Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“You better,” she whispers.
“You gotta get down on one knee, man!” Smithy calls from the porch. “Otherwise it doesn’t count, and she gets to cancel the wedding with no notice.”
Brinley and Rose both spin around to gawk at him.
“Hey, I don’t make the rules,” he mutters.
“I wouldn’t want you to do that,” I tell Savvy, dropping to one knee.
She’s smiling so big. “I love you.” The stars are out, but no one will see them with the way that smile lights up the night.
I blow out a breath and try to remember how words work. “Savannah, you are the love of my life.”
“Mine too, dude,” Smithy calls. “You’re gonna have to do better than that!”
I close my eyes for patience.
“Ignore him and continue, please,” Savvy says, offering me her left hand.
I squeeze her fingers in mine. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve been lonely since the day my mother died, but I’ve never been lonely a single day I spent with you. I’m told I can be a little grumpy”—Rose cackles from the porch—“but that I’m better when you’re around. And I’m no hero, but I feel like one when I’m with you.”
“Oliver,” Savvy whispers.
“Which is all to say that I am better with you near me, and life is better with you in it.” I pull the ring box from my pocket and open it. “If you marry me, I’ll do everything I can to make sure your life is better with me in it too.”
She drops to the ground and wraps her arms around my neck. “It already is,” she says before kissing me.
I pull the ring from the box and slide it on her finger.
“Clever girl,” Smithy says, coming closer. “If you never say yes, you aren’t locked in.”
She snorts. “Who invited you anyway, Smithy?”
“You know,” I say, sliding my arms around her waist, “he has a point. You never really answered the question.”
She grins up at me. “Yes, I will marry you. As long as Smithy doesn’t get to make the rules for the wedding.”
“Your loss,” he mutters. “I have some killer ideas.”
He starts going on about something with parakeets and heavy metal, but I tune him out and focus on my fiancée.
We’re both still on our knees, but I pull her in closer without bothering to stand. When I whisper in her ear, I make sure only she can hear. Because it’s early and we’re not ready for our friends to know yet. “And what do I have to do to talk you into marrying me before the baby comes?” I ask.
She hums. “I can probably come up with a few ideas.”
“So, short engagement?” I ask.
She holds my face in both hands and kisses me hard. “I’d marry you tonight.” She doesn’t bother to keep her voice down this time.
“Nope!” Rose calls. “You want a real wedding. With flowers and shit. Trust me on this.”
Savvy shrugs and meets my eyes again. “How quickly can we pull together flowers and shit?”
I sweep my lips over hers. Once. Twice. Damn, this woman makes me happy. “I’ll start making calls in the morning.”
THE END