He chuckles. “No, stubborn, I didn’t buy dinner because I planned on making you my dinner.”
Words choke on their way out of my throat, and a garbled gasp comes out instead as a warm hunger settles into my bones.
He rubs the back of his neck and sighs.
A million what if’s run through my mind, and the weird feeling I woke up this morning feels more like a warning?
“If you don’t say something in the next ten seconds, I’m going to eat all this cake, then run for the hills because whatever is going on is making me want to exit my skin.”
He huffs and leans forward, sliding his hand to the back of my neck, pulling me to his mouth.
“Are you pregnant?” I ask him.
He chuckles and brushes our noses together. “Nope, not last time I checked.”
“Well, I’m not sooo…” I trail off.
“Dammit, Mae, I love you,” he says on a laugh.
“Uh-huh, I love you too.” I pause and press my lips to his. “Whatever it is, it will be okay. Just tell me,” I whisper.
He grins and kisses my cheek before getting to his feet. He offers his hand, and I take it.
He puffs out a breath, looking out into the dark land, hands in his pockets. There isn’t a light in sight except for the battery-powered ones surrounding us. “Okay, yeah, alright,” he says and nods to himself.
I stand there frozen, nervous, confused, not sure what to do.
His hat comes off, and he puts it over his heart.
“For some reason I thought I would be a lot less nervous than I am.”
He takes a breath and looks me in the eye.
“The moment I saw you from across the room, you gave me a good feeling. It’s weird, and it’s hard to describe, but it was there. It wasn’t love at first sight. But something about you begged me to know more. Then, well … when you finally gave me a chance and …” he pauses shaking his head.
“Don’t stop,” I whisper.
The corner of his mouth tips up. “It didn’t take me long to realize that I saw a future with you. I knew you were it for me. I knew the first time we kissed, I was a goner. And when I replay it in my head over and over again, I remember the look on your face. I think you were too.”
I nod. “I didn’t know it then, but looking back, it was pretty obvious.”
He chuckles, placing his hat back on his head, and drops to his knee.
I gasp, taking a step back.
He holds up a ring and reaches for my hand.
“I don’t care that we’ve been together for months. I don’t care about timelines that we make up for ourselves. I love you so much it’s hard to explain it other than with those three words, and every day I promise to do whatever I can to show it to you. So if you’ll have me, will you marry me, Mae Morgan?”
I’m pretty sure my brain shut off and motor functions are the only thing I’m capable of because all I see is astunningring in his hand and he’s holding it up to me, like it’s mine.
“Me?” I ask him voice taught, I’m pretty sure my organs are failing now.
He huffs and nods. “Do you see any other women around here?” he asks.
“You want to marry me?” I ask him, pointing to myself.
His smile widens into a beaming grin. “Yes, stubborn, I want to marry you, but do you want to marry me?” he asks.
