Page 131 of Breaking Point

Still nothing.

I shake off my impatience before meeting Aleks' eye. There's a knowing look on his face, and I swat him playfully.

He shrugs, strolling toward the patio. "He'll be here. Geez, I never took you to be so impatient."

"Tell Charlotte and your brother we're ready," I tell him as he disappears outside. "And I'm not impatient," I murmur, freezing when I hear the floorboards creak behind me.

"Just prepared," Crew answers, and when I see him, I can't help my smile.

"You clean up nicely," I say, commenting on his navy dress shirt that's unbuttoned to reveal a tan slice of his chest. That paired with his new brown slacks and he looks effortlessly sexy.

But I refrain from commenting on it, strolling to him instead. I stop just before I reach him. "Well? How did it go?"

His eyes sweep over me, and I'm sure that even if I wasn't wearing a pretty green sundress, he'd still smile. He leans against the door jam, satisfied look and all, untucking a hand from his pocket. A ring of shiny silver keys dangles from his finger.

It takes everything in me to play things nonchalant. It's been six months since he set his eye on getting hisown office space. Six months of long nights spent restoring this damn office building he wasn't even sure he'd keep the keys to... because real estate in Sutton is more than a pretty penny.

He's worked his ass off for this.

But I shrug knowingly. "Somehow I knew you'd get it." He hums, the sound low and all too sexy. "I was getting worried though. I thought you said you'd be here by six."

"Well, I stopped by your office to get a couple of things." He proffers my planner, the golden font flashing in the low light. I nearly laugh as I stroll forward and lift my hands to his shoulders.

Probably forgot it again.

"You are a godsend," I say, standing on my toes to kiss him.

He tugs me closer, nipping my lip gently, but I draw back, setting my planner aside before glancing out the window for any sign of Aleks, Skar, or Charlotte. I see them on the dock,laughing and drinking from the flutes of champagne I left for them.

Are they coming in?I wonder, but I turn to Crew andsmile again. "What else did I forget?"

"You didn't forget anything." I distractedly look out at the river again, knocking so they know to come inside. But I don't see them anymore. Crew is closer now, less than two feet of space between us. "I did."

At that, I look at him, but he isn't looking at me. He's looking at the simple emerald box on the counter.

I freeze.

I freeze because I know that shape. The same, small ring-sized box I've seen at every wedding I've ever planned.

It takes me several long moments to put the pieces together myself.

My boyfriend is holding a ring box in his hand, and somehow, I still find myself wondering where he got it from.

"What...?"

I can't even finish because Crew reaches for my hand, laughing quietly. "Do you remember when Taylor took that job from that family outside Sutton? When we decided opening an office would be a good idea?" I nod. Tears threaten to fall when I see the honesty, the vulnerability, shining in his eyes. "I bought it that same week."

"But that was almost a year ago!"

He laughs again as I stare at the box. "I had to ask your Dad. And it took me entirely too long to arrange it into something you'd like. Some of the stones are from the ring my Dad gave Mom when he proposed."

Which means Dad, Jimmy, and Theresa were in on this too.

"Crew-"

"Mom slipped the stones into my pocket when we visited earlier this year. Charlotte helped me choose the setting."

I stare at him for far too long. Somehow, words are stuck in my throat. I shouldn't feel as surprised as I do, but...

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