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Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he pulled her to him and crushed his mouth down on hers again, kissing her thoroughly. A few minutes later, when they had surfaced from the kiss, he said, “Our place.”
“Let’s go home, then,” Elle said, grinning.
Epilogue
Five Months Later
Jim and Elle lay curled up in the hammock in the backyard. Elle was tucked into his side. They’d been talking about the plans for the baby’s room for the last hour. They were still in a heated debate about colors and overall themes. They were having a boy, so Jim suggested a sports-themed room. Elle was talking about a safari-animal theme.
He felt the small kick against the palm of the hand he had resting on Elle’s stomach. Grinning, he said, “That never gets old. It makes me smile every single time.”
Elle snorted and said, “Glad you’re having fun. Personally, I could do without the early morning acrobatics. That’s getting kinda old.”
“He’s probably just pissed off. You put Sriracha sauce on everything, baby.”
“Not everything,” Elle said somewhat defensively.
“Uh,” Jim asked, “did I not see you dunking potato chips into a cup filled with it last night?”
“Guilty,” Elle said. “The worst freaking part is that I don’t even like the stuff. I can’t help myself though. Pregnancy is so strange!”
Brushing his lips against her forehead, he said, “You’re almost done now.”
He felt her press further into his side and smiled. When he looked down, he saw her eyes were closed.
“Tired?”
“No, just incredibly happy. Relaxed,” Elle said with a smile.
Jim watched her a minute longer, then dug down into the pocket of his cargo shorts to pull out the ring box he had stashed there earlier. Wiping his palm, he managed to open the box with one hand. The other was wrapped around her. He really hadn’t planned the logistics very well.
Holy shit, he was nervous. He was fairly certain that she’d say yes, but for some reason he still felt a little bit like he was going to throw up. Oh well, he thought to himself. It was now or never.
Clearing his throat slightly he said, “Elle, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”
Her eyes immediately flicked open, then widened when she saw the open ring box he held in front of her. Her mouth slightly agape, she slowly turned to look at him. When her face transformed into a huge grin, he gave a small sigh of relief.
The pit in his stomach now gone, he steadily asked, “Elle. Will you marry me?”
He watched her eyes fill as she nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will.”
His hand shook slightly as he took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. The sales person had given him a lengthy description of the ring. It was a platinum setting with a cushion-cut diamond. Whatever the hell that meant. He’d known though, the moment he saw it, that this was the ring.
He’d gone the traditional route and asked Earl’s permission. His response had been priceless. He’d looked Jim dead in the eye and said, “About fucking time, son.”
Elle held her hand out now, admiring the ring and said, “This is beautiful, Jim.”
“You’re beautiful,” Jim said, stroking his fingers along her cheek.
Closing the space between their mouths, Elle kissed him. She just gently brushed her lips against his at first, but the moment that she nipped gently at his lower lip, he was lost. On a groan, he tossed the empty ring box on the ground and wrapped his arms around her.
Jim deepened the kiss as he pulled her close. Stroking a hand down her body, he rested in on the thigh that was wrapped around his waist. He rocked his hips against her, careful not to flip the hammock. They’d done that once before. Luckily Elle hadn’t been hurt.
A few minutes later, she said, “Let’s go upstairs before this progresses any further. I’d rather not roll out and onto the ground again. I’m sure Junior wouldn’t appreciate it.”
Grinning, Jim said, “Yeah. Probably for the best.”
Carefully they both extracted themselves from the hammock without harm. Elle groaned slightly and said, “I think I need to stay out of this thing until after I have the baby. That was really difficult to get out of.”
