Page 121 of Make Mine Sweet
“Oh, Ian.” I turn to face him, and my already overtaxed heart stutters harder.
He’s on one knee, holding a tiny box revealing something shiny, smiling up at me as if I am the best thing he’s ever seen.
“Angel, I love you more than I ever thought possible. When my world was bleakest, you gave me hope. Joy.” His mouth quirks, and his eyes grow shiny. “A family. I want to go on loving you for the rest of our lives. Will you be my wife?”
I drop to my knees with him, ignoring my muddy pants. “Yes!”
He grins even wider as he plucks the ring from the box and slides it on my finger. The pale purple emerald-cut gem has green and white gemstones on either side making it look like a flower blossom. It’s perfect.
“I love you so much,” I tell him between kisses. “I couldn’t be happier.”
“I told August I was going to ask you to marry me.” His pale blue eyes glisten in the sunlight. “He, uh?—”
Ian swallows a couple of times, needing a second to gather his words. I run my hands over his shoulders, waiting. Seeing him choked up gets my tears falling, too.
“He asked if this means he can call me Papa.” He grins despite the rush of emotions overtaking him. “So. I can’t imagine a better day.”
“Yet,” I remind him. I crush him against me as close as I can. He holds the back of my head, his face in the crook of my neck.
“I love you with my whole heart and soul,” I tell him.
“My angel,” he whispers against my skin. “My wonderful Tess.”
We’re a tangle of limbs and overwhelmed smiles and pure joy. But after a few minutes, I have to pull back.
“When did you ask August? I can’t believe he kept this a secret.” Keeping his lips sealed isn’t exactly his forte.
“Oh, he didn’t. I asked him when we dropped him and Dutch off at Wren’s an hour ago. He wanted to run out to the car to ask you for me.”
That sounds more like it. “So Wren already knows.”
“Everyone already knows,” he confirms.
“I’m good with that.” I wrap my arms around his shoulders. “Will you say it?”
His gaze heats. “We’re in the mud.”
“That makes it more perfect. Just say it once for me?”
Once now…more later.
“It’s always for you.” But he tips his face closer to mine and growls. “Arr.”
“That’s my pirate.”
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BONUS EPILOGUE
WREN
Is this what it’s like when the presenter calls your name to come up on the stage and claim your Oscar? It’s got to be a close second.
I walk up the pine tree-lined residential street carrying two boxed pies, my body fizzing with triumph. After months of gentle prodding and a tiny bit of bribery—the pies, obviously—I finally snagged an invite to one of the most mysterious clubs in Sunshine. Today is the day. At long last, I get to sit in on Ada and Isabel’s smutty book club.
To be clear, I adored their romance pick for the month—a Highlander hero, this one wheedling his way into marriage via blackmailing his intended with her embarrassing letters to an imaginary beau. It automatically went on my favorites list. But I’ve pictured Ada and Isabel’s secret meetings as something subversive for too long for me to just stop referring to them as risqué.
Even if I’m now included in the get-togethers.
