Page 169 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“It wasn’t a felony because I own the house. I only have to pay a small fine because we didn’t involve the local authorities with how big of a fire it caused. The cops, EMS, and firefighters all showed up,” Noah tells her.

“Hold on. Are we just going to brush past the fact that you said it was your house?”

“I bought it. I finalized the purchase Saturday,” Noah says, laughing.

“Excuse me? You didn’t tell me you bought a fucking house. Shouldn’t you have cleared it with me?” Jeremy says with irritation.

“I started the process the first day I saw her. I didn’t have time to consult you.”

“Wow,” Jenna says. She throws her hands up as she flops back against the backrest of the couch. “Welp. I guess there’s only one last thing to ask.”

“And what’s that?” I ask her.

“When are you guys getting married?”

CHAPTER 74

NOAH

The room was so silent you could’ve heard a mouse fart. Willow is just staring wide-eyed at Jenna, who is very pleased with herself. Please don’t look at me for an answer, because I swear I’ll run upstairs right now and show her the goddamn ring.

I told her she was my forever. So, of course, I looked for rings for years before finding the perfect one. I’ve kept it locked away in my safe upstairs since I bought it when I turned eighteen. All I needed was to find her, so I might as well be ready.

Granted, I don’t think Willow is anywhere close to being ready to get married just yet. Judging from the silence still sitting heavy in this room, I can almost guarantee it.

“There’s no rush. I’ve waited fifteen years to have her back in my arms. I’m fine with waiting however long she needs,” I say confidently.

Jenna’s head snaps in my direction, whereas Willow’s slowly turns until she’s looking at me.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re not even slightly shocked about what she just asked?” she manages to say.

She reaches for her cup and downs the rest of her coffee before grabbing my glass. Oh yeah, she’s definitely not ready yet. Plus, we have a few other things to take care of first.

“If Noah had it his way, they’d have signed the wedding certificate last night. Or maybe he would’ve snuck it in when she was signing her new contract to work with us,” Jeremy laughs, but Jenna elbows him in the ribs.

“Wait, did you accept the job?” Jenna asks.

“Well, I mean, yeah. Kind of,” Willow stammers.

“She said yes,” I tease, and I watch Willow’s face turn bright red.

Fuck, I can’t wait to go all out when I propose to this woman.

“Okay, so what happens now then?” Jenna asks as she picks up her plate and continues eating the now very cold breakfast. Maybe we should’ve waited to talk until after we all ate.

“I’m going to reheat your plate,” I say as I kiss Willow on the cheek, then grab her plate and head to the kitchen.

“What about mine?” Jeremy whines.

“You have two legs. Fucking use them,” I laugh.

He comes walking into the kitchen with his and Jenna’s plates. He dumps the fruit onto one and then all the other stuff onto another before sticking it in the microwave.

“So, how’s she handling everything?” he asks quietly as he glances over to see Willow and Jenna deep in a hushed conversation.

“She’s doing better than I thought she would be, honestly.”