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“Papa’s going to ask you to marry him!”
My fondness deflates like a balloon.
Isabella stares at him. “What did you say?”
“Ay, nieto, that’s supposed to be a secret,” Marisol chirps, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Leo looks back at me and frowns. “Papa didn’t say –”
“Yeah, that’s on me. I forgot to tell him it’s supposed to be…”
Isabella raises her eyes to me, completely agog at the news.
“Supposed to be a surprise,” I whisper.
Leo grits his teeth and looks embarrassed. “Oops.”
Marisol shakes her head and holds out her hand. “Come on, leave Mama and Papa to sort this out while we have a snack.”
Neither Isabella nor I move as Leo goes to join Marisol and the two disappear into the house.
I suddenly feel very stupid. Not just for obvious reasons, but for the fact I’ve got a Paw Patrol backpack hanging over my shoulder. Gotta say something fast. “I was going to make a big thing of it, you know. Like a proposal should be.”
Isabella’s shock fades, leaving a placid smile in its place.
“I still will. If you want, uh, God –“ I slap my hand over my eyes and try to laugh. “I was so nervous to ask Leo for his permission that I forgot to tell him it needed to be a secret. I’m such an idiot some –“
Isabella’s hands land on the front of my shirt and before I can say anything else, her mouth is on mine. My body doesn’t know what to do with itself in her clutches. Never does. Just sometimes I’m able to keep my composure and other times I go completely wild for her. Depends on the day.
When she rips her mouth away, I try to chase it for another. “W-w-where are you going?”
She laughs uproariously, her hands sliding from my chest and up around my neck. “You are… the total package, Rex Redford.”
“I am?” I am still at a loss for what just happened.
“Of course I’ll marry you,” she says in a small, uniquely sweet voice meant only for my ears.
I settle my free hand on her waist. “Very funny. I’ll have a whole thing arranged, I promise, it doesn’t have to be just –”
“No, this was the perfect proposal,” she says. “I couldn’t have imagined a better one.”
I furrow my brow. “You sure about that?”
Isabella bats her eyes, inky lashes fluttering over her amber eyes. She leans further into me. “What could be more perfect than an accidental proposal when our whole relationship is a series of accidents?”
She’s not wrong. An accidental pregnancy. A motorcycle accident. An accidental proposal. Rule of three, right?
“I’m not even on one knee, Isabella.”
“I don’t care.”
Fine, this isn’t going to go the way I thought it would. It’s going to go Isabella’s way. And I love her way. “Well, since I’m proposing… I want you to know I love you so much it hurts sometimes. When I’m away from you, I ache for you. When I’m near you, I want to be by your side every minute of the day. You’re the most amazing woman I know and I’d be honored if you’d be my wife.”
She nuzzles her nose to my cheek. “The honor is all mine.”
We embrace. Over her shoulder, I see Marisol and Leo peeking through the window to watch, both wearing gleeful smiles.
I pinch my eyes closed, run my hand down her side, and stop when I land on her ribs where our love has been marked all these years in permanent ink.
“And Rex?”
“Yes, baby.”
I can hear the smile curling onto her lips. “If you try and blow some ridiculous amount of money on a ring instead of just giving me the one you bought at that department store, I’m changing my answer.”
Stubborn and sensible Isabella Delgado. Some things never change.
“God, I love you,” I say. “I really, really do.”
