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“Told you,” Tessa said.
Isabel’s mouth dropped open in surprise. "You helped me because...you love me?"
"Yes. And the words do mean something—everything—when they come from you," he said, being brutally honest. "And from now on, they mean the same to me. When I say I love you, I mean it."
She nodded, tears filling her eyes.
"Actions are good,” she whispered, “b-but love is meant to be voiced. Seen. Felt. But only if you mean it," she hurried to clarify. “Please don’t say it if you don’t.”
He stepped closer, drawing her into his body and using one hand to gently lift her chin. "I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in Vegas. You were standing beneath a spotlight at the gallery, wearing a gold dress, and you looked like something out of a dream."
He heard the sighs from the ladies behind them. If only his words were impacting the woman in front of him as much as the Babes. "I can’t imagine my life without you, Isabel. Not because I don’t want to fail but because I can’t see a future without you in it. Please, stay. We'll figure out the logistics but…be my wife. For real."
A tear trickled from her lashes, and he swiped at it with his thumb, holding her weight as she pressed her hands against his chest and rose to her toes to kiss him.
Behind them the passengers burst into excited squeals and applause, and he felt her smiling against his lips at their enthusiastic response.
"Oh, I have a wedding to plan," her mother said.
“Wehave a wedding to plan,” one of the other Babes said.
Everett chuckled and hugged Isabel tight.
"Should we tell them we’re already…?" she asked, the words muffled by his shoulder.
"We'll tell them on our twentieth anniversary," he whispered. "Let them plan. I want to see my bride in a real dress, not a Vegas rental."
She giggled as she drew away from him and leaned back to stare up at him, arms wrapped around his neck.
"You really mean it? You're not just saying it because—"
He kissed her again, and again. "I love you, Isabel. And if you stop running away from me, I’ll keep telling you every chance I get."
She laughed again, the sound everything he wanted to hear and more.
