“But I can’t live like this. I can’t be worried that my every move will be captured on film, or that skeletons will come out of my closet.”
He arched a brow. “Are there more I should know about?”
She rolled her eyes, and he had no intention of telling her how much he’d secretly come to love her eye rolls. They were very Willow.
“No,” she answered. “But you know what I mean.”
“I do. You don’t want to be in the spotlight. I get that. I’m sick of it, too. But even if I get out of acting, there will always be some adoring fans who want an autograph or a photographer who catches us sunbathing and snaps a shot. I can’t make it all go away, but I can try to protect you from it.”
Her eyes warmed. “I know you’ll try.”
“Then marry me, baby. Be ridiculous with me and loving and sexy and happy and sad and angry. Let me try to protect you from the craziness of it all. We’ve come so far. Don’t let anyone or anything steal our future. I don’t want to take another step without you.”
“Z,” she whispered, and the struggle in her eyes told him how much she loved him regardless of whatever words followed. “Our lives are so far apart.”
“No, baby. They were so far apart. I’m done in front of the camera. I’m over action movies, and I can’t pretend to be a romantic hero when the only person I want to romance is you. I love you with every ounce of my soul, Wills. You’re my other half. My best friend. You’re my everything, baby.”
“I love you, too.” A tear slid down her cheek. “But I’m not as strong as you. I can’t live in LA. I can’t leave everyone I know and love.”
“I know. That’s why I told your parents I’d buy the Grand Lady as soon as they find a place to live.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “You . . .” More tears tumbled down her cheeks.
“You’re home to me, Wills. If you can’t live in LA, neither can I.”
“But your career?”
“We’ll figure it all out together. But I promise you I will never ask you to move away from Sweetwater.” He took her left hand in his. “What do you say, Wills? You and me forever, and maybe someday we’ll have little sugar-addicted babies with cocky attitudes and stubborn streaks.”
Nodding emphatically, she threw herself into his arms. “Yes. Yes, Z. I want all of that. Life with you, stubborn babies . . . but I can’t be this selfish. If you need to be in LA, we’ll figure out a way.”
“Be selfish, sweetheart. Be as selfish as you’d like.” In that moment, he knew that Willow’s happiness had become his purpose.
He drew back and took her left hand in his, taking off the rented ring.
She tried to pull her hand free, but he held tight. “I said yes.”
“You hate this ring. It’s all wrong for you.” He withdrew a blue velvet bag from his pocket and turned her hand palm up.
“The rented ring is for napoleons. It’s overdone and gaudy. You’re a sticky bun, baby. Sweet, savory, and so filling I only need one. You need a ring that’s just as perfect for your busy flour-and-frosting-laden days as you are for me. I’ve spent this week trying to figure out what type of ring to give you.”
“Week? You knew you were going to propose for a week?”
He nodded. “Since the night at the lake, when you knocked down my walls, jumped inside, and locked the gate behind you, then got scared and hid in the tower, leaving me to nearly lose my mind.”
That earned him the sweetest, most genuine smile he’d ever seen.
“But every design I came up with paled in comparison to the one I had made for you with the money from my first acting job. The ring I had planned on giving you the Christmas after we’d first come together when we were mere babes in the woods.”
“You were going to give me a ring?” Her breathing went shallow as she watched him empty the bag, and the braided white-gold ring with inlaid round-cut diamonds landed in her palm. “Oh my goodness. Z . . .”
“Read the inscription. The inscription is new.”
She picked it up with trembling fingers, and he aimed the flashlight on his phone so she could read it, hearing the words in his head as she silently read them.
WILLS, YOU ARE MY MOMENT. Z
She lifted damp and excruciatingly beautiful eyes to his. “You’ve always been my moment.”
He slipped the ring on her finger. “No rules this time, baby, and no expectations beyond a loving future void of trickery.”
Willow smiled. “And whipped cream. Don’t forget the whipped cream. And frosting. I love frosting.”
“Frosting.” He pressed his lips to hers, feeling as though he could finally breathe.
“And dirty talk,” she said as they lay down on the blanket. “I like when you talk dirty to me.”
“I’ll do anything you want me to. Now can I please kiss you?”
She pressed her hand to his chest. “Wait. You had a new oven installed at my bakery. I can’t accept that, Zane. You can’t keep doing big things like that.”
He touched his forehead to hers, smiling at his stubborn beauty. “Wills, you know how you’ll always love sweets?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll always do things big, baby. Especially for you. So if you can’t live with that, please tell me now.” He rocked his hips against her, and her eyes widened.
“Mm. I was wrong,” she said as he kissed her neck. “I do like it when you do things big. In fact, I love big.”
There beneath the summer moon, in the place where they had first come together, on the blanket that once held their young, nubile bodies, they made love until the dawn of the new day.
The dawn of their future.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“I DON’T NEED a party,” Willow insisted as she closed out the register. “I know you guys want to do this, but an engagement party seems silly since we’re getting married in three months. How about if we have joint bachelor and bachelorette parties?” It had been ten weeks since Willow and Zane had gotten engaged, and eight glorious weeks since Zane had come back to Sweetwater. Willow had never felt so complete in all her life, and she didn’t need a party as confirmation. She thought her mother was going to hound her about it, but her mother had understood. It was her sisters who had arrived at the bakery fifteen minutes before closing time to hassle her for the umpteenth time.
Piper groaned. “Joint? Really?”
“I like that idea,” Talia said. “It shows you’re a strong, committed couple.”
“I agree.” Bridgette grabbed a rag and began wiping down the tables.
Piper set her hands on her hips. “The old Bridgette would have given you hell for not taking advantage of your one last opportunity to be a wild, crazy single woman.”
“Actually,” Bridgette said, “Willow did make me dance with Aiden, who was a magnificent specimen of a man. Perfect for Talia. So maybe we should have separate parties. With a stripper.”
Willow laughed. “A stripper? You do know who I’m marrying, don’t you? Zane would tear apart any man who tried to strip in front of me. But I do love that you’re thinking along those lines. Maybe our risky sister isn’t gone after all.”
“Payback, baby,” Bridgette said with a smirk.