AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As he puts down the other platter to reveal a stack of made up fajita wraps. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
His smile widens. “Not nearly enough.”
The other server who poured the champagne comes forward.
“Surely not more?” I ask.
He nods. “And last, chicken mole.”
I practically fall off my chair, as this man knows me so well. Both of our appetites align in all aspects. To most, it would look like we’re seriously pigging out, but this is just the right amount of food for us. “You are the best.”
“Dig in.”
I grab a couple of fajitas, two more tamales, and a heap of mole. And I just pig out. We both do, in comfortable silence.
Archer puts down his fork with a clang. “I think I’m done.”
He polished off as much as me. Oddly, he looks a little nervous as he takes a sip of his champagne.
“I never thought I’d find a man as greedy as me.”
“You’re very lucky, aren’t you?”
He hasn’t lost his arrogance, but it’s something I’ve grown to love about him. “I think you are the lucky one.”
“Oh, I don’t contest that, baby.” He stands and walks over to my side, dropping onto his knees next to me.
“What are you—”
He pulls out a black velvet box and I’m pretty sure I almost go into cardiac arrest. “Adrianna Vasquez, will you marry me and make me the happiest man on this planet?” He flips open the box to reveal a beautiful baguette cut diamond ring.
I can’t get my words at first as a well of emotion claws at my throat, making it almost impossible to breathe. Finally, I make a sound, “Yes!”
He pulls the ring out of the cushion and slides it onto my finger. “Thank God you said yes. I thought I might have to blackmail you.”
I shove him in the shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot.”
Grabbing my hand, he yanks me out of my chair and wraps his arms around me. “You are everything to me, Adrianna. I can imagine life without you.”
“Me neither.”
He kisses me then and twirls me around under the starts to imaginary music. My heart feels so full it could explode. I thought I was destined to be alone forever. My upbringing had closed me off to the prospect of love or emotion. And yet through sheer pig-headed persistence, Archer broke my barriers down piece by piece, never giving up on us. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.
He pulls me onto a blanket on the sand, kissing every inch of my body. “I love you more than anything in this world.”
I smile up at him, knowing that somehow the man I hated so much less than twelve months ago is now the love of my life. “I love you, too.”
And he kisses me again under the stars as the waves crash gently against the shore. In that moment, it makes it hard not to believe in fairytales and happy endings, even if our story was far from conventional.
* * *
