Page 119 of The Love Rematch
And he sits before her now with the same promise.
Jake shifts onto one knee. He pulls something from his pocket. A crinkle breaks the silence as the scene fades to black and the wordsWill you marry me?fill the screen. Instead of presenting her with a velvet box, he holds a Ring Pop between his fingers. The sugary hot-pink diamond is completely ridiculous, yet perfect.
“I knew you would never trust me with the design of any piece of jewelry, let alone the one that will hopefully be on your finger for the rest of your life,” he says with a grin. “So I thought this might be a good placeholder until an Emily Ann original could be whipped up. Whatever diamond you want. Whatever setting you want. I don’t care how much it costs. I’ll sell my body if I have to. If recent reviews are anything to go by, I’ll make a killing—”
She punches him on the shoulder. “Jake.”
“Em.”
She arches her brow. “Jake.”
“All right, all right.” He takes her hand and brings it to his lips. The wry smile fades, replaced with something more uncertain as he swallows. This time when he speaks, his voice is tender and raw. All traces of humor are gone, making it clear the words come straight from his soul. “I spent a lot of time trying to think of the perfect things to say, but that wouldn’t be us. That wouldn’t be real. And this is, Em. This is the realest moment of my life. And when it comes down to it, I love you. Simple as that. I can’t promise never to hurt you again, because I’m sure I’ll make mistakes. But Icanpromise I will never leave. Icanpromise I will always fight for you. Icanpromise I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to deserve your love. There’s nothing I want more than to be worthy of you, Emily Ann Peters, because you are the most incredible woman I’ve ever met in my life. You see the best in people. You’ve always seen the best in me. You’re so strong, so driven, so passionate. You make me feel like I can do anything, be anything. And no matter what life brings, I can promise you this. I can promise you forever. Because that’s how long I’ll love you. So…”
He takes a deep breath.
Emily holds hers.
“What do you think? Will you marry me, and make me the happiest man in the—”
“Yes!”
She shrieks and flings herself into his arms. It’s the quickest decision she’s ever made in her life and the easiest one, too. Jake laughs and pulls her back long enough to slip the Ring Pop over her finger. It snags on her knuckle, but she doesn’t care. She grabs him by the cheeks and pulls him in for a kiss, laughing against his lips as he crushes her to his chest. And when he eventually reaches for his camera, she lets him. Because he’s right. Their story wasn’t made for TV, but itisone to remember.
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