Page 73 of Ravished By Her

“Then what is it?!”

Lacey opened the box and I almost fell of the bed when I saw a ring inside.

“It’s not what you think it is!” she said again, her hand shaking as she set it on the bed next to me. “It’s just a ring that I made for you. It’s pink tourmaline I mined myself a few years ago. I’ve been holding onto it, not sure what to do with it and then…well, you showed up.”

I glanced away from the ring to her eyes and then back to the ring. The stone was round and set in a silver setting that looked like a rose, with leaves forming the band. It was exquisite.

“You made this for me?” I asked, tentatively touching it with one finger.

“I did. I made it because…because I love you, Gwen.”

My head snapped up to stare at her.

“You do?” I asked.

She picked up the ring box and plucked the ring out.

“I do. I love you.” She took my shaking hand and slid the ring onto the first finger of my right hand.

“Making it for your ring finger felt like too much,” she said, before bringing my hand to her lips and kissing the finger with the ring on it.

I had never been so shocked in my entire life. This moment felt completely surreal.

Lacey pulled me until I was sitting on the edge of the bed with her standing between my legs.

“Do you like it?” she asked, brushing her fingers over the beautiful ring on my finger.

“I love it,” I said. “I couldn’t love it more if I tried.”

I stroked her face. Her beautiful face.

“And I love you, Lacey. It feels like I’ve been looking for you and now I don’t want to let you go.”

She pressed her forehead to mine. “The feeling is entirely mutual, princess.”

Epilogue

That night when Lacey gave me the ring and we finally told each other how we felt was the beginning of something new for both of us. In the days ahead there were logistics we had to work out and discussions to be had about how the hell this was going to work.

After speaking with both Lacey and my sister, I decided that going back to my previous life in Boston wasn’t what I wanted. Lacey agreed that her old life in New Hampshire was also not what she wanted either.

“I can’t believe I have to sell two homes now, in two different states,” she groaned to me one night when we decided to sit down and work on logistics.

“You’re lucky you’re dating a real estate agent then, aren’t you?” I said. “This is doable. Sterling said we can live in the van as long as we need.”

Lacey glared at me. After that first night in the van, she had come around to my opinion that the van was fine for a night or two, but not all the time.

“I will help you handle this, Lacey. You’re not alone. Plus, my sister is over the moon that we’re going to stay, so she’s going to move heaven and earth make that happen.”

To say that Sterling was excited was a massive understatement. My parents were also thrilled that both of us were in the same place for the first time in years. They were planning to come up and visit, so I’d have to tackle meeting the parents with Lacey at some point. One step at a time.

“If worse comes to worst, I can always stay here,” Lacey said. “They emailed me today to let me know they’re taking it off the market for now and I can extend my agreement month-to-month if I want to.”

That was great news. I liked Lacey’s rental, even if it did only have one bathroom. I hadn’t mentioned the idea to Lacey, but if she wanted to buy it, then she could just do some renovations and make it bigger. Add at least one more bathroom and a bigger workshop for her jewelry.

There was a knock at the door and Lacey got up to answer it. I heard her talking to someone and then laughing, so I went to investigate.

“Gwen, this is my neighbor, Leighton,” Lacey said, and I took in the woman standing in the doorway. She was shorter than me with thick blunt bangs and shoulder-length hair that was dyed a deep purple.

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