Though her hands trembled madly, she managed to flip open the box to discover a stunning diamond ring nestled in black velvet. “Oh . . . Oh my God. Gavin . . .”
He put the fruit tray back on the table and turned to her. “I realized this week that there was only one thing I could do to make you absolutely certain that I’m in this to stay. That I needed to go big or go home, as Caleb used to say.” He cupped her cheek, compelling her to look at him. “I love you more than I can ever tell you. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. Every time you came to my rescue, I fell deeper in love with you. And when I thought I’d lost you forever, I experienced the kind of grief I’ve only known one other time in my life. I don’t want to feel like that ever again. I don’t want to spend another day without you. I don’t want to sleep another night without you tucked in next to me. I don’t want to live without the special joy that only you bring to my life. I was a dead man walking until you set your sights on me, Ella, and you single-handedly brought me back to life. I know I’m a bad bet, but I’m determined to be what you need. Will you please marry me and be mine forever, even on the days I don’t deserve you?”
Here he was, the Gavin she’d always known lived inside the shell of a man who’d been so lost after his brother’s death. And this Gavin, the Gavin she had loved so much for so long, was saying everything she’d ever wanted to hear—and a few things she hadn’t dared to hope for.
“Ella, baby, you’re making me sweat here.”
“I love you so much. You’ll never know how deeply my love for you runs through me. When I thought we were over, I couldn’t imagine how I’d find the wherewithal to go on without you. And then when you came here and you put your arm around me during the wedding and surrounded me with your familiar scent, I was able to breathe again for the first time since you left.”
“I’ll never leave you again. I promise, even if you turn me down cold today, you’re stuck with me.”
“I’m not turning you down cold.”
“You’re not?”
She shook her head. “I’m saying yes, Gavin. Yes, to everything—the good, the bad and the ugly. I want it all with you. I’m all yours. I always have been.”
“Thank God,” he whispered before he kissed her. Resting his forehead against hers, he stared into her eyes. “You’re really going to marry me?”
“I’m really going to marry you, but only if you let me have a lot of babies.”
“Whatever you want. There’s nothing you could ask me for that I wouldn’t give you if I could.” He picked up the box from her lap, withdrew the ring and slid it onto her left hand. “There. Now it’s official.”
“Not quite yet.”
“What did I forget?”
“Take me back to the room and I’ll show you.” She started to get up from the lounge, but he stopped her.
“Hang on a second.” He got up and pulled the curtains closed, sealing them off from the outside world. “I can’t wait that long.”
“Are you sure no one will see us?”
“I’m pretty sure I can’t wait even five more minutes to make love to my gorgeous fiancée.”
“Who am I to argue with a man in love?”
He smiled then, and the tense uncertainty she’d seen in him all week disappeared. “This dress is crazy sexy, but it’s got to go.”
Ella drew the dress up and over her head, enjoying his sharp gasp of surprise when he saw that she’d worn nothing under it.
“Seems like I’m not the only one who made plans for this evening.”
“You’re overdressed for this party, Mr. Guthrie. Let me help you.”
Working together, they got rid of his clothes.
“This is very risky and decadent,” she said as he came down on top of her, naked, muscular and gloriously aroused. She was still trying to believe that he’d really proposed, that she had forever to spend with him, that her nights of eating Cherry Garcia alone were over. The sparkling diamond on her finger was a dazzling reminder that it had really happened.
“Are you happy, Ella?”