Page 24 of Sweetheart and the Grouch
“Thanks,” I breathe, offering her a wan smile before she reaches up and gives me wrist a squeeze.
“Everything will be fine,” she whispers. “I’ve got a good feeling.”
Taking a hope-filled breath, I head toward the doorway, acknowledging Dylan before I head outside with Ajax. We walk for a few beats in silence before he turns to me and chuckles slightly.
“Something funny?” I ask, a cautious smile on my lips.
“Not really. Kind of… This is all just… a lot.”
“Are you referring to me and you, or me and Elena?”
“All of it. My life has tilted and flipped and spun around a few times over the last couple of days.”
“Mine too,” I say, clasping my hands together behind my back. “This feels a lot like a breakup speech, Ajax.”
He stops and turns to face me, his eyes going wide as he shakes his head. “No. No! Nothing of the sort. It’s…” Pressing his lips together, he looks over my shoulder back toward the cabin then takes me by the hand and leads me past the tree line. We stop walking under the shade of a tall pine. “I’m in love with you.”
My jaw hits the nettles beneath my feet. “What?”
“I know. This is crazy, right? But I’ve given it a lot of thought and that’s where I'm at.”
“You love me?”
“Yep. And I also think we should get married.”
I laugh at that. “What?”
“Yeah. I know, fucking insane, right? But hear me out; if you and I marry, we can apply for custody of Elena and you two won’t have to worry anymore.”
“Ajax,” I whisper, softening my voice as I step a little closer to this big, beautiful man. The first time I set eyes on him, he scared the life out of me. But the moment we locked eyes, I knew right away that he was kind and special. I knew he was somehow going to be very important to me. But this? I never could have dreamed. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know. And I can echo that right back to you and say you don’t have to feel obliged to marry me or profess your love or anything like that. But I want you to at least think about it, because I mean it, Ainsley. I love you. And I know I’ve been banging on about how young you are, but give it a year or two and no one—not even me—is going to bat an eyelid. And honestly, what the fuck do I care what anyone else thinks? I live in seclusion up a mountain for heaven’s sake and—”
I silence him by launching myself off the ground, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips against his, kissing him because I don’t have any words right now. My heart is so full.
“What does… What does that mean?” he asks, his hands resting on my waist when I finally pull back from him.
Looking deep into his gorgeous green eyes, I smile and just let myself melt into him. “It means yes, Jax.”
“Yes?”
I nod. “Yes, I’ll marry you, and yes, I love you too.”
Laughter and joy bubble out of his chest as he slams his mouth to mine and kisses me in a way that has my toes curling and the rest of me wishing we were deeper into the woods for some private time.
“You just made me happier than I’ve ever been in all my life,” he murmurs between kisses, making me hold onto him a little tighter.
“You are my happiness, Ajax.”
Pulling back, he brushes his thumbs on either side of my face then presses his lips against my forehead. “You have no idea how much that means to me, sweetheart.”
When he swipes his thumbs beneath my eyes, I realize I’ve been crying and laugh at myself for being so tearful these days. I never used to be like this, but my life has just become so wonderful so quickly that I’m overflowing with emotion. And that’s all attributed to him. When he found us on the side of the road, he not only saved me from a too-heavy backpack, but he saved me from everything that came before too.
“Let’s go give everyone the good news,” he says, shifting back and linking his hand with mine.
“You know Elena is going to lose her mind. She already thinks we stepped into a magical fairytale kingdom the moment we entered Whisper Valley.”
“Well, you heard about the Soulwink already, right? So, she might be right.”
