“You?”she said. “At a loss for words? Of all people?”
His mouth curled. “It was something about deserving you, I think. How I’ve always told myself I don’t, but I’m calling bullshit on that.”
“You finally figured that out?”
“Well. Paige may’ve had to beat it into my head a little. Jackson, too.”
She gazed up. “Good. I’m glad. Because you deserve the world. Everything you want. You’re the noblest, most incredible, stubbornest, most gorgeous, foulest-mouthed, most ridiculously intelligent human I’ve ever met. Not to mention phenomenal in bed. And... there’s just no end to it. You’re like a number that equals the sum of its divisors. Perfect.”
He searched her eyes. Light crested inside him, a sunrise burning away shadows. He cupped her face and kissed her, soft and sweet and endless, and it occurred to him that he’d never done that before, crossed the distance first while trusting he had every right to.
When he pulled away, with her sweetness clinging to his lips and her sunshine filling his nose, she looked up from beneath her lashes, almost shy.
“Paige made it sound like you had a question for me.”
His heartbeat hitched. “Paige? You talked to her?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Just now. When I was going to drive to Henderson and find you.”
He tried to process that. “Did she tell you what my question was?”
“No.” A knowing smile curved her mouth. “But god, do I have a strong opinion on what I want it to be.”
“All your opinions are strong,” he said.
She laughed. “True.”
He swallowed. His nerves wakened. This was so different. No park bench or sad dandelions. Just the only woman he would ever love, plus a proper box this time, filling his pocket like a grenade.
“Just one thing,” Aubrey said.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Ask me standing up.”
“You don’t want me down on one knee?”
Her breath caught. “No,” she warbled, then swallowed. “If anything, I should be the one getting down on the sidewalk. I would, if this damned dress wasn’t so restricting. I have so much to make up to you.”
The ridiculousness of that notion made him chuckle. “You don’t.”
“I do.”
“Fine. You can spend all night making it up to me. Just let me do this, first.”
She laughed wetly. He pulled the box from his pocket. Her gloved hands cradled his as he flipped the lid to reveal a rose-gold confection with a polished black gemstone at the center.
His pulse sped. This part made him nervous, no matter how many times he’d practiced beforehand. “I’m sorry it’s not a diamond. It can be, in a couple years. Once I get back on my feet from the divorce.”
A thick, happy sound fell from her lips as her eyes locked on the ring. “Oh, wow. I don’t want a diamond. This is so much better. It’s the same color as your eyes.”
“So... is that a yes?”
She looked up. “You haven’t asked me anything yet. But you know what? I don’t want you to do that part, either. I’ll just say yes. A million yeses. If you’ll say yes to me, too.”
