Page 99 of Edge of Desire
Preston gave me one of his sexy smiles, the ones that sent currents of heat all over me and he said, “I couldn’t agree with Melissa more.” Then he walked up to me and boldly kissed me, like we were the only two people in the whole world.
“Jesus, Ava, if you don’t marry him, I will,” Melissa said.
Preston put his mouth to my ear and whispered, “Now you’re gonna have to save me again, honey.”
I couldn’t hold back my laugh. “You make it damned hard to refuse you,” I whispered back.
“So, what do you say?” Preston asked.
“I had something a little more romantic than this in mind, actually.”
“Ava, why don’t the two of you do it in the gym. One of my sumo-wrestler friends did that over by the bench-press machine and it was the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen. Gee, if only …”
“Hmm I bet that was some sight. But I was thinking something beneath the stars.”
“I see. Give me a minute, then.” He walked out of the room, and I clearly hadn’t a clue of what he had in mind.
Melissa leaned into me and said, “I don’t know about that star thing. It’s something everyone does and it’s boring. But, Ava, that man has some prime ass.” Then she winked at me.
“Melissa! That’s ... that’s ...”
“So true, right?”
I laughed and said, “Inarguably!”
Then we clinked our glasses.
Preston came back and grabbed my hand, saying, “Melissa, would you excuse us for a moment?”
He walked me out to the deck where he’d lit a heat lamp and about ten pillar candles. You could see the mountains in the distance dappled in moonlight and dotted with sparkles of lights. The stars shone so brightly as if they were there just for our pleasure alone. Preston had brought a chair outside and he sat down pulling me on his lap.
“What I’d really like to do is stay out here all night with you, but that’s not possible, so I’ll tell you in my own simple words. You know my life was completely meaningless before you purred your way into it. It’s never been the same since nor do I want it to be. Avery, if I could change one thing about you, it would be nothing. Not a damn thing. I’m crazy about you just the way you are. From your not blue/not green eyes, down to the way your toes sometimes curl when I kiss you. Yeah, you didn’t know I noticed that, but I notice everything about you. And then there’s my very own special Avery-kitty, whom I adore. When she shows herself, I know it’s gonna be an extraordinary time for me.” He stopped and just gazed at me for a second and my heart tripped over itself. Then he hooked a finger in my hair and twisted it around and around and pulled me to him. “I can’t even ... no, I take that back. I refuse to let myself imagine my life without you. I was so fucking empty before ... just existing day to day. You don’t know ... you can’t know because I can’t put into words how you’ve changed things for me. So, yeah, I want us to be forever. For always. Never apart again. Because, Avery, I don’t want to just exist. I want to feel alive every day with you by my side. Please say yes and marry me and I’ll promise to do my best to take you down the forever road and make you happy for the rest of your life.”
A grin spread across my face that I couldn’t keep contained. “Well, that was quite the proposal.” And then I moved to kiss him, but he backed away.
“Oh no you don’t. No kiss until you answer me.”
A huge giggle burst from me, and I screamed, “Yes! Did you think I’d say no?”
“Well, a man can’t be too sure.”
I batted him across the chest. “Preston!”
“I love you, Avery.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Wait, what do you mean, ‘I know’? Aren’t you supposed to say something back to me?”
“Like what?”
“Like I love you.”
“Oh that.”
He gave me a look and I laughed, grabbed his face, and kissed him. Before things got too heated, I told him I loved him more than anything, even catnip.
“You know, the things you told me, you must know I feel much the same as you. My life wasn’t worth a damn before you. Let’s say we’re even. Besides that, I want to go down that forever road with you because I can’t imagine going through life without you by my side.”