AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. I—” He ran a hand through his wet hair, then wiped it on his swim trunks. They were black, and they molded to his private parts like body paint, and they were so terribly distracting. “Damnit, I can’t believe this is happening now. Where’s my fucking pocket?”
“Your what? Did you say pocket?”
He strode to the pile of clothing he’d left neatly folded on a workout bench.
“Granger, just talk to me! What is going on? When did they offer you this job? What are your thoughts about it? I’m not saying I hate the idea, just that…Granger, are you even listening to me?”
He was busy rummaging through his clothes until he finally found what he was looking for. He spun around, brandishing something in the air. “Got it.” He strode back to her and presented the item on his open palm. “It’s a ring. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I’ve gone through all the arguments for and against. After analyzing all aspects of the situation, I think we should get married. I can accept the constable job. You won’t have to worry about your modeling career one way or the other. You can be a manatee forever if you want. You’ll have your family nearby. I can walk you through my thought process if that helps…” He trailed off, looking uncertain. “Or maybe not. Are you okay?”
Bliss pressed a hand to her cheek and realized it was cool and clammy. As if she’d lost all the color in her face. “This is a proposal?”
“That’s the general idea.” He closed his hand around the ring.
“A business proposal or a marriage proposal?”
He flinched. “It’s a marriage proposal, but I didn’t want it to come out like this. I wanted it to be more spontaneous. Or maybe more prepared. I don’t know. I’ve had the ring in my pocket.”
“Can I see it?”
He uncurled his palm again and showed her the ring made of burnished wood the color of maple sap. It was so beautifully simple and unusual that it made her heart flip over.
“Where did you get that?”
“I made it.”
Her heart nearly cracked in two.
“I didn’t want the whole town talking about how I bought a ring,” he explained. “This seemed safer.”
Safer. Her heart ripped apart a little more. Granger thought of everything. He was so very thorough that way. He was FBI-trained, after all, someone who considered all angles and came to a conclusion.
“So you think we should get married? Because of the baby?”
His expression relaxed into a relieved smile. Her calm reaction to his “proposal” seemed to take a load off his mind. “We’re going to be parents. We need to put his or her wellbeing first.”
“Right. That means making sacrifices.”
“That’s not exactly…” He trailed off with a frown of confusion.
“You proposed once before and I said no. Why is now different?” Oh, how she longed to hear him say even one word about his feelings for her, if he had any. Of course he hadsomefeelings. He wouldn’t be so attentive and caring if he didn’t feelanything. But if he loved her, wouldn’t he say so? Wasn’t that generally considered a crucial part of a proposal?
“We’re already living together and that seems to be working.” His gruff tone told her nothing about his feelings, nothing at all. “Then there’s the constable job offer. It seemed like good timing. All signs were pointing to us getting married and settling in Lake Bittersweet. I thought if I presented all of these points together you would see how much sense it makes.”
The pit in her stomach kept deepening. “What about the cons? I’m sure you thought about those too.”
He waved a hand, the same one that was holding the ring, which slipped from his grasp and plunked onto the floor. Moses ran after it, sniffed it a few times, then decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. “Once I came to a decision, the cons no longer mattered.”
“I’m still curious. Do you mind listing them too?”
He bent to pick up the ring, then gazed at it, as if pondering how best to answer her question. “Marriage is risky. What if it doesn’t work? Our baby would have to endure a divorce.”
“I suppose every couple who gets married takes that chance.”
“That’s true, but…” He trailed off, then set his jaw, clearly determined not to complete his thought.
She didn’t need him to, because she knew what he was going to say. They weren’tthatkind of couple. Not the kind that was in love with each other. Not the kind that would have the help of a deep loving bond to help them through the rough spots.
“I get it,” she managed. “That’s a pretty important con.”
