Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Gannon shook his head, and I pressed my finger to his mouth before he could say anything.
“Trust our love, Gannon.”
The sound of laughter pulled me from the memory and I looked down at the ring once more. Gannon’s grandmother on his father’s side had given it to him before she’d passed. His mother’s father had given his wife Marie’s ring to Brody before passing. That way each brother had heirloom rings for their brides.
“Look at the inside of it,” Gannon said as he lifted my hand and gently took the ring off. It fit like a glove, and I wondered if he’d needed to have it sized. Why I was thinking about that in this moment was beyond me.
I saw an inscription but couldn’t quite make it out in the dim light. Gannon turned on the flashlight on his phone so I could see.
Trust our love.
I jerked my head up to meet his tear-filled gaze.
“I trusted in it. Just like you asked me to,” he said.
“Oh, Gannon.” Placing my hand on the side of his face, I kissed him softly and then rested my forehead to his. “When can we leave?”
He chuckled. “We haven’t even gotten our food yet, Addie.”
“So what? Let’s sneak away, no one will notice.”
“I’m afraid they will, sweetheart. Soon, though. I promise.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Fine. But I’ll have to keep going over all the naughty things I plan on doing to you once I have you naked.”
Gannon’s throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “Why would you do that to me? My mother is sitting right there.”
Giggling, I kissed him again and placed my hand on his thigh. Moving it up slightly, I stopped when I felt his hard erection. I turned my head and raised a brow.
“You’re just mean,” he whispered, then reached for his beer and took a very long drink.
After all the goodbyes and hugs and congratulations were done, Gannon took my hand in his and we followed some of the others out through the restaurant, which was now packed full of diners. We’d had the entire outside deck to ourselves for two hours.
“So, what are you two going to do now?” Braxton asked, and my father shot him a look that said he wanted to hit him.
Gannon was smart and kept his mouth shut.
Stopping at my parents’ car, I hugged each once more and said goodnight. Dad shook Gannon’s hand while my mother pulled him in for a hug.
Once I finally got into Gannon’s Jeep, I let out a long sigh and dropped my head back against the headrest.
“You okay?” Gannon asked when he started the car.
“I am. But I’m exhausted. I’ve had all these different emotions running through me the last two hours, and it’s left me drained.”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t believe how nervous I was. I wanted this all to go off just like I’d planned it in my head.”
Turning in my seat, I looked at him. “When did you have the ring inscribed?”
He smiled but kept his eyes on the road. “When I was home for the holidays that first year I was in the Academy. Remember that Christmas break?”
A rush of warmth raced through my body. I did remember. Despite breaking up, anytime we were back home at the same time, things seemed to go right back to the way they were. Spending those two weeks of his break together had been wonderful. “I kept being late for my shifts at the restaurant since I’d promised to help out over Christmas.”
He chuckled. “That only happened once or twice, but it was worth it, wasn’t it?”
I laughed. “It was, indeed.”
“Anyway, I dropped it off at Reef Jewelers and had it done that last week I was home. They finished it before I had to head back. I asked my parents to hold on to it for me.”
My heart pounded in my chest, and I had to blink rapidly to keep from crying yet again. “You really had it done back then? What if things hadn’t worked out? I mean, what if you’d fallen in love and asked some other woman to marry you?”
He reached for my hand and brought it to his mouth. He kissed the ring first, then the back of my hand. “I trusted in our love, Addie.”
I gave up the battle and let my tears flow freely. “I love you, Gannon.”
Turning to look at me quickly before focusing back on the road, he replied, “I love you, too, sweetheart. More than you’ll ever know.”
When we finally got back to his house, Gannon took my hand and quietly led me to his bedroom. No words needed to be spoken. The emotions I’d experienced this evening had left me exhausted. But the deep pull of desire in the pit of my stomach was going to win out over sleep.