That surprised him. “You do?”
“Of course I do.” She reached up and cupped his cheek in her palm. “I was done waiting, too. I was going to come to you tomorrow to tell you that I want you to marry me. I want us to have kids. Make a family. And live on your ranch just like we used to dream about, remember?”
He wrapped his arms around her, looked down into her eyes and said, “Why do you think that’s the ranch I bought when I came home? I remember everything, Beth. And just so you know, I was coming to you tomorrow, too.”
“Really?” She smiled up at him, and everything inside her settled into a warm glow that filled her so completely it should have been spilling from her fingertips.
“Really.” He let her go long enough to dip into his jacket pocket and come up with a blue velvet ring box. “I drove into Dallas this afternoon. I wanted to have it with me when I asked you.”
She took a breath and held it while she blinked frantically to prevent tears from filling her eyes and spoiling the view of the man she loved holding a ring.
“You have it with you now,” she said softly.
“I have you with me,” he countered, “and that’s the most important thing. This—” he flipped the lid open, displaying
a huge, square diamond flashing up at her “—is just a celebration of that.”
Beth’s breath caught as she looked up into his eyes again. “It’s beautiful, Cam. It’s perfect.”
“Not until it’s on your finger it’s not.” He lifted her left hand and kissed her knuckles. Beth felt that kiss all the way to her bones.
“I love you, Beth,” he said, his gaze locked on hers. “I loved who you were then and I love who you’ve become. I don’t want to spend another day without you. Beth Wingate, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said quickly, and sighed as he slid that gorgeous ring onto her hand. She wiggled her finger and admired the flash and shine for a couple of seconds, then looked up at him. “I love you, Camden. I always have. Always will.”
“That’s what I needed to hear.” He framed her face with his hands and leaned in to kiss her softly, almost reverently. “You know, back in the day, I’d half convinced myself that I just didn’t deserve you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No.” He shook his head. “What’s ridiculous is I almost let myself get convinced of that again.”
“I never would have let you get away with that,” she said, smiling as she leaned into him and laid her head on his chest, where she heard the steady thump of his heart. “We deserve each other, Camden. And we deserve the life we’re going to make together.”
“Darlin’.” He pulled her back so he could give her a grin. “What a time we’re going to have.”
And then he kissed her, and Beth knew that this time they had both won.
* * *