Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
My lips were tipping up hard at the corners.
Keene studied the ceiling of the black suburban we were in.
“Well come on. Ask me,” I teased.
I was so in love with Keene that he could’ve just handed me the ring and I would’ve been happy.
Instead, he pulled over and got out.
Heart in my throat, I watched him round the hood of the truck and walk toward the back passenger side door.
Giddy now, I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned just as he opened the door.
Shayne let out a small squeal behind me, and I knew that she was probably just as excited as I was in that moment.
He caught me around the hips and guided me out of the truck. Once my feet were on solid ground, he let me go, reached into his pocket, and then dropped down on one knee.
“Since I was going to ask your dad for permission first,” there was a gaggle of laughs from his family who were on speakerphone, and Winston from the front seat. “I need you to keep this very, very quiet. Because I want him to like me since I’m keeping you forever.”
I snickered.
Then he was holding out a gorgeous diamond ring.
It wasn’t grand.
It wasn’t huge and flashy.
It was very sedate, wouldn’t pop through nitrile gloves, and it was everything that I ever wanted.
“Since I couldn’t find you the biggest, bad ass ring since I had a feeling you wouldn’t wear it, I decided to find you the most perfect clarity diamond there was to be found. I went through eighteen states of jewelers before I found this one. It’s a colorless, internally flawless half-carat cushion cut diamond. It’s not perfect, because I felt like that would be something you wouldn’t want. But it’s the best of the best anyone was willing to part with.”
I melted.
“I can’t say I’m going to be the best man in the world to live with. I’m stubborn as hell, set in my ways, and I have a strong desire to never have kids because my sisters’ are awful,” Keene said.
“Hey!” I heard from multiple somebodies, even Winston.
“But I can say that I’ll be the best man I can be for you. I’ll bring you breakfast in bed when you’re still in it after I wake up. I’ll always make sure to bring you chocolate and a quad shot of coffee when you need it most. And I promise to give you the best life I can. I’ll love and cherish you until I’m no longer of this Earth, and even when I’m not, I’ll still be yours, in this life and the next. So will you marry me, Ande Paige Carter?”
I wasn’t aware that tears were leaking down my face when I threw myself at him.
He fell backward into the tall grass beside the highway we were currently emergency parked on.
Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I peppered his face with kisses before saying, “I’ll marry you, Keene Day.”
He groaned. “And we’re taking your name.”
“That’s so forward thinking of you,” I teased.
He gave me a mischievous grin. “Of course.”
He sat up and slipped the ring onto my finger, and it fit perfectly. It wasn’t big, bulky, or awkward.
“I chose this ring, the clarity and the color, because I wanted you to know that with clear, perfect clarity, I know you are the one for me. I know you’re the light at the end of my dark. You’re the one I want to come home to after a long night of socializing at the circus. You’re the one I want to tell all my secrets to. You’re the one I want to chance having kids with—God help us. And you’re the one I want to breathe easy next to every single night for the rest of our lives.”
There I went crying again. “I’m not hiding this ring. So maybe you could call my dad on the way to the airport.”
His eyes sparkled as he said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Shocker, my dad said no.
But we both knew what he really meant.
Yes.
Because he knew that Keene made me happy.
And that’s all he ever wanted for his children.
“That’s so sweet,” Winston said.
“I got everything on video.” Shayne beamed. “This is going to go perfect on your circus social media. The hot ringmaster no longer a single man.”
Keene groaned.
But she was right.
Circus House’s social media went freakin’ apoplectic when Hades posted it.
All because like me, they loved them some Keene.
I mean, who wouldn’t?
EPILOGUE
My brain has too many tabs open.
-Ande to Keene
KEENE
6 months later
“Keene.”
I looked over at Ande to find her dressed for work.
She was wearing navy blue tactical pants, navy blue uniform top with her flight medic patch and Angel Rescue embroidered on the breast pocket. She had a stethoscope thrown around her neck, and her phone was dangling from her hand, pinched between two fingers.