“Helen Fischer, you deserve to be loved and adored. You deserve to be the leading lady of your own story, whether you choose to be with me or not, so I came up with tonight to give you that moment. A chance to see how important you are, not only to me, but this whole town…”
“You can thank me later, Ma,” Conner’s voice yelled from somewhere over my shoulder.
“Don’t make me come over there, Conner Fischer,” Lizzy yelled back, making everyone clap and whistle.
My attention turned back to Jax, who had stepped closer.
“Queen Helen, I have to be honest. I am way more the Beast than I am Prince Charming. I am damaged goods and I might never really heal from the narrative I’ve been telling myself for the last sixteen years, but you make me feel like I’m enough. Imade some bad decisions, I walked when I should have stayed, I gave up when I should have fought harder… but I promise, if you choose me, I will spend the rest of my life reminding you how important, how special, how beautiful and how loved you are. I guarantee that life won’t be a fairy tale… you’re way too grumpy in the morning for birds and mice to come and do our spring cleaning…”
He stepped ever closer, and I could see the curve of his smile and the warmth in his brown eyes. “But I will always treat you like a queen, fight any dragons that show up in your life, and make sure that Lord Lanton and his sidekick crony, Sir Silver Fox Sean, remind you to take lunch. I’ll massage your sore spots after Pilates and watch the sunrise with you and eat dessert before dinner…”
He pointed to the chair, and I sat, looking up at his wide frame, loving how he towered over me, but then he dropped to his knees, leaning in close and bringing the mic between us. “I guess I have one question left before we put the movie back on…” He put the mic down and reached under the chair, pulling out a box and lifting my shoes from our date out of it.
They had been hidden in my closet since he moved out, so seeing them sparkling in the moonlight made me gasp dramatically because I’d forgotten how stunning they were.
He eased off my sneakers and socks and slipped one onto my foot. He winked and lifted the mic again. “Well, the shoe fits,” he announced, making everyone clap and cheer again. “And you know what that means… you’re meant to be mine, but in this fairy tale, we’re all about consent, so Helen Fischer, let me ask you in front of all these people so you can’t change your mind… I am offering you all my broken pieces, my missing parts, all the…” He paused and I couldn’t resist, running my fingers up along his jaw.
“Ask me.”
Eyes glazed, he swallowed hard. “Knowingeverythingabout me… can you choose me, beautiful?”
I pressed on Jax’s chest so he moved back and then stood, his brows pinched and his lips formed into a thin line. I got up from the chair, taking out the other shoe and slipping it on before I reached for the mic so it was between us again.
“No more secrets?”
“Never.”
“You’ll move in with me… properly live together?”
His tongue flicked over his lips. “If you’ll have me.”
“Choosing you will be the easiest decision I’ve ever made.”
I wasn’t really aware of the screams and cheers going on around us, too focused on Jax to care about anything else. He leaned forward to kiss me, but I placed two fingers over his lips. “I am going to need one thing before we go any further.”
“Anything.”
“I’m going to need a crown.”
And with that, Jax dropped the mic and slammed his lips against mine.
Chapter 41
Jax
The drive home had only taken minutes, but I was so hard I could barely think straight and Helen’s lip biting and squirming in her seat the entire way hadn’t helped.
“Thank you for tonight,” she murmured as we made it inside the house, locking the door behind us.
“You deserve it… I wanted to do something you’d remember forever.”
Helen pulled off my cap and hoodie before tugging my t-shirt over my head as my hands latched onto her waist.
“Well, I will. I’ve never felt so special. I can’t believe you got the whole town involved.”
Our lips crashed together as we moved through the kitchen and living room to the stairs.
“Sean and Conner,” I mumbled as I hooked my hands under her butt, lifting her so she was forced to wrap her legs around my waist. “… helped.”
