Page 143 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
It was hell, but I gritted my teeth and simply nodded. "All right. I just didn't want to be late."
"We won't." He walked through the middle of the resort’s fancy restaurant, and I half-expected someone to stop us and ask what the hell we were doing, but they all moved around us as if we weren't walking through the dining room uninvited.
Jason stopped at the entrance to the ballroom, the door closed behind him and spun to face me.
"I love you more than words could express. Whatever differences there are between us, they stop here. Now. Okay? No more talking about our age difference, or how we're co-workers or anything else. This is just me and you now. Got it?"
The dominance in his voice and tight grip of his hands on mine caused my heart to flutter.
"Got it. I agree." I moved toward him and kissed him softly. "What are you doing right now? I'm confused."
"Don't be." He kissed the tip of my nose and turned as the doors behind him opened.
I walked up beside him as my breath caught in my chest.
The dark dining room was lit up only by a small table in the center of the dance floor. White lights strung from the ceiling to the floor all pointed the way toward the table. Rose petals were scattered along the floor, both white and red mixed together.
And among the candles in the middle of the room was a black box on a glass pedestal.
It felt like too much. I wasn't nearly worthy of the attention.
"Jason," I mumbled and turned to my right before reaching the table.
He leaned over and picked up the box before moving down to his knee and opening the box. The beautiful ring inside sparkled as the light hit it.
"Rebecca, I've loved you for the last two years, watching from the edges of your world as you owned it, ran it, built it up from nothing. I'm so far beyond impressed by all that you are, but more than that, baby, I'm enthralled with who you're going to become. Let me walk beside you, support you, strengthen you... let me love you forever. Be my wife, Becca."
Tears dripped down my cheeks as a host of emotions suffocated my voice. I nodded instead and moved into his arms as he stood up and wrapped me in a tight hold.
"Yes," I whispered roughly. "God, yes."
EPILOGUE
REBECCA
"It's time," I mumbled as fear raced through me. My arms were wrapped around my swollen belly, and my heart was working to beat its way out of my chest. "I'm scared."
"No. Don't be." Jason jumped up from the couch and moved toward me, pulling me into his arms. "I'm going to be right there with you, baby. Let's go. We know the drill."
I tried hard not to pant, but I couldn't help it.
He stayed completely calm, which was a little concerning. He was usually the one to get emotional or overreact in most situations.
I snorted and stifled a laugh as he moved me to the front door. The memory of our dishwasher overflowing on the floor five months before swept through my mind. He was a hot mess by the time I got home to help him, and I laughed harder that night than I could ever remember laughing in my whole life. It would seem that the boy's mother didn't teach him which kind of soap went into a dishwasher. It wasn't liquid hand soap, as was evident by the number of bubbles we had to clean up. He was a hot mess through most of the ordeal, but now... he was completely calm. My peace in the middle of an unknown storm.
"Right this way, baby." He wrapped his arm around the top of my shoulders and helped me out to the car.
"It's going to be okay, right?" I stopped beside the car door as another contraction slammed into me, almost doubling me over.
"Hold tight. It's going to be okay. Let's get you to the ER." He helped me into the car and kissed my forehead. "I'm so excited. We're going to be parents in a few hours, baby."
"Get me to the hospital," I barked out between clenched teeth, my excitement trapped behind a wall of pain.
"Yes. Hospital." He slammed the door and ran around to his side.
I pressed my head against the seat and tried to remember all the breathing techniques we'd learned in our Lamaze classes. Funny how quickly all that training evaded me.
He drove like a bat out of hell, but I didn't complain once. The sooner he got me there, the sooner this would be over.
