.”

I pulled in a fresh breath of air. “If you’re not ready, I’ll probably lick my wounds a bit tonight and have a few stiff drinks, but it wouldn’t be the end of us. I won’t hold it against you and everything can go right back to the way it was.”

There. I’d taken Jake’s advice about including all that.

“That’s probably the most important thing for you to know,” I said. “There won’t be any hard feelings if I’m jumping the gun here, but I want you to know that I will always be here, ready whenever you are. Because I choose you, Tallulah. I choose you now, I have chosen you every day since you walked into my office, and I will choose you every day for the rest of my life.”

I stared up into those eyes and laid every last bit of myself at her feet. At her mercy. “I’ve never been as open, as honest, or as vulnerable as I have been with you, and weirdly, I always find myself wanting to dig deeper. To be clearer. To flay open parts of my soul that I didn’t even know existed before.”

She stared back at me, tears welling in her eyes as her hands moved slowly to her chest. Pressing on it, she gaped at me. Since it didn’t look like she was about to run for the hills, I swallowed in an attempt to get some lubrication back into my mouth. Then I carried on.

“People are always talking about how their other halves have made them better people, and I think I finally understand why. I think I also finally believe that it’s true, because you have made me a better person. Not only to others, but to myself. I’ve never allowed myself to feel too much for another person and I’ve never felt the need to reflect as much as I have while I’ve been with you.”

I exhaled, my brow furrowing as the truth of how selfish I had been before I’d met her really dawned on me. “You opened my eyes to a whole new world. A world that’s filled with love, and understanding, and vibrant colors, and music, and even fear.”

I felt my lips crack into a smile. “It’s been a wild, rollercoaster of a ride for us so far, and I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but I feel like we’ve already grown so much together. We fit together, Tallulah. As far as I’m concerned, we belong together.”

She nodded enthusiastically as her gaze held mine, but she didn’t interrupt me just yet. “I know you’ve been here before and I also know that experience might not have made you particularly excited about the prospect of getting married again, but I want you to know that even if you do say yes, I wouldn’t expect it to happen before you were completely ready. All of which is really to say that it’s on your terms, my love. I know you’ve been through hell and I realize that even asking you this right now might be too much, but I would never forgive myself if I didn’t.”

I nodded. “I love you. I want you to know that I’m committed to you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I realize that this is a risk, but it’s one I’m willing to take because I want us to start our lives together now. Today. I don’t want there to be any doubts or what-ifs. So without any further ado, will you marry me, Tallulah Pruette?”

For a moment that felt like an hour, she just kept staring back at me wordlessly. Then the tears that had been welling up in her eyes started spilling over and she nodded again and again. “Yes, I will. I will marry you, Niall.”

She took the last few strides between us quickly, racing over and crashing to her knees in front of me. Taking my face in her hands, she kept nodding, crying as her gaze met mine. “It’s so cute that you thought you had to put all that stuff in there about me being ready, because if you were anyone else, I would never have been ready to get married again, but you’re not. You’re you, and I love you. I can’t imagine spending another day of my life not being committed to you and only you.”

She moved forward then, slanting her lips over mine and kissing me deeply. It took my brain a second to catch up to what was happening, and when it finally did, I wrapped my arms around her and hauled her into me. Holding her tight, I kissed her like I’d never kissed anyone before.

We toppled over with the force of it and she laughed, winding her arms around my neck where she lay on top of me on the floor. “I love you, Niall Morrison.”

“I love you too.” I combed my fingers through her hair and cocked an eyebrow at her. “You really think it was cute?”

She chuckled, her hair hanging in a curtain around our heads as she leaned over me. “So cute, but also so romantic and understanding. When I first met you, I wouldn’t have thought you had that in you.”

“When I first met you, I didn’t have it in me,” I said, folding my fingers around the ring I was still holding in my palm and then presenting it to her. “May I?”

“Yes, please.” She sat up, her gaze suddenly stuck to the jewelry in my hand. I sat up too, with her still in my lap, and she gave me her hand. A sharp gasp came out of her when she got her first good look at the ring. “That’s amazing, Niall. It’s so beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it,” I murmured as I slid it onto her finger. “If I have my way, you’re going to be wearing it for a long time.”

She sighed as she held it up, then winked as she shrugged at me. “Alright. I’ll do it. I guess I’ll just have to wear it forever.”

I chuckled. “Good girl. Jokes aside, are you sure you like it?”

“I love it.” The laughter vanished from her eyes as they held mine. “It’s the most stunning ring I’ve ever seen. It’s perfect.”

I slid my fingers between hers and moved her hand this way and that, admiring the sparkles that came off the stone as it caught the light. “It looks really fucking good on you. I love it.”

“Yeah?” She smiled, wiggling a little in my lap as she arched a playful eyebrow at me. “How much?”

“Too much,” I breathed, already getting hard underneath her, but then the power went out again and my plan went into action. I groaned. “Did you do this to get me back for earlier?”

“No,” she said, and I could hear her deep frown even if it was too dark to even see her face despite how close she was to me. “How could I have? I’ve been here with you all along.”