Page 117 of A Bossy Roommate

The hem of my shirt is in my hands, and I keep twisting and untwisting it. My teeth dig into my bottom lip. “You’re going to want to strangle me,” I say in a soft voice.

He reaches out to take my hand, but I pull it away. “Eden, why would I do that?”

I avert my gaze, unable to look him in the eye anymore. “It’s…” My voice breaks, and I trail off.

“Eden, baby, whatever it is, we’ll handle it together.”

“You say that now…”

“Hey,” he says in a sharp voice. “Come on, sit down. Over here on the bed. You know you can tell me anything.”

He takes off his wet jacket, and sits next to me on the corner of the motel bed. The frame lets out a subtle squeak under the added weight. I take a deep, shaking breath and finally lift my gaze to meet his.

I open my mouth, and no noise comes out.

Carter’s expression softens. “I never want you to be afraid to tell me anything. Baby, if it isn’t clear by now, let me spell it out for you: I’m serious about you, about us. I don’t see us just as boyfriend and girlfriend, I see you as my wife. Not a fake one. A real one. In the course of all this craziness, you’ve captured my heart. I don’t want to lose that.”

My breath catches in my throat.

What?

I blink. Twice.

“That’s why you left, isn’t it? Because you thought I was stepping away from what we had? That I didn’t want to hold onto you, just like your ex-fiancé didn’t? That I wouldn’t sense how awful it might feel for both of us to lose what we’ve become—even if it had been planned? No. Let’s give this marriage a proper shot. Stay with me, Eden, forever.”

My eyes sting with tears, and I try to hold them at bay. This is all so overwhelming. It’s all too good to be true. I can’t speak at first. I sit there, staring into his expectant eyes, at a loss for words.

Isn’t this what I’ve always wanted? To be a wife? To have a man love me so much he wants to spend the rest of his life with me?

I shake my head. “I can’t…”

“I’m headstrong. I don’t know if you noticed, but once I make up my mind about something, I stick to it. I won’t accept a no. I want to be the man who gives you a world of dreams, who fixes what was done to you, who deserves your trust, who makes all of this right. Having said that”—he gets down on his knee in front of me, and I gasp—“I figured you’d respond more to action than words.”

“Wait…”

Not listening, he reaches into his pocket and my heart stops when he pulls out a small, gray satin box. The way he smiles at me makes my heart melt.

When he opens it, I about fall off the bed.

The most beautiful diamond ring sits on a small pillow. It glistens with a unique, asymmetrical cut, casting fractured rainbows in the dim motel room light.

“Carter…” is all I can say.

“Do you want to be my wife, baby?”

I shake my head, tears falling. “I’m sorry, so sorry, Carter, but I can’t. You’re not going to want to marry me. You’re going to hate me…”

“I would never hate you.”

“Uh-huh…” More tears stain my face.

“It’s all right, it’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath. Please, baby, don’t cry.” He gets back up and sits next to me. “Now relax and tell me what happened.”

When I manage to speak, my voice is barely above a whisper. “It’s me who got you fired.” Tears start to fall again, and my breathing picks up. God, why is it suddenly so hard to breathe? It’s like something was squeezing the air out of my lungs.

He narrows his eyes at me. “How?”

Ring-ring.

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