Page 83 of Ghost's Obsession

“I wanted to be yours forever,” she goes on, her voice breaking. “I wanted to say it every time you looked at me like I mattered. Every time you held me when I needed you more than I needed my next breath.”

She reaches up and touches my jaw, and I lean into it without thinking. “You’ve been loving me the whole time, haven’t you?” she asks.

“Yeah. Of course I have. Thought you knew. I was just waiting to see if you would ghost me like all the others did.”

A tear slips down her cheek. I catch it with my thumb.

“Not a chance,” she says. “You’re never getting rid of me.” The tone of her voice is what makes me believe she’s telling the truth, more so than her words.

The restaurant has gone quiet. I don’t even know when it happened.

We’re still holding hands over the table, with the sugar rose glinting on the plate in front of her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a couple across the room watching us. The woman’s got her hands clasped and her chin wobbling emotionally. The guy beside her nods once like he’staking mental notes of how this proposal went down. Suddenly, this feels too public.

The waiter doesn’t come back right away. The smart man clearly understands the importance of the moment and is giving us space.

When I look into Heather’s eyes, that’s when I see the outpouring of love I’ve always wanted to see when a woman looks at me. That’s the moment I let myself believe that I’m not dreaming. She said yes. She chose me. It wasn’t out of fear. Not out of necessity. But because she wants me.

When she finally pulls back, her smile is watery and a little uneven, exactly how I love it.

“So,” she says, swiping her thumb under her eye. “Do I still get dessert?”

I huff a laugh. “You are dessert, sweetness.”

She tilts her head. “Okay. But also… I still want cake.”

She’s dead serious. I just proposed with a big fat diamond and she’s worried about cake. When she puts her hand on her belly, I realize it’s probably a pregnancy craving. So, I tell her eagerly, “I’ll get you twelve cakes if that’s what you want, darlin’.”

She laughs, running her hands over her stomach. “I don’t need twelve, maybe one for me and one for the baby.”

I lean back in my seat, and she relaxes as well. She keeps staring at her hand, twisting it under the light like she’s afraid it’ll disappear.

“You like the ring?” I ask.

She snorts. “Ghost, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned.”

“I’m glad. It looks good on you.”

I can’t keep the smile off my face. I motion the waiter over, and he rushes over, clearly relieved that everything went smoothly and she’s actually wearing the ring. “You did an amazing job tonight. We were thinking that we might take a cake for the road. Maybe that chocolate on you have on the menu.”

We leave with our dessert. Heather’s fingers are laced with mine the whole way out of the restaurant. I love the way she clings to me like she’s afraid if she lets go, all the happiness we just created might vanish in the blink of an eye. Or even, like I might vanish. I won’t. Not now. Not ever. She’ll learn that soon enough.

By the time we pull up to the house, she’s falling asleep in her seat. I hate waking her, but I can’t leave her in the truck all night. I hold out my hand to help her down. She takes the help I offer without hesitation.

“You okay?” I ask, keeping her close.

She nods. “I’m tired. But it’s the good kind of tired from doing all the things I love best with the man I love.”

I unlock the door and let us in.

Heather kicks off her shoes near the door and stretches, long and slow, the slit in her dress riding up just a little.

I should be thinking about getting her to bed, but all I can think is how this is the woman I get to marry.

“You know what I was thinking on the ride home?” she asks, leaning against the kitchen island.

“What?”

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