Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
At a red light, he turns to me with a smirk, nodding. “Everything’s fine.”
“You just seem a little… off. Is it about where we’re going?”
“No,” he replies huskily, “but it’s more than that. It’s about the rest of our lives.”
He studies me, as though waiting for me to tell him he can’t make comments like that because it’s only been a short time. Instead, I look at him steadily, fighting the nerves that try to corrupt the moment.
“I’m ready for that,” I say.
The tension in him relaxes a little. “We’re almost there.”
He drives us to a dog shelter in the city, stopping the car in the parking lot. Before I can say anything, he steps from the car, walks around to my side, and opens the door. He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. I collapse naturally into his arms. It feels as normal as breathing as I wrap my arms around him and squeeze tightly.
Something’s happening. I know it. The rest of our lives, he said.
He holds me in that special way, leaning down and inhaling as if he wants to draw my scent into him. I love when he does that.
That’s right… love. I don’t care if the rest of the world would say it’s impossible to love a man after such a short time, if they’d laugh at thinking it’s possible to form such a strong bond so instantly. It’s what I feel, and I’m tired of running from it.
“I love you, Luna,” he says.
I gasp, leaning back in his embrace so I can look up into his face and gauge the seriousness of his words. He stares down with no doubt, without even a glimmer of hesitation, nodding when he sees my reaction. I’m beaming from ear to ear, unable to hide it, but I’m still not sure. An evil voice taunts that I might’ve somehow misheard him.
“That’s right,” he says fiercely. “I love you. I love your kind soul and your beautiful nervousness. I love how talented and dedicated you are. I love every single part of you. I love you down to your bones. I love you so much it hurts.”
His voice is getting breathy, how it does when he’s talking about his time in the service sometimes. This is even huskier.
“I. Love. You.”
He leans close, kissing me with fresh heat. I return the kiss, clinging onto his side, savoring the feel of him, knowing I’ll never forget this moment.
“I love you too,” I tell him in a pause between the kisses. “I know it’s fast—”
“For everyone else, maybe,” he says, “but for us, it’s perfect. It’s how we feel. Why should we fight it? Why should we pretend?”
“We shouldn’t,” I whisper.
“I want a family with you,” he goes on, causing my heart to swell with even more…
I don’t have to run from it anymore. My heart swells with even more love.
“That future we talked about, the kids, all of it. It wasn’t hypothetical for me.”
The word hypothetical makes me smile even more when I remember discussing Kayden with Dad before Dad and Kayden had met and hit it off.
“I brought you here because I want us to get a dog together. You know how difficult it’s been for me to own a dog of my own. Every time I think about it, I think of Sergeant, of what I lost. I’m done living in the past. I’m so ready for our future together.”
“Me too,” I whisper. “So ready.”
“This might seem like a strange place to do this. A parking lot, but it’s a symbol of the gift you’ve given me. I can let go. Move forward. I can finally let myself feel. It would’ve been impossible without you. Do you want it too, kids, a family together, a life?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation, so much love in my voice I almost yell the word. “As crazy as it seems…”
“What, Luna?” he says, when I trail off.
“I’ve wanted it ever since we met.”
“Me too,” he says.
“What?”
“I wanted it the second I saw you,” he says fiercely. “I needed it is more accurate to say that. I longed for it with everything I had.”
He steps back, reaching into his pocket.
My body reverberates with starlight and fireworks and warmth and all things good, all things floaty and love-filled, and I know I’ll never forget the sun shining from behind him, catching his hair, the shape of his confident smile. The yapping of the dogs from the shelter, the smell of him clinging to me. All of it… tattooed into my mind forever.
“Luna Stevenson,” he says, kneeling as he takes the ring box from his pocket. “Will you marry me?”
He opens the ring box, presenting a gorgeous diamond set within a white gold band. It catches the light just like his hair does, winking up at me.