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“A long weekend in San Francisco, maybe?”
“That works too.” Ronan nuzzled my neck. “I’d sett
le for anywhere I can make you come until you scream without worrying about waking up toddlers or grandmothers.”
“Amen to that,” I said, listening to the rain and reveling in the feel of Ronan in my arms. In my bed. Back in my life after three years of excruciating absence.
“Speaking of France,” I said after a minute, “I got a very interesting order from Paris last week on the shop’s website.”
“What kind of order?”
“For a wedding ring. Do we know an Albert Bernard?”
“Don’t think so.”
“He’s a lawyer—and an artist on the side, apparently, because he designed the ring himself and it’s…”
“Ugly as hell?” Ronan supplied. “Tacky? Ridiculous?”
“Just the opposite, it’s stunning. Mixed metals, which I love—silver with gold edging and an asymmetrical configuration of three stones. An aquamarine, a blue topaz, and a diamond in the center.”
I frowned, something nipping at the edge of my awareness again, like it had when the order first came in.
“Those are our birthstones,” Ronan said just as it came to me. “Yours, mine, and Augie’s.”
“That’s true,” I said slowly. “How do you know that?”
“I’ve been around you long enough to know about the magical powers of gemstones and birthstones and crystals...”
“Magical powers.” I laughed and rolled my eyes. “But isn’t that funny? It’s a truly beautiful design. And so romantic. The email said he’s going to surprise the love of his life with it, the lucky girl. It’s going to be hard for me to part with it.”
Ronan was silent, and the weird feeling didn’t leave me but grew into something like suspicion…
“Ronan…?”
“Marry me.”
I froze. My heart, the only part of me that was moving, beat hard in my chest. “What did you say?”
I raised my head to find his brows furrowed, doubt painting his features.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m doing this all wrong. I have no plan. No ring. Just…blurting it out like a jackass. But this talk about other people’s wedding rings and Paris… I want to give it all to you right this fucking second.”
My breath caught. When I thought I couldn’t love Ronan more, my heart expanded and made room, letting it all in.
“There’s never going to be anyone else, Shiloh. From the moment I laid eyes on you, a part of me knew you were it for me.” He took my left hand and kissed my ring finger. “I love you. I love our boy. I love this life that we’re making. That you’ve given me. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I whispered, then louder, “yes, Ronan. I want nothing more than to marry you.”
He shook his head, disbelieving, like a man waking up from a dream. I took his face in my hands, wanting to obliterate any doubt once and for all.
“You opened my heart and then filled it with everything I could possibly want. Filled it with everything I didn’t know I wanted and now can’t imagine living without. I love you, Ronan, and I’ll love you forever.”
His gray eyes turned smoky and he kissed me softly, then deeper. We sank into the kiss that was rich with love but burning hotter with every passing second. My body came wide awake, wanting to celebrate all that we’d endured and all that we’d face together, from that moment through all the years left to us.
Ronan rolled me onto my back, his mouth making a slow migration down my naked body.
“We’re starting the count over.”
