Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Awesome,” Logan says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Apparently anyone who feels like it can just ask for keys to my room and nobody bats an eye. Who the fuck decided I’m no longer allowed to feel safe in hotels?”
“Oh, boo fucking hoo,” Garrett mocks. “It happens to me like every month.”
I grin at G. “Brag.”
“As fun as this little reunion is,” Allie interrupts, her blue eyes focusing on me. “Can we talk? Alone?”
“You guys can use my room,” G offers.
I glance over gratefully. “Thanks.”
“Wait, let me get my shoe,” Allie says, hobbling across the room on one stiletto.
I narrow my eyes. “Why is it all the way over there?”
“Because she threw it at my head,” growls Logan.
Garrett hoots. “Such a good night,” he says happily.
A moment later, Allie has her other shoe, I’m snatching my windbreaker from the chair, and we disappear into the other room. I kick the door closed behind us, then stand in front of her while she timidly sits at the edge of the bed.
After a beat of silence, she says, “I’m sorry.”
“You came all the way to Jersey to tell me that?” I ask wryly.
“No, not just that.”
“What else?”
“I’m really sorry.”
I hide a smile. She’s so goddamn cute. Her sparkling eyes. Her smoking body in that short dress. She’s honestly my favorite person in the whole world.
“There’s more,” she adds, clasping her dainty hands on her knees. She takes a breath. “I had a forty-minute cab ride to plan out what I was going to say to you, but all my practice speeches sounded so cliché and contrived. I did a couple out loud for my driver, and he told me I was overthinking it.”
I wrinkle my forehead. “Overthinking what? Your apology?”
“No.” She exhales in a rush. “My proposal.”
This time there’s absolutely no stopping the smile. It stretches across my face, making my jaw twitch. “Your proposal,” I echo.
Allie nods. “I was talking to Seraphina, and she helped me understand something important. My whole life, I’ve planned for everything. I like doing things in steps. It keeps me focused and, I don’t know, I guess it helps me not get overwhelmed each time I’m faced with some major change.” She shakes her head, more at herself than me. “But I’m not in this relationship alone. You’re here too, and my steps aren’t always going to align with your steps. We can’t always do everything my way.”
I walk over and sink down beside her. “No, I was an ass earlier when I said it was all about you. You were right. It’s always been fifty-fifty with us.”
“Yeah, but sometimes it shouldn’t be. Sometimes one of us needs to give a hundred percent to the other.” She reaches for my hand and twines her fingers through mine. “I love you, Dean. I’m one hundred percent yours. And until we have that wedding—which I know Summer and your mom will turn into a gigantic, extravagant production—every time we meet somebody new, I want to introduce you and be able to say, this is the man I’m going to marry.”
My heart is beating a little faster now.
“I want to marry you one day. And until that day, I want to be engaged to you.” Her throat dips as she gulps nervously. “So. With that said. Will you, Dean Sebastian Kendrick Heyward-Di Laurentis, be my fiancé?”
I have to bite the inside of my cheek to fight the rush of emotion that tightens my throat. I swallow a couple of times, then I bring my free hand to her mouth and rub the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip.
“Of course I will.” My voice is so hoarse, I clear my throat before continuing. “If you’ll have me.”
“Always,” Allie says, leaning into my touch. “I’ll always have you.”
Then she throws her arms around my neck, and I bury my face in her hair, breathing in strawberry and roses. When I lift my head, her lips find mine in a kiss that goes from sweet to dirty in two seconds flat. The feel of her tongue slicking over mine sends a jolt of heat to my groin.
Breathless, I pull back and say, “Fuck. I wish I had the ring on me. But it’s at home.”
Curiosity fills her eyes. “Is it big?” she demands.
“Huge.”
“How huge?”
“Massive. Even your dad was impressed.”
“You showed your dick to her father?”
Allie and I startle when Garrett comes stumbling into the room, a sweatpants-clad Logan flying in after him.
“What the hell?” I snap at them. “You guys were eavesdropping?”
Garrett’s defense is, “You’re in my room!”
“And I’m just nosy,” Logan pipes up. He shoots me a pleased smile. “Good call bringing up the dick at the end. I told you, every proposal needs a dash of sexy.”
“We weren’t talking about my dick,” I growl. “We were talking about the ring!”