Page 74 of A Love So Sweet
“Max, I would be honored if you would let me love you through the rest of your life. Through every insecurity, every argument, and every incredible moment until I take my last breath. And then I’ll be waiting for you on the other side of this crazy life.” He stood and gazed deeply into her eyes. “I love you with all of my heart and soul, Max. I want to make your dreams come true and to see your belly round with our babies, and when we’re old and gray, I want to see you wearing that scarf we bought in Wellfleet and remember making out behind the bushes. Will you marry me, sweetness? Be my wife, and let me be the husband you deserve?”
Savannah grabbed Josh’s arm, and that little movement pulled Max from her stupor.
“You’re sure?” she asked again.
“You are one careful, beautiful woman. Yes, I’m positive.”
Max launched herself into his arms. Her chest ached with the constriction of her muscles, but she didn’t care. He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist and said, “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!”
“I cannot wait to design her gown!” Josh exclaimed.
Treat’s laughter filled the air, mixing with the cheers from his family and Savannah’s giddy squeal. He smiled as he brushed his lips over hers and said, “I adore you, Max Armstrong.” He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing the ache right out of her.
“Looks like we’re gonna have a wedding!” his father said.
“I love you,” she said as Treat lowered her feet to the ground and withdrew a velvet bag out of his pocket.
Looking her in the eye, with a tease in his own, he said, “Max, just to be clear, will you marry me?”
“Absolutely, one hundred percent yes.”
He slid the most gorgeous canary diamond ring on her finger, stealing the remainder of her breath from her lungs.
TREAT HELD MAX’S trembling hand, wanting to never let it go. In all the business dealings he’d ever handled, in all the resorts he’d acquired, he’d never once felt the elation he did at that very moment. It was as if the universe had righted itself, and he and Max were in the perfect place at the perfect time.
Rex pushed past Treat to hug Max, taking a full-body glance at her before pulling her into his arms. That was when Treat finally noticed what Max was wearing. His body reacted instantly to seeing her in such a formfitting, sinfully sexy outfit. Unfortunately, with the way Rex was holding on to her, he assumed her figure had his brother reacting in the exact same way. He tugged him away from Max by his collar.
“Okay, back off. Get your own fiancée.” He loved the feel of that word on his lips.Fiancée.
Savannah pushed between them and wrapped her arms around Treat, whispering, “Finally! I love her!” Then, louder, she said, “She’ll keep you on your toes.” She turned to Max with a wide smile and said, “I’ve wanted a sister for so long,” and then she hugged her.
Treat held Max’s gaze over his sister’s shoulder, and they were passed from sibling to sibling. He couldn’t wait to get Max’s hand back into his own, where it belonged.
Hal embraced Max. “That was my wife’s ring. She and I could not be happier than we are to see it on your finger. Welcome to the family, darlin’.”
Max touched the gorgeous stone. “Thank you for the honor of allowing me to wear it and share in the joy of one day being a Braden.”
He glanced at Hope and said, “It was my wife’s doing.”
Savannah shook her head, but her beaming smile remained.
When congratulations had been doled out and Treat and Max finally came together again, he whispered in her ear, “That outfit is going to make me do dirty things to you right here and now.”
Max smiled and said, “Then it fulfilled its purpose.”
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Chapter Thirty-Four
WHILE THEIR FATHER went inside to grab a bottle of champagne and the others inspected the damage to the cars, Treat took advantage of a few quiet moments to make out with his fiancée. They were midkiss when the sound of hooves on pavement called everyone’s attention past the crunched vehicles, where a woman riding a black stallion slowed to a halt at the end of the driveway. She wore a flowing white dress, hiked up and bundled across her thighs. She slipped her cowgirl boots from the shiny stirrups and flipped her long black hair over her shoulder, giving Treat a better look at her face.
Treat sidled up to Rex, who was standing a few feet away, holding Hope’s reins, and said, “Is that Jade Johnson?”
Rex spun around, practically salivating at the sight of her. “Holy…” He mounted Hope and looked over his shoulder at Jade. When Rex was in high school, he’d had an enormous crush on Jade. But Earl Johnson was the object of their father’s grudge, and Treat had written that crush off as Rex wanting the forbidden fruit. But from the way Rex was looking at her now, Treat had a feeling he was very wrong.
“Jade Johnson was our neighbor,” Savannah explained to Max. “She moved away quite some time ago.”
“Looks like someone got the best of your cars!” Jade hollered.
