“What is this?” I ask.
“It’s a studio,” he says. “It’s your studio. I want you to be able to follow your passion, to put your all into it, and pursue your dreams. Come on.”
He steps from the car and walks around to my side, opening the door. I climb out and gaze at the studio, the red of the bow seeming stark and vibrant and far brighter than any red I’ve ever seen before.
“I’m never going to change my mind, Rachel. I couldn’t change my mind, not with you, not when I love you so much.”
I turn, gasping.
He gazes down unflinchingly, his lips somewhere between a grimace and a smile. I’ve never seen him so unsure.
But when he says it again, the smile dominates, the affection shining through.
“That’s right. I love you. I love you so much, that it doesn’t even make sense to me. I love you, I love our life, and I love that we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. I don’t care what anybody says about our age difference, my money, or all the rest. I love you, and I want to be with you.”
“I love you too,” I whisper. “Oh, Ryland. I wanted to say it. I just didn’t want to be the first one.”
He reaches for my face, cradling my cheek. “Say it again, Rachel.”
“I love you.” Reaching up, I place my hand atop his. “So, so much.”
“Good,” he says. “Because I’ve got something I need to ask you.”
I let out a giddy scream when he falls to one knee, his hand snaking into his pants pocket. I’m bobbing up and down on the spot like I’ve lost my mind, not sure what else to do. My heart is beating up in my freaking throat.
“Rachel Jacobs,” he says, opening the ring box to show a full diamond set within an elegant band, glinting in the late-day sunlight. “I knew I loved you the first time we met. I knew I could never be with anybody else. I need to make it official. I need the world to know who you belong to. I need, need to make you my wife. Please, Rachel, my perfect Rachel….”
“Will you marry me?”
His voice croaks at the end, becoming vulnerable in a way I’ve only heard once. When he spoke about his uncle and the fighting pits, when we reconnected in the park.
“Yes,” I whisper, feeling like I’m in a dream.
Then I pierce through the surrealness.
I leap straight into our big beautiful reality and raise my voice.
“Yes!” I yell. “One hundred, one thousand percent yes, Ryland.”
His smile is so wide, so full of happiness – tears spring to my eyes. They slide down my cheeks as he slides the ring onto my finger, the fit just right.
Leaping to his feet, he pulls me to him.
Our kiss has never been sweeter, with all the joy and the potential of the future making our passion flame even fiercer.
“I love you so much.” I gasp between kisses. “Forever, Ryland.”
“I’ll never stop loving you,” he breathes huskily, moving closer for another kiss. “For as long as I live.”
TWO WEEKS LATER
Ryland
I move around the heavy bag, letting out short puffs of air with each strike. When I used to hit it, there would be this rage in me.
Now it’s more like any other workout, my body sinking into the well-honed muscle memory, that hell with Uncle Aaron not forgotten but pushed back to the recess of my mind.
In a way, it’s good I didn’t meet Rachel until after my boxing career ended. I don’t think I could’ve been the hard, tough bastard I needed to be with her melting my heart.
And she does, every single day.
Last night is a perfect example.
I was sitting in the living room with Rusty. She was in the kitchen, the doors open, her voice carrying to me as she sang to herself. I turned down the TV and sat there with our dog, my hands sliding through his fur. I already think of everything as ours.
It was heaven to be able to listen to her voice, to know that she’s mine.
We’ve already started planning the wedding.
She officially moved in the day I proposed.
I paid to move Autumn to a better apartment in a more upscale neighborhood.
My woman doesn’t have to worry about anything except pursuing her singing career, planning our wedding, and spending time with the people she loves.
“I almost feel guilty,” she told me a few nights ago after we’d just had made love.
I had her cradled to me, my chin resting on the top of her head. With her naked body pressed against mine, it was difficult to keep my lust at bay.
It always is, even if we’ve just made love.
It’s not just how physically captivating she is, with her curves and her wide enthralling eyes and the way she has of looking at me like she’s begging for me to become her predator.