Page 236 of Wait for Him

"I did not trick you."

"You told me you needed my help with legal paperwork!"

"I did need your help."

"You needed my signature on a marriage license!"

"Yes. That was one of the things I needed help with."

"Jackson."

I wave a hand. "It was convenient. We were already in the same building."

"Because you manufactured a reason for us to be in the same building!"

"I really did need your help that day."

"You are so full of shit."

"That's unnecessarily hostile."

"You ambushed me with a marriage license."

"Ambushed feels dramatic, Rose. I presented you with an opportunity."

"To marry you."

"Exactly."

Okay. That one may have pushed it, because she stares at me with a particular twitch in her upper lip that I’ve grown to be wary of.

"A proposal is not a technicality, and neither is a marriage license."

"It is when the outcome has already been decided."

Her mouth drops open again. "By who?"

"Me."

She blinks at me several times. Yep. I’m in danger.

"Us," I amend.

"Interesting correction."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I choose to receive it as one."

She's trying to glare at me, but I can see the smile fighting at the corners of her mouth now, which means I am absolutely not stopping.

"The proposal is a formality that will arrive at a time and place of my choosing."

"Maybe I don't wanna marry you. Ever considered that possibility?"

Now she's really fighting the smile.