Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
If it’s possible, I’m falling even more in love with him right now.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” he says to me as I run to him, my new heels clicking on our wooden floor. I throw myself into his arms, squealing as he lifts me off my feet, too happy to care about how the move makes the hem of my short dress ride up even more.
“I can’t believe you did this!”
“Anything for my girl.”
He kisses me, tasting like home, like love. I moan against him before my logical brain remembers there are a whole lot of other people in this room, and I pull away, feeling myself blush. Aidan chuckles, taking my hand as we turn to the crowd of others waiting to greet me.
My mom pushes to the front of the group, shouting my name and grabbing me in a hug. I hug her back, thanking her for being here. Aidan has met my parents before, but they live in the next city over and are kept busy with their social lives and work so I don’t see them as often as I like to. The fact that my mom and dad are both here means the world to me.
“I knew you were a good guy when I met you,” Mom says to Aidan
She lets me go so my dad can hug me too.
“It’s an honor you think so,” Aidan replies, as charming as ever.
Admittedly, I’ve been a little nervous to introduce him to my parents because of our age gap. I mean…he’s closer in age to my mom than he is to me. I’d expected it to be awkward, for me to have to justify and explain everything. But my parents didn’t care as long as I was happy and he was treating me right, and I realized just how lucky I was to have their support.
I greet everyone else, accepting hugs and birthday gifts with a smile and thanking everyone for coming to celebrate with me. I feel warm and bubbly the whole time, always staying close to Aidan, either holding his hand or leaning into his side, needing to touch him. The effort he’s gone to for me…I feel so loved and special—the way only he can make me feel.
“I love you,” I tell him as we get a moment to ourselves when everyone starts to mingle now that the surprise part of the party is over. Someone hands us glasses of fizzy champagne, and I sip my drink happily.
“I love you more than words can describe,” he says back to me, making me shiver. He’s looking at me like I’m the damn sun, and God, there’s no way this could get more perfect.
The second I have that thought, Aidan decides to prove me wrong.
My mom comes up to give me another hug, pulling away quickly and taking my glass. I frown, confused as to why on earth she’s stealing my drink, until a secretive smile tugs at her lips.
“Turn around, baby,” she stage-whispers with a wink.
It’s then that I realize everyone’s gone quiet. Nervous butterflies erupt in my belly. What’s going on?
The second I turn around, I’m glad my mom stole my glass. If she hadn’t, it would surely end up shattered on the ground. Shock makes my knees go weak.
Aidan’s waiting for me on one knee, a box in his hand. As I gape at him, he opens it to reveal a sparkly ring that I can’t see clearly because my eyes are rapidly filling with tears.
Oh. My. God.
Am I dreaming?
“Holy shit,” I gasp, making people laugh while I desperately try to get control of myself. I’m shaking, unable to believe this is really happening.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Aidan chuckles from where he kneels in front of me.
“Trying to figure out if I’m dreaming,” I admit with a teary laugh.
Aidan gives me a smile that only makes my knees weaker. “Now you know how I’ve felt since I met you,” he says, and I melt. “Autumn, sweetheart, I am the luckiest man alive to be able to call you mine.”
“I’m the lucky one,” I argue, shaking my head.
“Let him speak, honey,” my dad calls out from behind me.
I laugh, slapping my hand over my mouth to shut myself up. My dad’s right, I need to let Aidan do his thing, but it’s so hard not to just launch myself at him and make him put the ring on my hand already.
“I knew from the moment I saw you that you would belong to me,” Aidan says, grinning up at me. Damn, he looks so good on his knees. He looks like mine. I love how possessive he is of me, and I feel just as possessive of him. “I want you to be mine forever. My heart and soul are yours already, sweetheart, but I want to make it official. See you in a sparkly white dress.”