AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Was his plan really fun and sweet, like he thought it was, or was it lame? If it was lame, he’d never hear the end of it from Jules—because there was no way she wouldn’t hear about it.
After letting Paige in and giving her a kiss, he led her into the kitchen. As he poured her a glass of wine, Jacob, who’d been drawing at the table, jumped out of his booster seat to greet her with a hug around her legs.
“I got this ring for you,” he announced with enthusiasm, holding up the plastic capsule.
“You did?” Paige’s face lit up as she took it from him and popped it open to remove the cheap ring. She immediately put it on the ring finger of her right hand and then made a show of admiring the pink stone from all angles. “It’s very pretty,” she gushed, bending to give his cheek a kiss. “Thank you. I love it.”
“Dad got you one, too. But it’s purple.”
“Purple?” Paige asked, her tone teasing as she looked over at David. “Well, let’s see it, big spender.”
David inwardly groaned as his plan took a bit of a detour, and for a moment was at a loss, because he hadn’t mentioned the proposal to Jacob. In the event Paige said no, David didn’t want Jacob to be disappointed—or be a witness to it, either—which was why David had wanted to wait until after dinner to execute his part of the plan, while Jacob was occupied in another room. Then, if David got the answer he wanted, he and Paige would’ve gone to share the good news with Jacob together.
Giving Jacob a disgruntled look, at which point he made an Oops face, David reluctantly pulled the plastic bubble capsule out of his pocket, making Paige rub her hands together in exaggerated expectation.
Praying this didn’t go any further south, David handed it to her, and she paused for dramatic effect for Jacob, who was grinning widely, before she popped it open. She started to reach for the ring, only to freeze and blink several times, not sure what she was seeing. Instead of a cheap ring with a fake purple ‘stone’, this ring was basically all bling. The main stone was a large, round, brilliant cut diamond, encircled with smaller diamonds, and the platinum shank was decorated with trailing accent diamonds.
It was stunning. And obviously not something out of a vending machine.
“What the fuck?” Paige blurted out before she could stop herself.
Jacob’s eyes went round with shock. “You said—”
“I know,” David said and immediately began steering the little boy out of the kitchen, toward the hall, because it did seem like this was headed further south. Way further. “Why don’t you go to your room for a few minutes?”
“But Paige needs to put money in the swear jar—”
“I know. I’ll make sure she does. Now, please go to your room for a few minutes, okay?”
David added another little push, and with a frown, Jacob started walking toward his room. Waiting until he had disappeared inside and closed the door, David then turned back to Paige.
She could see the tense set of his shoulders, the wariness in his eyes as she clutched the plastic container holding the ring.
“So, are you going to marry me, or what?” he asked, forging ahead, his heart beating painfully fast.
The softly spoken words hung in the air between them, and she could feel herself start to shake a little now that the initial shock was wearing off. “Are you sure about this?”
His answer was immediate. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life. Except for the first time I proposed.”
She swallowed hard and took the ring out, her hands shaking just enough that she dropped it on the floor, where it bounced and rolled several feet. “Shit. Sorry,” she apologized, quickly going after it and feeling utterly mortified, as David blinked at her.
After getting a solid grip on it, Paige simply stared at it in silence. She couldn’t help but admire the way it sparkled in the light, and briefly got caught up in wondering how much David had spent on it, so she almost missed what he said next.
“Remember what I told you the first time I asked you to marry me?” he asked. “I said there wouldn’t be anyone after you, and I was right. I’ve always loved you … even the five years we were divorced, I loved you. But now, after we’ve been together like we have for the past several months, it’s like my feelings for you have fucking exploded, and I know I’ll never want anyone as much as I want you.”
It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. “I’ve always loved you, too. But …”
“But what? Is this where you tell me you worry about us not making it this time, either?”
“And if it is?”
“Then I’m going to tell you to not worry about that, because I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
