Page 164 of On the Double

The sheer devastation on his face was enough to question my original thought. Sighing, he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me hard. “Pookie, I could never leave you again. I love you. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”

“I thought you loved me before.”

“I hadn’t even quite figured that out myself. How would I have admitted that to you?”

He rolled me onto my back and crawled across the bed to the nightstand, pulling out a box. Holding it out for me, he pressed his lips to mine. “What I wanted to talk to you about was this.”

“Is that a note?”

“In a ring box?’

“A nightlight?”

“Harper,” he growled.

“Maybe the tiniest license plate in the world.”

He rolled his eyes and popped the lid open, turning it to face me. It wasn’t the original ring. It was something completely brand new andabsolutely beautiful. With a single stone in the center of a platinum band, it was so simple and elegant.

I slapped him as soon as the waterworks started.

“What was that for?” he cried out.

“For making me cry,” I whimpered. “Don’t you know better by now?”

He frowned. “Well, I’ll put it away and try for a day when you’re not so hormonal.”

“Don’t you dare!” I snapped, grabbing the box out of his hand. I slid the ring on my finger and stared at the beauty of it.

“I think that was supposed to be my job,” he muttered.

“Shut up. I’m daydreaming about my ring.”

“You could be daydreaming about your amazing fiancé, but what do I know?”

I bit my lip and giggled to myself as I stared at it. It was absolutely perfect, just like him. Well, how he was now. There were definitely some questionable choices before I came along and set him straight.

“So, I take it that’s a yes?”

“Did my face not say it?”

“It did,” he grinned. “But I’d still like to hear the words.”

I pressed my hand to his cheek and smiled at him. “Yes, I will allow you the honor of marrying me.”

He chuckled and slid his hand up my thigh. “Are you ready to go home?”

“My place or yours?”

“That depends. Will James Earl Jones be staying with us?”

I was never going to live that down.

42

EDU

I ran around the house,collecting the bag and the car seat. Why hadn’t I put them in the car earlier?