Page 207 of Into These Eyes
I haven’t told Jamie yet. She knows it’s coming, just not when, or how much. Along with getting my conviction quashed in record time, she asked Pete for something else. She demanded he push hard for compensation. Compensation which isn’t a forgone conclusion for the wrongfully convicted. It’s simply left to the government’s discretion on whether or not to offer an ex-gratia payment.
Pete warned me it could take years and, if I was awarded anything at all, it might not be much. Matters such as mine are not, as a rule, public knowledge, so it’s difficult to determine who has come before and succeeded.
But I had a number of things on my side. Reid’s corruption being one of them. Malice or negligence by a government official are the top factors in a successful ex-gratia payment. And Reid had that in spades. Then there’s Pete himself. Though I don’t blame the guy, he claimed he was negligent in not supervising the surveillance on Reid, resulting in me being shot. Along with Liam’s statement and Jamie’s father’s video confession, I’m apparently one of the lucky few to succeed.
So says my bank account.
I can’t wait to see her face when I tell her.
It marks the end of the past I want to put behind me. And the start of our future.
A future I’m now capable of providing for her.
As I dry off and hurry to the wardrobe, excitement courses through my bloodstream. With a trembling hand I pull on a deep blue Henley t-shirt Jamie bought me, then find the pair of jeans I hid at the back of the wardrobe a while ago.
Taking a deep breath, I slide them on, check the pockets, then inspect myself in the mirror.
I might not look like fifteen million bucks, but I definitely feel like it. My goofy grin seems to think so, anyway.
Giving myself another quick pat-down, I check my watch and take a few deep breaths. Almost time.
In the kitchen, I transfer the bottle of champagne I’ve kept hidden at the back of the fridge to the freezer, grab a couple of glasses and pop them in too. As I turn away, I hear the faint rumble of the garage door.
My heart thunders. I don’t know why. I’m positive she’ll be thrilled, but I guess my heart wants to make sure I’m fully aliveand present. It’s beating hard and deep because I care hard and deep.
Striding into the hallway, I lean against the wall and wait for her to emerge. I hear the internal garage door close, footsteps, then the laundry door swings open.
She smiles when she sees me. I step forward like I do every day and kiss her. After I slip her laptop bag off her shoulder and place it against the wall, she touches my chest.
“Ooo, the Henley,” she says, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Someone’s getting lucky tonight.”
“We’ll see.” Her hair’s loose around her shoulders, and she’s wearing a pretty blouse paired with tight jeans and cute little heels. Now that she works for herself, she dresses however she likes.
As comfortable as she looks, those heels are coming off.
I drop down on one knee, her hands automatically going to my shoulders.
“Gavin, you know you don’t need to keep doing that. I’m fine.”
“And you know I love taking care of you. Don’t try to deny me that pleasure, woman.”
“You’re right. So stupid of me. Knock yourself out,” she says with a pleased sigh.
I do just that. First one shoe, then the other. When she drops her hands from my shoulders, I take them in mine and look up at her.
She gazes down at me, confused. Usually, I’d be on my feet, telling her what’s for dinner or asking about her day. When she realises this too, her eyes widen a little, and she starts to blink. Fast.
She knows.
And now I know, without a doubt, I have nothing to worry about.
“Jamie,” I begin, feeling her hands tighten on mine, “before you, time seemed endless. Sitting in that cell, I wished for nothing more than time to speed up. Every second was an hour, every hour a day. But now, with you in my life, I wish it’d slow down. Now that I’ve found you, it’s like time’s making up for its previous error, making every day an hour and every hour a second. Now there’s nowhere near enough of it. And I don’t want to waste another moment.”
Looking deep into her eyes, I release her, reach into the back pocket of my jeans, and produce the small velvet box.
Her hands come up to her mouth, her eyes already leaking rivers as I reveal the ring.
“Jamie, my sweet, sexy, wicked woman … myyou’re-it-for-me girl… will you let me love you and take care of you for the rest of our lives? Will you marry me, J?”
