I arch a brow, not the least bit interested in their protocol. “Where the hell is Anna… I mean, your journalist?”
“She’s on the way, Mr. Hayes,” the clipboard woman replies quickly, and I catch the flicker in her eyes, she heard the shift in my voice when I said Anna’s name. “In the meantime, we can begin to set—”
“No need,” I cut in, my tone pure steel.
She blinks again. “Sir?”
I step forward, filling the doorway, making it very clear they’re not coming inside. “I don’t need your stuff. Just leave.”
The younger of the two men finally speaks up, his voice hesitant. “Uh, but sir, we are—”
“Don’t you know how to follow a damn instruction?” I growl. “Or do you want me to make you understand the hard way?”
The woman frowns as if she’s about to argue. “Mr. Hayes, the interview needs to be recorded. We need the camera’s—”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t need you to do that for me. I’ve got my own cameras, and the interview will be recorded and sent exactly where it needs to go. Now pack up your gear and get the hell off my porch.”
Her lips press into a thin, tight line, but she eventually jerks her chin at the men. Resigned, they gather their equipment and turn away, all of them tossing me polite nods I don’t bother returning. The second they’re off my porch, I slam the door and walk back into the living room. I collapse onto the couch and drag a hand over my jaw as the pounding in my chest refuses to ease.
Damn it, Anna, how much longer before you get your ass in here? You better make it soon, or I’ll come and drag you myself.
I lean back, my head resting against the headboard, and my eyes closing as I tilt my face toward the ceiling. And just like that, my mind drags me back to the night I proposed to my beautiful Anna.
“God, we’ve graduated,” Anna laughed, taking a sip of champagne as we sat on my rooftop. An hour had passed since we’d walked out of the graduation hall and come to my apartment. I’d changed into my tracks and T-shirt, while Anna swapped her gown for one of my hoodies and those tiny shortsthat showed off those endless legs I’d been dying to touch all damn night.
“Yeah… we did,” I said, pulling her close, pressing her back against my chest as my arms lock around her. I was instantly intoxicated by the scent of her shampoo mixed with the faint sweetness of champagne on her breath. In that moment, I knew. I felt it down to my bones that there was no way I’d ever get enough of her. And then, it suddenly hit me: there would never be a better moment than this for what I had in mind.
“Now I get to think about the only future that matters to us,” I murmured against her ear.
She smiled and tilted her head back to look up at me. “And what’s that?”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the diamond ring I’d been carrying for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment.
I held it out in front of her.
“I want you in my future,” I said, kissing the side of her head. “Every single day of it.”
“Landon…” she breathed, turning to face me fully, her eyes wide as saucers, her lips parting like she wasn’t sure if she could speak.
“Marry me,” I said, no hesitation, no doubt, just the truth I’d been carrying in my chest for far too long.
She blinked, shaking her head like she was trying to process the words. “Landon, we just graduated. We still need to figure out stuff—”
“We will,” I cut in, my voice certain. “But I need you with me when we do that. I don’t want to figure out a damn thing if you’re not beside me.”
“You’re insane,” she whispered, glancing down at the ring before looking back up at me.
“Only about you,” I said without missing a beat.
She let out a soft laugh, and I saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “You’re supposed to think this through.”
“I did,” I murmured, my gaze never leaving hers. “The day I met you.”
She stared at me for a long, breathless moment, and then, slowly, she nodded.
Grinning like a man who’d finally claimed the one prize he’d fought his whole life for, I slid the ring onto her finger, my thumb brushing over her skin.
“You’re mine, Anna,” I murmured, my voice filled with a possessiveness I didn’t bother hiding. “Mine… now and always.”
