Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“I just finished a chapter,” I tell him. “So I’m all yours.”
I leap up and throw my arms around his shoulders, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him firmly on the lips. He growls through the tight press of our lips, kissing me back even harder, his hand firm on the small of my back as he pushes our bodies together.
My nipples graze against his rock hard body, sending shivering tingles dancing through me.
“Good,” he growls, keeping our faces close once the kiss is over. “Because there’s somewhere I want to take you.”
My belly swirls with a thousand possibilities. “Where?”
He smirks and kisses the edge of my mouth, causing more starry light to shiver through me. “You wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, would you?”
I giggle and look up at him, into the glimmering intensity of his eyes, praying I haven’t gotten this wrong. “What surprise?”
He laughs deeply. “That would be ruining it. Come on. Let’s go for a drive.”
I nod and swallow a big ball of nerves, and then together we ride the elevator down to his private garage. He leads me over to a sleek sports car, jet-black and so shiny I can see our reflections in it as we walk toward it.
I study us as we approach, this short curvy girl next to this hulking giant, and instead of aiming critical comments at myself, I think, Yeah, they suit each other. They work.
The doors flip up like a bird’s wings and then we climb inside.
He leads us out of the city, growling over the bridge and into the surrounding countryside.
My nerves start to spiral as my gaze flits over the country houses, beautiful places set down long gravel lanes, behind Victorian-looking gates, with fountains and gargoyles, making me think of a house full of children and their footsteps echoing all around us as they play.
And then he pulls into one of the homes, the sports car bumping up and down on the gravel road.
I giggle, looking across at my man. “We should’ve brought an off-roader.”
He grins across at me, widely, his eyes glimmering with what seems like genuine happiness. It’s not like his usual smirk, edged with carnality.
This is a smile, and it lights me up inside.
“We can always repave it,” he says.
I gasp as my gaze moves over the estate. It’s the biggest one we’ve seen yet, with a glittering golden-colored gate and a gorgeous fountain sitting out front.
“Wait… what do you mean we… are you saying…”
He chuckles and drives us to the gate, and as we get closer I see a big red ribbon across it like it’s a gift. I look past the gate to the house, the mansion, a sprawling structure that reminds me of a house from a Regency drama.
He smiles playfully as he pulls the car to a stop outside the gate. “Come on.”
He climbs from the car, striding over to the gate, and I grab for the door handle. My heart is hammering with all the potential wonder of this moment, buzzing through me with all that this could mean, and I end up fumbling the door handle.
Eventually, I pull it and it springs open. I climb from the car and race after him, my heart thudding through my body, a lump of emotion in my throat.
“Just to make this clear,” I murmur, my voice shaky. “You’re saying this place is ours?”
He laughs and pulls me into an embrace, leaning down and laying a hot kiss against my cheek. “Yes, this is ours… this is where we’ll raise our family. This is where you’ll write your bestsellers unless you want an office in the city. This is our home, Macie, and I wanted to tell you here, so we’d always remember it.”
“Tell me what?” I whisper, tears pricking my eyes.
“I love you,” he growls passionately.
I gasp as the force of his words move over me.
“I love you,” he says, his lips twitching into a smile as he brings his face close to mine, our noses tickling each other as he gazes firmly into my eyes. “I loved you the moment I saw you. I love you more than I could ever explain, but I’ll prove it to you… every day of our life, I’ll work my ass off to show you how much I love you.”
“I love you too,” I whisper as a sob cracks my words, as I struggle not to collapse into a heap of tears.
He steps back and then falls to one knee, smiling up at me as he reaches into his inside jacket pocket.
Now I do collapse into tears, a hot joyful emotion gripping me firmly, streaming down my cheeks.
“Macie Grahams,” he says huskily, “I love you more than anything. I need to spend the rest of my life with you, to be with you as you flower in your career and bring our children into this world. Will you marry me?”