AllFreeNovel
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“Em and Jess were always hungry.”
“I am always hungry. I was so mad when you got the last of the squash.”
“I saw it on your face! Always hungry.” He nodded, then grinned impishly. “And horny?”
She laughed outright and he did, too. Then she made a face. “All the time.”
“I could help with that.”
“Could you?”
“If you’d like.”
She laughed again, but then stood up and tossed her napkin aside. “Yes, please. Come on. I’ll show you the bedroom.”
* * *
The lead-up to the Oscars was a non-stop parade of fashion, with Jill’s waistlines expanding as her necklines dipped lower and lower. The media speculation was frenzied every time she took the red carpet with Kline. Along with presenting at the Grammys, Jill was Kline’s arm candy for his win at the BAFTAs, and then she was a one-woman cheering section for two men as Knight and Simon Says swept their categories at the SAG Awards. At each event, Jill stood more self-assured and delighted as she shared the secret to her glow.
“I have the most fabulous stylist, Kim Sinclair. I stole her from Kline, and he hasn’t quite forgiven me, but whenever he grumbles about it, I just do a spin for him. He can’t argue with these results.”
When they hit the carpet for the Academy Awards, she and her style team shifted gears, and she walked the photo line in a daring, backless, skin-tight sheath of black jersey that left no doubt about their future as a family. With Kline’s protective arm around her as the photographers went wild trying to capture her bump, Jill beamed into the flashbulbs. They posed together, him with one arm around her shoulders, and one hand splayed wide over her belly, kissing for the cameras, then waved off all interviews until after Kline had taken possession of his Best Actor award.
They had made a triumphant pass through the after parties together, each accepting congratulations and well wishes until they finally pulled themselves away in the wee hours of the morning, Kline drunk and happy, and Jill just happy.
The limo dropped her home first, and she went inside to find Thad waiting up for her with green tea and ice cream, her current favorite combination.
“Hi,” she cooed. “He won.”
“I saw,” Thad smiled, pulling out a chair at the dining table for her. “You looked amazing in every shot they caught of you.”
“You’re sweet,” she said, tilting her head up for a kiss.
“I am,” he agreed.
When she was halfway through her second scoop of vanilla bean, Thad tapped his finger on a blue folder she’d overlooked, and he slid it across the table to her. “I have something for you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not the south of France,” Thad said as she flipped open the folder. “And it’s not Queensland. But it is a working vineyard, and it comes with multiple properties and goats. You said you liked goats. It’s in Santa Barbara, and when I showed it to Kline, he fell in love with it.”
“Kline?”
Thad shrugged. “I had to ask for his blessing, and I knew you wouldn’t make any moves that would separate him from his baby.”
“What?”
“I have something else.”
Jill dropped the spoon she was holding as Thad slid out of his chair and onto one knee. “I love you, Jill,” he said. “I want to marry you. I want to be your family and I want you to be mine. I want to fill up an estate on a vineyard with you and watch you smash grapes and dress goats in pajamas and have dogs and dinner parties with friends who can come and hide out from the spotlight with us.
“I want to have a big, loud, messy life with you, and me, and my girls, and yours and Kline’s baby, and Jack, and Kline and whoever he ends up with–because I know you promised him all the access he wants to his kid, so he’s our family forever, too. I want this chaos with you because it sounds like heaven to me.
“Will you marry me?”
Her eyes were brimming, and her heart was overflowing. “Are you proposing to me with real estate?”
“Oh! And a ring! I have a ring!” He fumbled slightly before producing a ring box from Cartier, opening it to reveal a blood-red ruby in a vintage setting. “Will you marry me?”
