Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Humming, I turned the corner to my apartment complex and headed up the stairs to the third floor. When I reached the last flight, my feet stopped.
“Hi, Daisy,” Brick said in a soft voice. He sat at the top of the stairs with a bouquet of flowers.
I wanted to throw myself in his arms. Pleasure washed over me, and I bit my lower lip. “How long have you been there?”
“An hour? Suzie told me when you were getting off work, and I’d tried to time it to surprise you when you got home, but you must have had plans. Not that I mind,” he added hastily. “You’re worth waiting for.”
He stood slowly and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I guess Suzie forgot to tell you that we were meeting at the shelter, with Nadia too, after work.”
“I should have known,” he grumbled. “Anyway, I won’t stay long. Just wanted to give you these.”
“You haven’t been around.”
“You were doing what you needed to do, and I didn’t want to interfere with that.”
“Interfere?” I raised an eyebrow. “I have a hard time believe that this crappy apartment comes with a high-tech alarm system.”
“I needed to know that you were safe. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep otherwise.”
Pulling out my keys, I walked by him and breathed in his scent. I wanted to melt into him. “I appreciate the flowers. It’s a sweet gesture, Brick. Do you want to come in?”
He hesitated, and I swallowed hard. What was wrong?
“Daisy, I want to… but there’s something I have to say and it’ll be impossible for me to focus in there. Just let me… just let me say it here.”
“Say what?” I whispered.
“I wanted to give you two months of space to really think about what you wanted, but couldn’t even make it longer than six weeks. I just don’t have that kind of control when it comes to you. I came here to ask you out on a date, but it’s too hard.”
My chest squeezed, and I tried not to cry. In trying to find my own independence, I’d lost him. “Brick.”
“I will, though. I’ll ask you out on a date, if that’s what you want. But Daisy…” He took a deep breathe before continuing. “I love you. More than life itself. This stupid transaction, this whole contract, it was nothing more than me being jealous that someone like Ralph had someone like you.”
I thought he didn’t even want to take me on a date anymore, but it wasn’t that. A simple date wasn’t enough for him…or me.
“I saw something in you,” he said. “I should have done all of this the right way.” Brick shook his head. “I should have found a way to let you come to me. Everything is fucked up because of me. But I fell in love with you, and there is nothing that can stop me from trying to make you happy.” Slowly, he got down on one knee and reached into his pocket.
“Brick, what are you doing?” With a hand pressed against my mouth, I walked the two steps towards him that separated us. “Someone is going to see you!”
“It doesn’t matter, Daisy. I don’t care who sees me or who knows. I don’t deserve you. I can be a cold bastard and have done things that you shouldn’t forgive—but if you can, and if you do, I’ll ask you out on a hundred dates.” He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. “Although, I’d rather ask you out while you’re wearing this.”
It was a beautiful solitaire emerald-cut diamond on a platinum band. Despite the horrible light outside my door, it sparkled as he held it out. “Marry me, Daisy. I will spend the rest of my life making you a happy woman, I swear.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. I couldn’t even begin to find the words to tell him what he meant to me. What he’d done for me. Instead, I just nodded. “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, Brick. I love you.”
With a groan, he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his head to my abdomen. Happy to be touching him like this, I curled my fingers through his hair and held him against me as tears streamed down my face.
Finally, he looked up at me and stood. Without a word, he slipped the ring onto my finger, cupped his hands around my face, and kissed me. Slow and sweet. With a whimper, I melted into him. When I finally pulled back, a bubble of laughter escaped me. “Now will you come in?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He stepped inside and slammed the door behind him. Without wasting a second, he lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed my body up against the wall.
“So about that date,” I teased as he slipped his hand up my shirt to cup my breasts. Even through the fabric of my bra, I peaked under his touch.