Page 98 of Anything for You
Bear circled around me, then ran to sit by Dorian. He smiled down at his dog, then back at me as I arrived in front of him.
“Hello, Ms. Jensen.” He took my hand and immediately dropped to one knee.
I gasped. “Wow. Right down to it, huh?”
He nodded. “I can’t wait anymore. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Dove. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met and I count every moment with you to be a gift. I know it won’t always feel like that, but I want us to choose each other over and over again as we grow old.”
I was crying. Just instantly crying.
He chuckled softly. “Your heart is so tender and beautiful.You are generous and loving. I chose this spot because it was here, at our first picnic, I knew I loved you. I’d known from almost our first interaction it was possible. You were just so silly and unabashed.”
We laughed together at that, no doubt thinking of my breaking and entering.
“I’ve been working on myself, on healing, for a while now. I don’t know what’s ahead, but I can promise you I will not stop working toward health. I realize it’s a risk to be with me—no, no, don’t worry, let me finish.”
About to spring to his defense, I pressed my lips together instead, forcing myself to listen.
His warm, calloused hand squeezed mine. “It’s always a risk to commit to someone. We’re imperfect, and being together doesn’t magically solve all our problems. I’m not whole because of you. You didn’t save me from the depths of my despair, and I didn’t save you.”
A laugh tripped out of me. “Um, you literally did save me.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Okay, maybe in one sense. But you know what I mean, right? We’re not suddenly entirely different people because we love each other.”
I nodded, appreciating the point.
“The good news is, we alsoaredifferent people. You’ve changed me and impacted my life in incredible ways and I hope I’ve brought good to yours.”
Tears again. “You absolutely have,” I said, voice watery.
“This has gotten away from me, so I just want to ask you…” He swallowed, dropping my hand for a moment and pulling a small box from his pocket. He pulled it open, revealing a classic plain band and gorgeous diamond I couldn’t even make sense of. “Dove Jensen, will you marry me?”
I laugh-cried out, “Of course I will. Yes!”
And then he was on his feet hugging me, twirling me around while Bear barked and leaped along with us, then kissing to seal the moment. After laughing and crying a little more, he wiped my tears and we just stood there holding each other, glowing.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you could’ve seen us from space.
“I love you so much. I can’t believe this time last year, I hardly knew anything about you and here we are, about to get married,” I marveled.
He brushed some hair out of my face and gazed down at me.Ugh.His expression was all tenderness and heat and definitely meant we were not going to be here long enough to enjoy the picnic.
“We don’t have to get married before March. She was joking, and though I’m very happy with that timeline, there’s no rush. We do have a lot of things to talk about and I don’t want you to feel anything but happy and excited about it.”
I sighed, loving his consideration. “I won’t feel rushed. I’d marry you tomorrow if I had a dress and all my friends could come.”
He chuckled and grinned at me, joy so clearly sketched on his face, I had to kiss him again.
“I do have one more important question,” he said, his face sober.
“Oh. Sure. ‘I’m quite at my leisure,’ as they say.” I winked.
His brows raised, a twinge of skepticism before he said, “I lost a bet this last week with Pedro. He usually playsSanta for the ‘Weekends with Santa,’ but… it’s on me this year.”
I blinked, then cackled. “Oh my gosh, I cannotwait.”
He tipped his head side to side. “Well, here’s the thing. I thought maybe, you could be my Mrs. Claus.”
I giggled, the thought of me and Dorian in white wigs and him with a giant belly and beard hitting me just right.
