Page 62 of Cherish

“Aww,” Ananda says. “I’m so happy for you.” She pulls me from Jason, and everyone in the room takes turns hugging me.

“Okay, guys, back to work.” Beth ends our little party. “It’s Friday! Let’s make it a good one.” She walks back to her office, leaving us alone. Mellie and Ananda also walk away as I walk Jason out.

“I’m on call tonight, but hopefully, I won’t be called in. I’m going to sleep in my on-call room. We’ll drive home together after you get off work. I’ll meet you back here, okay?”

“Okay, fiancé.” I hold up my hand and wave it around like Miss America.

“I love the sound of that. I love you, Alex. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I love you, Jason. Always.”

CHAPTER 40

JASON

The fifteen minutes I wait for her to come out are the longest of my life, but when she does, she has the most beautiful smile on her face when she sees me. I take her hand, intertwine our fingers and walk to the garage to my parked car. Instead of going to my place tonight, we decide to go to her place for privacy. Her apartment is as cramped as I remember. Pictures of her on the wall in no order. The condo is the opposite of Alex. She’s soft words and a calm intensity. The house is confusion and chaos. She looks at the world with wonder and awe, but this place is stifling with disorder. She doesn’t belong here. She’s not free here.

“Angel, what do you want to do with this place?” I ask.

“I know I don’t want to sell it. It’s my mother’s home, so I want to keep it. It’s all paid for, though,” she says as she looks around. She sticks a hand in her hair and scratches. “She always kept it like this, and I didn’t have the heart to throw anything away, but I think it’s time. Maybe we can make it a rental property after doing some updating.”

“We can clear it out whenever you’re ready, but maybe we can wait a little while for the repairs. I have a new tenant moving in next month, and hopefully, the third floor will get rented out soon too.”

She smiles widely as she walks over and plants a wet kiss on my lips.

“You’re a giver. Has anyone ever told you that? I never spent a penny of the half-million-dollar life insurance policy my mother had. I can use it for this.”

“What?” I exclaim, slapping her on the ass so suddenly she stumbles. “You have more money than me.”

“You can be my sugar baby if you want,” she says, walking toward the kitchen. “I can start by buying you dinner since I have no food here.” I turn to find her looking into an empty fridge. She pulls out a half-gallon of milk, opens it, makes a face after smelling it and pours the sour contents down the drain. It’s no surprise she has no food here. Even before she ran off, she spent every night with me. In my house. Where she belongs.

“I’ll go grab us a pizza while you continue packing. Let’s get as much of your stuff as we can tonight. I want to get you home where you belong.”

The smile she gifts me with is radiant. “I’d like that too, babe. I’ve missed our place.”

She leaves the kitchen and starts to walk back to her bedroom, but I grab her and pull her into my arms. She looks up, her gray eyes alive and twinkling. I lean down and take her mouth with mine. She wraps her arms around me and kisses me back, bringing my body to life and making my dick as hard as granite.

I lift her off the ground and spin her around. She throws her head back and emits a carefree laugh. Her laughter spurns something inside of me, and soon I’m laughing with her.

“We’re getting married!” she yells so loud, I’m sure the neighbors heard.

“Damn right we are!” I stop spinning and hold her to me, feeling her breath against me, inhaling the smell I’ve missed so damn much for the past four days. Her stomach growling causes us to laugh all over again.

“Pizza, packing, then home. I want to spend the rest of the night making love to you.” I kiss her one last time. “Think about when you want to get married. I’m thinking very soon.” I try to sound calm and mask the desperation in my voice as much as possible.

“Soon, huh? How about we go to city hall on your next day off?” She waves me off as she laughs.

“I’m off Wednesday. Let’s do it.”

She continues to laugh, but when she sees the seriousness of my face, her eyes widen. “I was kidding about Wednesday, but I agree it should be soon.”

Satisfied with her answer, I leave her apartment and walk two blocks to a hole in the wall pizza place. The place is busy for a Friday, and I spend longer in the restaurant than I anticipated. I add a couple of bottles of water to our pepperoni pizza order and leave as soon as my name is called.

By the time I get back to Alex’s building, there’s an older, white gentleman getting out of a silver pickup truck, looking completely out of place in the neighborhood. He looks around and our eyes meet for a brief moment. I give him a nod in acknowledgment, and he nods back. I don’t pay any more much attention to him and make my way back to the cluttered condo as soon as possible.

“Food, angel. Let’s eat.” I move a stack of books and outdated magazines out of the way. As I’m moving the magazines, I notice they are from over ten years ago. I finish setting the table just as Alex wheels two big suitcases out of her bedroom.

“So,” I say a few minutes later, after we’ve both eaten two slices, “we get married next week. I know it’s fast, but we can plan a real wedding for next year. I just want to be your husband now.” She looks at me and opens her mouth to speak. “And no, it has nothing to do with Natalie and the possible baby.”

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