“I’m glad you agree on that,” I tell her, and then I get to the point. “Eden…will you marry me?”
“What the hell?” she exclaims as she jolts up from her seat next to me. She trots down the two steps to the ground and looks back up at me as if I’ve sprouted antlers or something. “You just throw that out there like that?”
“I’m sensing that was the wrong thing to ask you,” I say with disappointment.
She rolls her eyes at me. “It was the total right thing to ask me. It just wasn’t very romantic.”
My chest swells as I realize the answer will be yes if I can just ask it the right way. I push up from the porch and stalk down to her.
When we’re toe to toe and she’s looking up at me, I put my hands on her shoulders and squeeze them gently. “Let me try that again.”
Her lips curve upward.
“I’ve never loved another woman but you,” I tell her softly. “I lost you once, and it was an unbearable pain. But for some reason, God graced me with you again. You were brought back into my life as a precious gift that’s meant to be treasured…revered. I will never take you for granted. I will never take our love for granted. I know this with surety because I believe I was put on this earth with the sole purpose of loving you. So I’m asking you to make my purpose a reality and fulfill my destiny by agreeing to be my wife.”
I take in a deep breath and let it out.
Eden just blinks at me, her eyes wide and round. Slightly glazed. I don’t know what that means.
“I could do that whole speech over again if I need to get down on my knee,” I tell her. “I forgot that part.”
She just blinks. She stares at me unfocused.
“And I know I don’t have the ring,” I continue. “I could get a ring, get down on my knee, and do the speech again.”
And more blinking.
I snap my fingers in front of her face. “Eden…you in there, honey?”
“Yes,” she says as she blinks hard one last time and focuses in on me. Her voice is loud, clear, and confident. “The answer is yes.”
“That was more romantic, right?” I ask with a grin as I step in closer to her.
“That was so totally romantic,” she says dreamily.
“So…we’re getting married,” I murmur as I lower my forehead to touch hers.
“We’re getting married,” she whispers back, and my eyes close over the wonder and joy in her voice.
“You know…the town is going to go apeshit when they hear we just got engaged,” I say as I lift my head and take her hand to walk her toward my truck.
“It will be a vicious piece of gossip circulating if it’s not done right,” she adds.
“Which is why we need to go eat lunch at the Pit Stop right now and tell Bonnie.” I stop at the passenger door and open it for Eden. She climbs in, stepping up onto the running board first and accepting a hand from me for stability.
“It will be all over town by dinnertime,” she says as she plops down in her seat and grins at me.
“Or,” I say mischievously, “we could just go get married.”
“Married?” she asks with surprise. “Right now?”
“County courthouse is just fifteen miles away,” I point out. “There’s no waiting period.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me.
“I may have checked it out online recently,” I admit to her.
Eden tosses her head back and laughs, her eyes sparkling when she looks back to me. “You’re crazy, Cooper Mayfield.”
“For you,” I say as I lean in and press my mouth to hers.
“And I for you,” she mumbles against my lips. “Let’s go get crazy together.”
Epilogue
Yes…forever and ever…
Coop
TWO YEARS LATER…
“Hurry,” I call into the kitchen. “It’s about to come back on.”
“I swear if you tell me to hurry one more time,” Eden says as she enters the living room, “I’m going to cut your balls off.”
I wince. “Babe, that’s harsh.”
Eden glares at me as she walks—no, waddles—around the couch carrying a bowl of popcorn. She sits down beside me, causing the cushions to indent enough that I roll slightly toward her.
She blows up a breath of air that lifts her bangs from her forehead and leans back with a hefty sigh. “I’m miserable.”
“I know, honey,” I say soothingly and with complete sympathy. While I think she’s cute as hell with her rounded tummy and grouchy attitude because she’s so big, I don’t like my woman feeling any sort of discomfort. Unfortunately, being six months pregnant with twins has brought about a lot of discomfort for Eden.
“Want to lie down and put your head on my lap?” I suggest.
“I’m not giving you a blow job,” she snorts.
Laughing, I flick my finger lightly at her earlobe, assuredly one of the places on her body that feels normal. “I don’t want a blow job. I just want you to be comfortable.”
“That won’t be comfortable,” she grumbles. “Heartburn is worse if I lie down.”
“Lean forward and I’ll rub your back,” I offer.
She glares at me. “Lean forward how? My stomach is the size of a beach ball.”
“Want me to rub your tummy?” I ask, running out of options to make her feel better.
Eden shakes her head glumly as she picks a piece of popcorn out of the bowl and eats it.
“I’ve got it,” I say as I’m struck with inspiration. I lean forward, push the coffee table away from the couch, and then drop down to the carpet on my butt near her feet. I pick up her leg closest to me, turn my body slightly so it’s resting over my thigh, and I start to massage her foot.
Eden groans in relief as her head flops back against the couch. I grin, happy I’m making her feel good.
“That feels amazing,” she mutters, but then her head pops up to look at me. “But I hate my feet. They’re swollen and look awful and I don’t want you to see them.”
“Eden,” I say. “You are more beautiful than I’ve ever known you to be, and that’s because you’re pregnant with our kids. It’s your round belly, and the way you waddle, and your swollen feet that I find un-fucking-believably attractive. In fact, I’ve got a hard-on right now just thinking about you that way.”
She snorts, but I’m not sure why. I totally have a hard-on. I’ve never been hornier for my wife since we found out she was pregnant. I’ll be fucking her tonight, gently, of course. The great thing about her being pregnant is that she’s turned on all the time too from the hormones. It’s fucking awesome.
“It’s on,” Eden says as she nods toward the TV, and I turn my head that way as I continue to massage her foot.