AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Again, he laughs. “Don’t. I’m grateful for your friendship too. It’s not quite there yet, but it feels a little like that.” He tips his head toward where Rae and Joel are dancing and laughing hysterically.
“Kindred spirits.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m really happy for you and Rae.”
“Thank you. I’m—” He chuckles and shakes his head. “I didn’t think I could love her more. Now she’s carrying my baby, and I want to worship the ground she walks on.”
“Crazy what seeing the woman you love pregnant does,” Miles says, strolling up to us. “Can I cut in?”
Aaron dramatically rolls his eyes. “Wow. Two songs and you already need her back?”
Miles grins and shrugs. “What can I say? I’m obsessed.”
Aaron takes a half step back and grabs my hand, holding it out for Miles to take. As he walks away, he says to Miles, “Crazy what asking the girl you love to marry you does.” He winks, then walks over to steal his girl back from Joel.
Miles wraps me in his arms, and that sense of safety I always feel with him washes over me.
He holds me as we sway to the music in a cozy silence. One filled with love and comfort.
I rest my head on his shoulder, watching our friends on the dance floor, lost in the same kind of love I feel in my soul. Love that saves me and heals me and pushes me to be better. A love more profound than I thought I’d find—if I ever found love at all.
Life had other plans. Thank God.
Running my fingers over his clean-shaven jaw, I whisper, “Thank you for tonight. I can’t believe we’re celebrating our engagement.” I look at my hand again, feeling another burst of excitement in my chest when I do.
He looks at me in that reverent way that undoes me. And makes me smile like an idiot.
“I would do anything to see this smile. To make you feel… cherished. Because I do, Ames. If you’d asked me even a few weeks before I met you if I thought I’d be getting married this year, I would’ve thought it was impossible. I didn’t believe love could sneak up on me and capture me so quickly, but it did. You did.” He pauses and takes a breath. “I’m trying not to cry right now, but it’s not easy. You and us—what we are brings me to my knees. You and Emmie are my heart and soul. I thought I knew who I was, but I didn’t know me until I had the two of you. I love you so damn much. So much.”
I sniff back tears as I look at him, so full of sincerity.
“I always thought I was good with words until I met you, but you take my breath away every time you talk about me and Emmie. Our love and our family. Our future. I was a broken shell of myself for so long, then I met you, and I started to heal. Not always painlessly.” He chuckles at that. “Your patience and steadfast love gets me through. You gave me a safe space that I desperately needed. Knowing you’re always there to catch me when I fall makes me feel safer than I have in a long time. You’ve helped me find my joy again, peeling away all my hardened layers to help me find pieces of who I used to be. You thought you knew who you were? I thought I liked who I was. Now I realize I wasn’t really living. I was hiding. I’m so glad to live in the light again with you. I love you. More.”
“Pretty good words. And no, you don’t.” He kisses my forehead. “I’m glad you’ve enjoyed tonight. I love having everyone here together. I’m sorry your mom isn’t here. I tried to figure something out, but they didn’t have enough staff to send someone with her tonight—”
“It’s okay,” I say quickly, then shake my head. “Rather, it’s a part of my life, and as hard as it is, I accept that.” Laughing, I add, “Besides, she already thinks we’re married, so a proposal might’ve been confusing.”
He stops moving and looks into my eyes, framing my face with his hands. “I told her about it.”
My mouth falls open. “What? When?”
How could he have told her?
“When Mackie’s car broke down… it didn’t really break down. She was just my cover, and she went with me so I could tell your mom and get her blessing. I had to work with where she was at and the married lie, but I told her I was proposing again because you needed something special. Then I asked her if she was happy with me as a partner for you.”
“What did she say?” I whisper, barely keeping my emotions in check.
“That she knew I loved you and that was what mattered to her. Then she asked me to take care of you.” His voice breaks. “And I promised her I would.”
Shit. Rae was so right about that ultra-waterproof mascara.
I fight back tears as I take it all in. “I can’t believe you did that. I…” I breathe out shakily, looking up into his emerald eyes. “You asked me once if I believed in fate. My answer has to be yes. There’s no way we happened to find each other. You were made for me. Made to break my walls and show me what love can endure and outlast. Made to protect and love me and our daughter. Just like I was made to love you. To build a life and a family with you. I was made to go on this crazy roller coaster with you, our hands twined together through every twist and turn. I can’t wait to marry you.”
He stares at me for a beat, then slants his mouth over mine, capturing my lips. He already has the rest of me, and he always will.
Chapter fourteen
