“The best kind.” She sighs happily, turning to take a spoon from the drawer and dipping it into the massive pot of beef stew and doughboys—Ivy’s favorite meal. Her grandmother gave me the recipe, and it’s still cold enough for it to be comforting.
“Delicious.” She waves the spoon in the air. “Now, what’s this about a surprise?”
Emmy’s giggle and another playful bark from Resin upstairs make more nerves settle in my stomach. There is a surprise tonight, and both of those two are in on it. I just need to keep it a secret for a little longer, and then we’re in the clear.
“After dinner.” My tone is soft but also promising as I reach out to wrap an arm around her waist again. The little sigh she gives snaps something inside me. A moment later, I abandon all attempts to stir the stew, reaching for her waist and lifting her up on the counter instead. I step between her legs, my hands now resting on the counter and framing the sides of her hips.
“Did you make dessert?” Ivy asks, and I honestly can’t form the proper words to answer her, given her proximity.
“I . . . uh . . . yes. In the fridge.” It’s a pie from Angie’s, but it’s also her favorite. There’s also a small box I made with carvings of stars now hiding beside it.
“How about something sweet now?”
I’ve barely opened my mouth to answer her when Ivy’s lips are pressed to mine. She’s devastatingly sweet, the taste of herenough to satisfy me for the rest of our lives. I give in to the kiss, moving my hands to wrap around her waist as her fingers find the spot she loves at the back of my head, pulling me closer to her. It’s been far too long since I’ve kissed her like this—as long ago as last night, to be precise. It’s a good thing that I’m hoping our living arrangements will be changing soon. I’m not sure how much more I can take of this irresistible woman without crossing lines we’re not ready to demolish.
“Ivy . . .” I exhale, bending down to kiss the spot on her neck that never fails to make her lean deeper into me. As predicted, she does so now. I smile against her skin before resuming what I feel to be my duties as her boyfriend. To make her happy and never resist how attractive I find her. Or how connected I want to be to her.
“Jace . . .” she whispers, and I move to her mouth once more, capturing her surprised inhale. She returns my affection and adds a hand clenched in my shirt to pull me even closer to her.
I’m thriving in her orbit as sure as new life will grow outside the windows as the season changes.
The pot of stew boiling is the sound that buoys me back to the present. Once I step away and turn down the heat, stirring the delicious-smelling pot of beef and vegetables, I look back at her, still perched on the counter. I lose all sense of time and space with her. My heart is racing; our breathing is heavy between us.
“Starlight, you are everything, you know that?” I wrap my hand around the back of her neck in the way I know she finds comforting and kiss her forehead. Her swollen lips are like sirens calling me back to them, but I drop the hand on her neck and hold it out for her to take while I stir the stew on the stove with my free hand.
“What’s this doing out?” her smoky voice answers.
My stomach drops as I turn toward her. She’s now holding the piece of ribbon she gave me so long ago, having discoveredit on the counter near her. She never did get it back, as I stole it off the snow globe right after last Christmas, like she did my sweatshirt. Turns out, I’m still attached. But tonight, I have it out for a very special reason.
Just as I’m about to act impulsively, the alarm goes off on the stove for the stew, my phone buzzes with another alarm I don’t remember setting, and Ivy’s phone chimes with some sort of alert. It’s a symphony of noise, and above it all, I hear the antique clock I got for the kitchen chiming the hour. Everything seems to go still, and then I know, without a doubt, that this is the moment I’ve been waiting for. There’s no need to wait any longer.
“Ivy, I—I have a question for you.” I step forward and wrap my hands around her waist, lifting her gently and setting her feet on the kitchen floor. The setting is not fancy or elegant, but it’s such a domestic scene that I know I couldn’t have planned this better if I tried. The scent of the stew on the stove and the lemon-meringue-scented candle on the table set the mood. The alarms and clocks have now gone quiet, and only the classical music remains. The glow of the light over the stove and the way Ivy is looking at me strengthen my heart. This is the scene I’ve hoped for all my life. I just didn’t know until I was in it.
I begin with a husky tone, lifting the tattered piece of ribbon between us. “Starlight, I know that you deserve the world. It may be soon, but I know you’re my person with everything that I am. I promise I will spend the rest of our lives showing you how much you mean to me. But here, in this moment, it feels like the perfect time to ask if you’d like to spend your life with me. Not just as we are now, but as partners. Sharing this house. Sharing my bed. Raising Emmy. And maybe, one day, we can bring more children into our home.”
Ivy’s eyes fill with tears as I speak. I’m not even sure she can see through them until one tear falls down the side of her face.Moving slowly, I get down on one knee, holding her hands and willing the depth of what I feel for her to be tangible in this moment.
“Ivy, you’re my light in this world. You’re my Starlight, to be exact.”
She lets out a laugh despite the tears that are freely flowing down her cheeks.
I clear my throat but feel the emotion pulsing behind my eyes. The wisps of hair framing her face become blurrier the longer I look at her. I wipe my face on my sleeve, not willing to let her go. “Will you be my wife, Ivy? No matter your answer, without fail, I’m yours. But I would love for you to be mine in every way.”
Ivy’s smile is radiant, her eyes full of love.
Quickly, I add, “And I do have a ring. It’s in a box I made in the fridge. I was trying to hide it, but in hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best place. I’m sorry if I messed this up, but seeing you look so beautiful, the feeling of you being here, I couldn’t wait another second to ask.”
Instead of answering, Ivy perches on my bent knee, wrapping her arms around my neck until we’re so close I can smell the warm vanilla on her skin again. “You didn’t mess this up,” she says as her voice cracks. Her hands play with my hair while her eyes scan every inch of my face. She studies me like she loves me, and it’s one of the things I appreciate the most about her. Since we’ve been together, she’s always reaching for me, touching me, wanting me close to her. “I belong with you. Jace, you loved me to life. And I’ll forever be grateful.”
I kiss her softly, taking my time.
“Yes,” she answers, not waiting for me to ask her again.
I stand, lifting her into my arms, one wrapped around her legs and the other around her waist. She laughs and then dropsback dramatically, her neck arching elegantly, her laughter ringing through the kitchen.
At the sound of descending footsteps and paws, we swing to see Emmy and Resin just as they enter the kitchen.
“Did she say yes?” Emmy squeals, and I nod. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Emmy rushes in with her signature chant of three affirming words. She hugs us, and I set Ivy’s feet on the floor so she can lift our daughter up.
