Page 175 of Triggered By Love
Before he could answer, Joan returned with a plastic bag. “I almost broke my dentures on this huge rock.”
A giant diamond solitaire ring was inside the bag.
“I, uh,” Jason muttered while Avery gasped.
“Is it real?” she asked.
Joan nudged Jason. “You do the honors. I must say, that’s very creative of you.”
His good hand shaking, he tried to unzip the sandwich bag, but Joan helped him out and placed the ring in his palm.
“Go ahead,” Joan said, then turned to Avery and placed both hands on her shoulders. “It’s not easy to find a good man, much less twice. You have my blessing. I could tell that first time I saw you two together, when you were all nervous that he would be true to you.”
Avery’s eyes shone, and she flashed a saucy smile at Jason, almost daring him to break the spell. While he wanted to get the evidence out of Mrs. Bonet’s apartment, he couldn’t pass up the chance to melt Avery’s heart. If she believed, even for a split second, that the proposal came from him, well, all the better.
He could get her to accept, and hopefully, share the rest of the chocolates with her.
Taking the ring, which was at least five carats and priceless, assuming it was real, he got down on his knees and grasped Avery’s hand, not easily, since his left hand was in the sling.
Avery’s large eyes widened, beneficent and joyful, and her smile was radiant.
“Wait, wait,” Joan interrupted. She poured the contents out of her purse and grabbed her cell phone. “I finally figured out how to take a video.”
Jason kept his eyes focused on Avery, but his hand was sweaty. Did she know this wasn’t his ring? Or was she taken in by the moment?
No matter which, he wasn’t going to deny Mrs. Bonet a moment of joy.
“Okay, go when I wave my hand,” Mrs. Bonet said. She tapped her phone and waved frantically.
Jason cleared his throat, holding the ring up high while Avery moved her hand to the one he had in the sling. She grasped his fingers and mouthed a kiss with her lips.
“Avery, I remember the first time I laid eyes on you, how radiant and beautiful you were, and how regretful you made me feel.” He swallowed, knowing that nothing less than the truth would work. “I saw you up there with the man you loved, and it hit me then that I would never have you looking at me like I was your whole world.”
“But here we are,” she said.
“Yes, and even though you were my impossible dream, and I’m afraid to pinch myself and find out it isn’t so, I’m one hundred percent captivated by you. I love you, Avery Cockburn. Please marry me.”
His heart thumped so hard inside his chest that he was sure both women could hear how afraid he was. His gut tightened into knots as he waited, hardly able to hope.
Her smile was graceful and so sweet and kind that he was sure she was about to skewer him with a rejection.
She lifted her left hand to the ring and shook her head, further deflating him and twisting his insides.
“Yes, Jason, yes.” She gripped his hand, and he noticed tears streaming down her face. “I’ll marry you. I—”
“Oh, shoot!” Joan exclaimed. “My battery just died. I hope I got that. I’m so happy for you two.”
She threw herself at Jason and Avery and went for a group hug.
Jason hugged both women tight, even though his arm throbbed with pain. His heart didn’t know whether to jump for joy or shrivel up with anxiety.
Was Avery about to say she loved him? Or did she know all of this was an act?
Even worse, what if she discovered he wasn’t the guy who bought this huge Cracker Jack ring? He had to tell her, but right now, he both feared and was content to live in an evening of delusion.
Joan wanted to take them out to dinner to celebrate, and while she went to get ready, Jason called a delivery service to replace the box of chocolates—costing him over two hundred dollars with rush delivery.
Avery danced around the apartment, wearing the ring and kissing him, acting for all practical purposes as if she were truly and honestly engaged to him.
