I make it to the bathroom, where I slam and lock the door.
Which keeps him out for exactly three seconds.
This fucking man.
“I thought you knew better than to run from me, Mrs. Pierce.”
“Stop calling me that,” I growl.
“Why? That’s who you are now.”
“No, I’m not.” I back away from him, but there’s nowhere to go. Just like those girls who run upstairs in a horror movie, I’ve trapped myself.
“Yes, you are. You also signed your own change of name paperwork.”
I press my eyes shut and breathe through the annoyance seeping into every pore. Yep, annoyance. Because somehow, I’m not angry, I’m not sad. I’m just irritated that he went to these lengths when there was a much simpler alternative.
“You could have just asked me to marry you, Colten. I would have said yes.”
“I know.”
“Then why the fuck would you trick me into marrying you on a random Tuesday while I’m wearing a lounge set and none of our friends or family were present?” I snap.
“Because I didn’t want to wait for you to plan the wedding. This way, you and I both know we’re married, and you can spend as long as you want planning your dream wedding day.”
I stare at him for long seconds, making sense of my reaction to those words. The explanation makes a weird amount of sense, and I’m starting to wonder if I got a concussion overnight to not be furious that my boyfriend forwent a proposal and decided to marry me without my knowledge or consent.
Well, I guess he technically had my consent because I willingly signed the paperwork.
I’m so distracted by my inner turmoil that I miss him stepping closer and dropping to one knee.
A man like Colten shouldn’t kneel for anyone, but when he pulls out the diamond ring of my dreams, I drop to mine in front of him.
“You’re meant to stand for this part,” he rumbles.
“Just ask me,” I whisper as my eyes dart between his face and the ring. The main diamond is set among a halo of smaller ones that weave around the band.
I’m almost certain this exact oval ring has been on my Pinterest board since high school.
Perks of your brother’s best friend stalking you for half your life, I suppose.
“Lexi, my sweet Wildcat. I spent years thinking I’d never be good enough for you. Your perfection deserves someone equally so, but the older I got, the more I realized there’s no one out there as perfect as you, so why couldn’t I work every day for the rest of my life to be worthy of you and your love?”
Tears gather in my eyes, my heart beating so hard in my chest it borders on pain. I’ve dreamed of this moment my entire life. Not just the proposal, but Colten as well.
“Marry me.”
A sob-laugh tumbles out of me, an especially sexy sound for the best moment of my life up until this point. “You know you’re meant to pose it as a question, right?”
He smirks. “Why would I ever give you the chance to say no?”
“You already tricked me into marrying you,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but I’ll never take chances when it comes to you.”
Colten carefully takes my left hand and slides the ring into place, and the tears I’ve tried to hold back fall.
For a long time, I thought I’d never see a ring on my finger. Years of loneliness, of not putting myself out there, of refusing to date. It seemed inevitable that I was going to spend the rest of my life alone.
