Page 107 of Cocky Prince
“Yes, that, but—Hayden—” I swallow. Jesus Christ, why is this so hard? “I want to marry you. I—I love you, and I want to marry you. Will you be my wife?”
She’s silent. And not moving.
“Hayden?” I lean in until our noses touch. It’s fucking dark, and I can barely see her eyes, but I think she’s crying. Shit. “We can wait. There’s no rush—” She launches on me, squeezing the air from my lungs. “Is that a yes?”
“I love you,” she says breathily, as if she’s run a mile. “Yes.”
I hold her tight, so grateful for my father right now. Had I not done what he said and taken that job at Blue, I might not have gotten the opportunity to know Hayden. We might have run into each other, since we have mutual friends, but it wouldn’t have been the same. I wouldn’t have seen her daily, had the chance to annoy the crap out of her until she was forced to succumb to my charm. Bottom line: I have a lot to be thankful for. My father, my mother, my brothers, and this woman in my arms.
I roll her to the side and dig in my pocket. “You don’t have to wear it as your engagement ring. I can buy you another, but this was in the will. My father said that my mother wanted me to have it.”
I hold up the ring that’s set with a clear, cushion-cut diamond with smaller diamonds surrounding it. It’s pretty, but I don’t know shit about this stuff, and I want Hayden to love whatever ring she wears.
Her lips press together, and this time I’m certain tears roll down her cheeks. I should have brought a lantern, dammit. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Her voice catches and she slides the ring on her left ring finger. “Don’t you dare try and replace it. I love it.”
I pull her close and hold up her hand. And for a moment, I remember this ring. The way it sparkled on my mother’s hand. She used to let me spin it around on her finger.
I look into Hayden’s eyes. “I’m about to say some corny shit, so brace yourself.” I take a deep breath and blink back the emotion threatening to steal my man card. “I’ve never been happier in my life than in this moment, and the last top five have featured you naked, so you can imagine the heights this one had to climb.” She grins, and this one I can see, because it beams out from within. “Thank you for never letting me get away with my shit, and for loving me even when I’m being a jackass. I’ll always be here for you—I’ll always be fighting for you.”
I kiss her, and I swear the light that shines through her smile radiates into the kiss, warming my body and the heart I once thought had frozen over for good.
Epilogue
Adam
“You’ve got this,” I tell Jaeg.
He looks like he’s about to pass out. What happens when a six-foot-six, two-hundred-thirty-pound man falls in the forest? Does he make a sound?
Jaeg gulps and touches his tie. “You sure I don’t look like a tool?”
“Of course you do, but that’s the point. That’s why it’s called a grand gesture.”
Jaeg’s face turns white. “I think I’m going to puke.”
“Don’t puke. It will kill the romantic vibe. Pull it together, man.”
Loud yapping sounds come from behind, and we both turn. A little brown wiener dog defies gravity and his size and launches four feet toward Jaeg’s crotch. I flinch.
Jaeg catches the dog with crazy small-dog-catching agility. “Hey, Buddy,” he coos in the girly voice he uses when he’s talking to his and Cali’s dog-child. “How’s my little guy?”
“Jaeg. They’ll be here soon.”
Jaeger straightens and clears his throat. “Right. Here, take Buddy.” He hands me the dog, and the little guy nearly squirms out of my arms. “Hold him tight. Cali will kill me if anything happens to him.”
I roll my eyes.Jaegwould break my arm if anything happened to the dog. “They’re coming. Pull it together.”
Jaeg jogs in place, the light gray suit I helped him pick out straining at his he-man muscles.
“Simmer before you split a seam,” I tell him.
He shakes out his arms and takes a deep breath. “I’m ready. Go hide somewhere before she sees you.”
The plan is to get Cali into the middle of the forest where Jaeg had me and the other guys haul his one-thousand-pound manmade wood trellis. I might have pulled a hammy—that son of a bitch was heavy. Jaeg’s been working on the trellis for months, but he only just told Tyler and me and the other guys his plans for it.
“Buddy!” I hear Cali call. I make a run for it into the woods, holding the dog like a football.
I duck behind a boulder where Hayden and the rest of the gang are waiting and spying. Hayden kisses my cheek and coos quietly at Buddy. We watch as Cali walks up the path with Gen.
