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CHAPTER8
When you decide you want a future with someone, you want it to start right then. -Nash
Nash
I wakewith a smile on my face. For once, I relish the sunlight that’s pouring in the windows because it means I get to spend the day with Alex. Last night, everything changed. Last night, I made love to the woman of my dreams. Last night was everything I wanted and more.
My eyes are still closed when I reach for the other side of the bed. Instead of a warm, willing woman though, I feel cool sheets. My eyes open wide. She couldn’t have…she wouldn’t have…left?
But part of me already knows the answer to that. She has a lot of fears left over from her childhood and I know she probably awoke thinking of my history. My heart beats fast as I realize she probably took off. Based on the cold sheets, it’s been a while.
I scrub my hands through my hair as I leap from the bed and try to find my pants. Where would she have gone? Maybe her sister’s? Her friend Paige?
I have my phone in my hand, ready to dial any of our mutual contacts when I hear whistling. Relief expands within me, making me sit back down on the bed for a moment. This woman means so much to me.
I follow the sound of whistling to the kitchen where Alex stands frying bacon with nothing but my old college t-shirt on. She turns around when I give a low wolf whistle.
She swings around, spatula held high. “Shit, you scared me to death. I thought you were still asleep.”
I sit down on a barstool and grin like a fool. “I was, and then I reached out and found the other side of the bed empty. I was kind of hoping to wake up to you next to me.”
She leans over the counter. “Well, I thought we both worked up an appetite last night.” She giggles and gives me a quick kiss on the lips.
I watch in fascination as she makes us eggs and bacon. She looks so right, here in my home, exactly where she should be. She’s humming to herself as she heaps food on a plate.
“Marry me,” I say before I can stop myself.
Her fork makes a clattering sound as it falls onto the plate. “What did you say?” she asks breathlessly.
“Marry me, Alex. Marry me tomorrow or a month from now. Preferably tomorrow or even today. But marry me.” I move to take her hand. Her eyes are full of tears, and she gazes at me with a blank expression.
I lower myself so that I’m on one knee. I still hold her hand in mine. “Marry me because I don’t want to spend another day without you. I love you and I always have. I should have said something a long time ago, but maybe you weren’t ready…or I wasn’t ready. I’m not sure. But I’m ready now and I want forever.”
She reaches out to touch my cheek. “Do you mean it?”
I nod and kiss the palm of her hand. “Yes, with all my heart. With all I am now and all I ever will be. I want to grow old with you. I want to argue over board games with you when we’re seventy and I want to chase you around the bedroom when we’re eighty.”
Tears roll down her face. “I’ll still beat you every time. You know that, right?” Her question comes out husky with emotion.
I chuckle. “You’ll still cheat, I’m sure.” I look up at her with hope beginning to blossom inside of me. My heart is hers for the taking. “Please Alex, just say yes.”
“Yes, you silly, sweet, impossible man,” she says and lowers herself so that we’re face to face.
With those words, she kisses me, and I hold her close. She’s mine. Finally, mine. Thank God for weddings is my final thought before we sink down to the kitchen floor together.
