“Daniel? What are you doing?” I ask, coming to a full stop. I glance back at the car to make sure it hasn’t been towed.
The lady marches by, muttering something under her breath.
He covers the distance twice as fast as I did. At least he has the decency to gasp for breath as he takes me in his arms. “You can’t leave?—”
“I have to,” I say, taking in the way his eyes scrunch at the sides as he peers down at me. “I don’t want to. But Fall needs her car for?—”
“No. I mean, you can’t leave before I tell you . . .”
“Tell me what, Daniel?”
He licks his lips as rain begins to sprinkle from the sky like glitter. He searches my eyes, looking for something that I can’t exactly name. I stare back at him, trying not to lose myself in his beautiful browns like I usually do.
I snuggle in closer. “Not that I mind being in your arms this long, but what do you want to tell me?”
He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. The wind picks up, and so does the rain. It pelts the top of our heads and splashes into little puddles at our feet. We should be running for cover.No, I should be in the car and driving away.But he ran after me for a reason, and rain and deadlines aren’t keeping me from finding out why.
“Daniel?” I prompt again.
He takes a breath as his eyes open. This time, they’re steady. Like he knows exactly why he just raced down thesidewalk to find me in a rainstorm. “I needed to tell you that I love you.”
Cupping his cheek, I kiss the other. “I know. I love you, too.”
The statement sounds more like a question than anything because, while it’s true—I love him with my whole heart—I don’t think that’s what he really wanted to say.
My mouth goes dry as I consider all the ways this could go. “You can tell me anything, you know.”
A big raindrop lands on the tip of his nose. It doesn’t faze him.
“I was planning to do it this weekend, but you’re here now. And I read your letter, and yeah, I want that with you, too. The home, a place for Roman, and . . .” He stares into my eyes, and a smile slips out. “And kids. With you.I want it all with you, Sunshine.”
Oh, my gosh.Chills break out across my skin as his words sink into my brain.
Slowly, he releases me. Then he drops to one knee in the middle of Brooklyn.
I gasp, my right hand covering my gaping mouth as he stares up at me like I’m the only girl in the world.
“I got this for you,” he says, smiling softly.
My heart is too big to fit in my chest, the beats so loud they drown out the rain that’s falling harder.
A black velvet box is tucked safely in his hands. “My apartment hasn’t felt the same since you left. You gave it soul with your sweet smile and brought it to life with your laughter. You brought it—broughtmeto life, Summer. You are my home. My heart. My love. My everything.” He chuckles. “Those were some good lines.”
I laugh as tears flow down my cheeks.
“But it’s how I feel,” he says earnestly. “I don’t want thislife without you in it. My career, the penthouse, the contracts. Nothing makes me whole the way you do.”
Carefully, he takes a ring out of the box, then drops the box into his jersey.
My hand falls to my heart as I watch him hold the physical representation of the biggest promise a man can make between his fingers. A platinum band and a gorgeous diamond? It’s too much.He’s too much.
He’s … mine.
“Daniel …” I say, my voice cracking from emotion. “I would’ve said yes with a Ring Pop.”
He grins. “I’d already fallen in love with you. But seeing you with my son and watching how quickly you cared for him like he was your own, and how you two bonded, I knew you were the perfect partner for me. You’ll also be an amazing mother to our children like you are with Roman. Summer Season?—”
“Yes?” I reply too fast for him to finish.
