Page 147 of Pink and Country

“Who do you think you are?” I screamed, anger slicing through my words. I pivoted my upper body ninety degrees to look at the man taking advantage of me.

My jaw slackened, and I was pretty sure my heart stopped.

“What—? Why—? How—?” I blinked. Once. Twice. A thousand times. “What’s happening?”

My breath caught in my lungs.

My lips quivered into a smile.

Carter curled his hand around my nape.

“April—” I drowned in his stormy eyes. His lips parted, and I stretched my arm to touch them with my fingertips. My body quaked.

“Were you here the entire time?” He nodded. “You heard everything I said.” He nodded again, his gaze locked on mine. “Reed agreed to this?” Carter nodded a third time.

“He’s a great guy. We spent the day together yesterday.” Yesterday? Wasn’t Reed supposed to be with his brother? My pulse raced.

“And Saunders?” I ignored my best friend lying on the massage table three feet from me. I couldn’t break eye contact with the man standing in front of me, dressed in the spa’s black uniform.

“We talked. She’s the one who came up with this spa idea, actually.”

“You called my best friend?”

“April, I love you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I want to take care of you. To be by your side. I can’t promise the press won’t target us ever again, but I can assure you I’ll do everything in my power to protect you. Fairy, I never want to sleep alone for the rest of my life. You make everything better when you’re around. You’re the woman I’ve been looking for all my life. Nobody else gets me the way you do. I should’ve fought harder for us the other day.” I cupped my mouth with my hands. My eyes overflowed with warm tears. “This won’t happen again. You’ll always come first.” Carter’s eyes shone with unshed tears.

He walked around the table and sat next to me, his fingers grazing my hand.

“April, I’m tired of fame. I want a quiet life with the woman I love. You’re everything to me. You’re all that matters. Even music is dull without you in my life. You own every chunk of my heart and every piece of my soul.”

The fractures of my heart, the ones that had been bleeding for two weeks, sealed. The hemorrhage inside me stopped. My heart inflated in my chest, and I breathed easier.

“Carter, I—”

“Let me finish, April.” He dropped on one knee and grabbed the small golden pink velvet box from his pocket. I gasped, and a grin brightened his gorgeous face. “I sang it to you that night in Nashville, and I’ll sing it to you every night. I’m mesmerized by you. You are the rainbow I never knew I needed. You’re my compass, my muse, and my other half. Babe, I’ll never let you go. I just want you to know, I want my life to be pink like yours. You’re my absolute favorite color. I love you like I’ve loved no one before, April Simmons. This time I’m not taking no for an answer. Will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

The “Pink and Country” lyrics had never sounded so right. At that moment, they spoke to me in the most meaningful way.

My eyes watered.

My heart throbbed.

My blood warmed.

My chest expanded.

Carter was here, on one knee, sparkles in his eyes, offering me his heart.

“April, I want you to be my wife. I don’t care about anything else. I would give away everything I own for a chance to have you in my life for another day. But I won’t be satisfied with just one day. I want forever with you.”

I pulled Carter up on his feet. “Carter Hills, I love you. I love the man you are. I don’t care if you’re rich or poor, famous or not. I won’t win a Grammy for my singing talent, but I’m crazy about you. I stopped breathing the day I walked out of your life. When you’re not around, my heart forgets to beat. Ohmygod, I’ve missed you so much.” Carter dried off my soaked cheeks, and I let out a high-pitched laugh.

“So? Are you coming back to me? Forever this time?”

Between laughs and sobs, I cleared my throat. “Yes. Carter, I want to be your wife. There’s nothing I want more than to grow old with you and call you my husband. I’m tired of the darkness. Keep shining because it makes me the happiest woman on Earth. And please, never let me walk away from you ever again. I don’t know how to deal with your world, but I want you to teach me. My heart is yours and so is my entire being. I belong with you. I belong to you.”

Carter crashed his mouth on mine. Hard. Fast. With no restraint. Home. Carter Hills was my home. His lips jolted my heart back to life. All the shades of gray disappeared as Carter brought Technicolor back into my life.

“Oh, wait, the ring. I’m doing it all wrong.”