Page 67 of Princess and Country

“Follow me, Mr. Hills.”

I laced my fingers through my girl’s, and we entered a small room. A display of engagement rings, each more sparkly than the next, filled two rectangular tables.

“I’ll let you take a look and be right back in a few minutes to answer any questions you might have.”

Dahlia’s eyes widened, and I heard her quick intake of air.

“Jeff—What—This is—” I dropped on one knee. She gasped, bringing both her hands over her mouth.

“Dahlia Ellis, I’ve loved you since I was ten years old. And I’ll love you forever. I’m sorry I’ve been such a mess in the last two years. But no matter how angry I was at the world, nothing I’ve felt for you has ever changed. You were with me when I was battling for our country, here in my heart. You’re with me even when you’re on the other side of the world, chasing your dreams. You’re everything I want in this life. You and our baby. Don’t cry, Princess.” I jumped to my feet to dry her tears. “We’re in this together. No matter what. I want you to be my wife. Now and forever. In my heart, I’ve been married to you since the day you walked on that stage in your red dress and flying pigtails. You own my heart and my soul with your smile, your voice, your kindness, and your strength. You even sneaked out of your parents’ house at seventeen to be with me. When I bought the house, I knew I’d want to live there with you. Build a family with you and then move because we wouldn’t have enough rooms to fit all our children.

“You are my dream. My past. My present. My future. I know we didn’t plan for this baby, but we’ll be fine. We’ll be great. Because I love you, and I know how much you love me. You show me every time you look at me, smile at me, or even fight with me. Because you care. You care so much. It’s you and me. Forever. Until we’re all gray and old.” I leaned forward to kiss the tears on her cheeks. “Princess, will you marry me?”

Dahlia said nothing. She looked at me from under her curtain of tears. My pulse throbbed. I squeezed her hands in mine. Why wasn’t she saying anything? A lump built in my throat. Knots grew in my stomach.

“Princess—?”

She jumped into my arms, her legs around my middle, her green dress bulking around her waist. Without a word, she nodded, a grin plastered on her beautiful face.

“I’ll marry you any day, Jeff. I love you so damn much. You’re sure you’re ready for all this?”

“I’ll marry you tomorrow if you let me.”

“You know our parents will kill us, right? They’ll think we’re too young to commit.”

“I don’t care. All I want is you. Everybody else can go to hell.”

Dahlia chose a trio of diamonds set on a platinum band. All princess-y.

Seated beside her at the semicircle table of the restaurant I chose for tonight, I stared at my fiancée’s ringless finger and sighed.

Dahlia leaned into my arms and pressed my chest with one hand, the other stroking me over the fabric of my pants under the table, an innocent smile pasted on her face, her red-painted lips enticing. “Don’t worry, we’ll pick it up in two days. I’m still your fiancée,” she said with a wink. We were celebrating our engagement, enjoying sparkling apple cider in crystal glasses, instead of expensive champagne. “The ring is just a bonus. But it doesn’t change the fact that we’re getting married.”

I sighed, hating the idea we had to wait two days for it to be resized.

“You know, I’ll never be able to wait. I want to marry you today. Once back home, we’ll set everything up. I’ve been waiting long enough already to call you my wife.”

“We have a couple of shows scheduled before our break.”

“We’ll work around your schedule, Princess. And once the baby is born, we’ll take the longest honeymoon known to mankind.”

Dahlia removed her hands from my body and clamped them between her thighs. All traces of playfulness vanished from her features.

“Jeff, I’ve been thinking—I want to quit the band.” She spoke the words as if they bore no weight. I choked on my alcohol-free drink.

“You what?”

She shrugged. “With the baby and everything, it’s the right thing to do. I want to pursue other dreams. Carter is the star. I was just helping him get there. Now he can shine on his own.”

I blinked. Once the wave of shock subsided, I asked, “And what does Carter think about all this?”

Dahlia lowered her gaze.

My brother didn’t know. It would destroy him.

Dahlia was his entire world too.

“He doesn’t know it. I wanted to run it by you first. Please don’t tell him just yet. I’ll talk to him tomorrow night. After the show. I’ll clear the air up. About everything.”