Page 92 of Silver Fox's Secret Triplets
"What about you?" he asked. "What do you want?"
The question caught me off guard. I'd spent so long focusing on what everyone else needed that I'd forgotten to ask myself.
"I want to stop running," I said finally. "I want to have a family, a nice home… Stability for me and the kids."
His hand covered mine across the table, and I felt the calluses on his palm, the steady warmth of his skin.
Dessert was chocolate soufflé that dissolved on my tongue, paired with champagne that made everything feel golden and possible. When the waiter cleared our plates, Duncan stood and extended his hand.
"Walk with me?"
I let him guide me toward the edge of the rooftop, where a small terrace extended beyond the main dining area. String lights flickered overhead, and the night air was crisp against my cheeks. The city stretched endlessly below us, alive and pulsing with energy.
Duncan stopped near the railing and turned to face me, taking both my hands in his. His expression was serious now, intense in a way that made my heart race.
"Ivy," he began, his voice rough with emotion. "The moment I saw you walk into my office, my entire future shifted. I'd spent years convincing myself I didn't want love, didn't need a family, didn't deserve the kind of life other people got to have."
I opened my mouth to speak, but he shook his head gently.
"Let me finish," he said. "For years, I told myself I was better alone. That I was too old, too set in my ways, too damaged by what happened before. I had my exit strategy planned—early retirement, a quiet life away from all of this." He gestured toward the city lights. "But then you came back, and everything changed."
My throat tightened, and I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes.
"I'm scared," he continued, his thumbs brushing across my knuckles. "Scared of failing you, of not being enough, of you realizing you deserve better than a man who's made as many mistakes as I have. But I also know there's no one else I want to try with. No one else who has ever made the idea of forever feel not only possible but real."
He released one of my hands and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small velvet box. My breath caught as he dropped to one knee, the city lights creating a halo around him.
"Ivy Whitmore," he said, opening the box to reveal a ring that caught the light and scattered it into tiny rainbows. "Will you marry me? Will you let me spend the rest of my life proving that I'm worthy of you and those beautiful children?"
The ring was perfect—a classic solitaire with a band that would fit snugly against my finger. But it wasn't the ring that made my heart race. It was the man holding it, the man who'd forgiven me for my mistakes, who'd shown me that one bad choice doesn't have to affect your whole future.
"Yes," I whispered, then louder, "Yes, Duncan. Yes."
He slipped the ring onto my finger with shaking hands, then stood and pulled me into his arms. The kiss was gentle at first, then deeper, full of promise and hope and all the tomorrows we were finally brave enough to claim.
When we broke apart, I looked down at the ring sparkling on my finger, then up at the man who'd just asked me to spend forever with him.
"I love you," I said, the words feeling both new and ancient on my tongue.
"I love you too," he replied, his forehead resting against mine. "All of you. Always."
Below us, the city sparkled with endless possibility, and for the first time in years, I wasn't afraid of what came next.
