Page 29 of Embraced in Ink

Marcus shook his head. “We had ten years to figure it out. And then we both ignored it for a long enough time that it seemed as if it was out of the blue. But was it?”

He held out his hand, a velvet box in his palm.

Bristol looked down, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Oh. I didn’t… I mean, I know. But okay.”

He let out a sigh. “Let me do this better.” He went down on one knee, and Bristol let out a shocked gasp.

“We don’t need to do that. We’re already engaged, Marcus. You never have to go down on your knees for me.”

His brows rose, and she blushed again.

“Okay, we’re going to table that whole image and discussion for a little bit later.”

“Yeah, we are. And, I’m going to propose to you the right way. Not just an ‘oh, let’s do this.’”

“Okay,” she breathed.

“Bristol? Will you continue to be my best friend? And move with me into this next phase?”

“I…don’t say anything else, okay?”

He frowned. “What?”

“Let’s figure out who we are together along this path, but don’t make promises or voice feelings that you don’t know or feel yet. Like I don’t know. Because it’s all going too fast, even though I’m the one who made the decision.”

“Yeah, I can do that. Because you’re still my best friend, Bristol. No matter what.”

And then he slipped the ring out of the box and onto her finger. She looked down at the antique setting and smiled.

“I love it.”

“I knew you would.”

And then he stood up and kissed her again, brushing her hair behind her ear. “We’ll figure this out,” he said softly.

“As long as you’re by my side, we will. Because it’s not that I don’t want to go into the future alone, it’s not that.”

“I know.”

“I love you, Marcus. I want to make sure that I never hurt you.”

He didn’t say anything else, and he knew he couldn’t. Instead, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her again.

They were going about this relationship of theirs completely backward. But the more that he let himself think about it, the more he knew this is what he wanted.

Even if he didn’t dare let himself need it too much.

Chapter 7

“Iam getting married,” Bristol said, looking directly into her reflection. “I’m not insane.”

She snorted at that, realizing that perhaps she was a little crazy. After all, an engagement based on a promise was a bit unconventional. But not completely unheard of.

It could work.

After all, she loved Marcus. Shelikedhim. She enjoyed being near him. He was already her best friend.

And if she finally let herself be honest, she was attracted to him. Okay, so that part had already been stated within her mind a few times.