Page 41 of Falling For My Childhood Crush

“Never let you go.”

He moved in for a kiss and there was no way that I could deny him. I wanted a kiss too, needed to feel closer to him. His lips touched mine and from that instant on, I was lost. There was nowhere else that I wanted to be.

When he pulled away, he asked me what my answer was. “Yes.”

“That was easy.”

“Well, you gave me a pretty easy situation to agree to. I am up here all the time and I hate the diner.”

He chuckled. “Since you are willing to go along so well today, I have something else to ask you.”

I was a bit shocked at that. He had already changed my address and my job. What else was he trying to change? “Oh really? What is that? Is it time to get into my pants now?”

He growled under his breath, the sound sending shivers throughout me. I didn’t know what to say and before I could say anything else, he was kissing me again. We were never going to get anywhere in this conversation if we kept doing that.

After a few moments, I was ready to ditch the conversation altogether and get into something that was going to be a bit more physical. I started to pull him toward the bedroom and he stopped me. He pulled back reluctantly and said that he had to ask, or he never would get the chance.

“Is it really that important? You’ve changed enough today. What else do you want?” I was slightly annoyed because he was stopping the progression of what came next. That first kiss set me up, the second one got me ready, so I was no longer ready to talk any longer. There was no need to ask anything, I was ready right now.

Jeff pulled me back into his arms, so close that I thought he was going to kiss me again. My heart was beating hard in my chest. Something significant was about to happen.

“I want to change your name, Beatrice. The last bit.”

He didn’t say anything more and it took me a minute to understand what he was really saying. Did he just ask me to marry him?

“You want to change my name?”

“Yeah, to mine.”

I closed my eyes, not sure that this moment was really happening. “You’re asking me to marry you?”

I opened my eyes and he was standing there with a ring in his hands. “It’s my grandmother’s. It was willed to me when she passed, so that I could put it on my wife’s finger. I never thought that I would need it or want it. I never thought that I would fall in love with a woman like you and ever want to get married, but I can’t think of anyone better to wear it. I love you so much, Beatrice. I want to go to the ends of the Earth with you and no one else.”

“Yes.”

I don’t think he was done yet, but there was nothing else that needed to be said. I loved Jeff with all my heart, one more change didn’t sound so bad.

30

Jeff

Six Months Later

The opening ceremony was about to start, Beatrice was running around half-naked, talking about there was nothing for her to wear.

“Why are you freaking out like this? It’s just the ribbon cutting. It’s no big deal.”

She was delightful when she was all worked up. I stopped her in the hallway, making her trip from the bedroom to the bathroom for the tenth time. I didn’t want to rush her, tried to slow her down and help her focus. I kissed her and soon after, neither one of us was focusing and that seemed to make us about even.

“Everyone is going to be there!”

“It’s just Jericho, baby.”

“I know, but all of the firehouse people are going to be there. After everything that happened.”

I told her not to even worry about it. “We’re married now, Beatrice. You’re going to be the mother of my child soon. They are just going to have to get over it. We’re together and that’s that.”

“That’s easy for you to say, everyone here loves you,” Beatrice grumbled back, but when I nuzzled her neck, she pushed me away and said that she had to get ready.

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