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“Are you…are you proposing?”
“What if I was?” he asked, grinning ear-to-ear. “Would you say yes?”
Frozen to the spot, I couldn’t seem to move my mouth to answer him.
“Oh, man,” he laughed. “If the look on your face is any indication, not only would you say no, but you’d leave this house and never talk to me again. Still…I wanted to give you this.”
In slow motion, Jace brought a small white box out from behind his back. But it was well worn. And familiar.
“Relax, sweetheart. It’s not a ring.”
My body immediately went slack. “You made me believe you were going to propose!”
“Is the thought of marrying me really that terrible?” he teased. His easy smile startled me, and I realized it was because I’d only seen it a handful of times.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I huffed.
“You better get used to the idea, sweetheart. Because someday we will get married. And it will be the happiest day of my life.”
“What’s in it then?” I said, gesturing to the box, brushing past his heartfelt declaration in an effort to keep my tears at bay.
Jace extended the box toward me, his fingers covering mine as I reached out to take it from him, refusing to let go. I looked up, and my eyes immediately fell into the dark pools that studied me. Finally, he released the box. He steepled his hands and blew out a deep breath as I opened the lid. It was my necklace. The one that broke the day Anna lured me onto the scaffolding. The day Jace saved me.
He’d had the chain replaced. It wasn’t the barely-there strand of plated gold it was before. It was still delicate, but this chain was stronger. Heavier. But the pearl was the same—a simple, creamy pendant that reminded me of a full moon at sea.
I wanted it on my neck immediately. I stood no chance against the tears I’d been holding back.
“Allow me,” Jace said quietly. Again, our eyes met as he leaned over me to hook it behind my neck, his now-familiar cologne spicy on his skin. When it was done, he stayed immobile, suspended, using his core to keep himself at my eye level. He pressed his lips to mine, but what started sweet soon turned sexy.
“Sweetheart…” he chuckled, settling himself back into his couch. “It looks so good on you.”
“I thought I lost it,” I told him. “I looked and looked…I even checked the ground underneath the scaffolding. But I could never find it. You had it this whole time?”
“You don’t remember—and that’s probably a good thing. When you were about to fall, I managed to get a handful of your dress. I was trying for your hair with my other hand but I ended up grasping the chain at the back of your neck. It snapped in my hand, but we’d avoided the worst of it by then. It wasn’t until later that I realized what necklace you’d been wearing.”
“The necklace you gave me for my twenty-first birthday helped save my life.”
“I’m surprised you kept it after what happened between us back then.”
“Thank you for getting it fixed.”
“It’s been fixed for a while now…but I liked having a piece of you with me. Despite everything.”
I drew the pearl back and forth on the chain, drawing as much attention as I could to the neckline of my dress.
“If you don’t stop that, you’re not going to be wearing that dress for very much longer.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be wearing it.”
“God,” he choked out. “There’s nothing I want more right now. Nothing more than to be naked on this couch with you. But there are some things we need to talk about first.”
I nodded. I had no idea what to expect. No idea what was coming.
“Do you want to start?” he asked gently, sensing my trepidation.
I did. There was so much I wanted to say but couldn’t say while he was recovering.
“I guess I just want to say…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Jace. I’m sorry I came back. I’m sorry I…seduced you into being with me again when you could have been happy and safe with Marina. I’m sorry your association with me put you in danger. I’m sorry I didn’t let you in, and I’m sorry for all the ways I’ve disappointed you. And, also, if you’re going to tell me that because of everything that’s happened, you just can’t be with me anymore, I want to thank you. For helping prove I didn’t kill Linus. For helping me find my father. And for making me feel…worthy.”
