Page 84 of A Lot Like Forever
He shook his head. “No, Faith. You don’t get to tell me how I feel. You can tell me to leave you the hell alone, and I’ll back away if that’s truly what you want, but right here, right now, is a man telling a woman that he loves her. No strings attached, as simple as that.”
He could see her breathing. Her mouth was slightly parted, her chest rising just visibly as they sat in silence.
“I can’t be hurt like she was, Nate. I can’t give you my heart and worry that one day you’ll wake up and realize you don’t want to be with the hired help.”
“Hired help?” He laughed, holding up one of her hands and leaning in closer to drop a kiss to her skin. “Are you kidding me?”
The look on her face told him she wasn’t.
“Darlin’, you were my pretend housekeeper for a few weeks. That doesn’t make you the help, and even if it did, I don’t give a fuck, to be perfectly honest.” He sighed, wondering how he was ever going to convince her that his feelings were genuine. Hell, he’d had women begging for a commitment from him in the past, yet he couldn’t make Faith believe that he wanted to be with her exclusively no matter what he said.
“Faith, you’re going to make an amazing art consultant. You’re a strong, capable,beautifulwoman, and the last thing I’d ever want is to be responsible for crushing your dreams or your career aspirations. That’s why I love you so much. You came to me for protection when you were vulnerable, but at the same time you’re so damn strong and determined.”
She smiled, just a hint of a smile, but an upturn of her lips nonetheless.
“Your brother is one of the state’s best horse trainers in my opinion, so whatever you think about your background or your family not being good enough for me? That’s just crazy talk.”
“So what are you proposing?” she said in a low voice.
Nate had planned on having lunch first, but to hell with it.
“Funny that you ask . . . ,” he murmured, letting go of her hand and standing. He’d discarded his jacket and put it over the back of his chair, but he reached into it now for the small box he’d tucked safely into his breast pocket.
Nate cleared his throat, suddenly not quite as confident as he’d been the day he went in to choose it.
“Faith Mary Mendes,” he said, dropping to one knee beside her.
Her hand shot up to her mouth as she looked down at him, eyes wide.
“If this isn’t proof enough that I love you and intend honoring my word, then I don’t know what is,” he said. “Marry me. Put me out of my misery and tell me that you love me, too.”
She sobbed, a quiet, barely audible sob, hand still pressed to her mouth. “I do love you,” she whispered.
“Good,” he said with a laugh. “And will you marry me?” He opened the box, annoyed with himself that he hadn’t shown her the ring straightaway. “I wanted to get you something spectacular, but I didn’t think you’d want something new. So I found an antique jeweler to work with and we finally found this.”
The diamond was substantial, five carats, and it was set on a platinum band with pretty baguette diamonds to each side. The style was perfect for her slender finger, and when she lowered her hand from her mouth, shaking, and extended it toward him, he carefully slid the ring on.
“Yes,” she whispered. “It’s beautiful.”
He stood and pulled her up with him, wrapping his arms around her. “Almost as beautiful as you,” he murmured against her cheek, holding her tight.
“Are you sure you want this? That you--”
“Hush,” he said, kissing her to stop her from talking. “I have never wanted anything more in my life.”
They kissed, a slow, lazy kiss that could have gone on for hours if they hadn’t been in the middle of a gallery with only an hour to spare before they could potentially be surrounded by other visitors.
“I will never ask you to forfeit your career for me, even it means being apart,” he told her, holding her body against his, her cheek to his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head, in her silky hair. “Everything that is mine is yours.”
“Really?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
Nate stroked her back. “Really.”
“I’m sorry for being so stubborn,” she confessed, leaning back in his arms and gazing up at him. “I just . . .” She didn’t even know what to say, so overwhelmed by what was happening, by what he’d just asked her.
“Hey, your stubbornness is one of the things I love about you.”
Nate kissed her again, before laughing at the rumble that came from her belly.
