Page 101 of Pretty Heartache

“Well!” She winks. “It is my job.”

“Mrs. Harding, we’re ready for you.”

I roll my eyes and slide out of the chair.

“I’m not Mrs. Harding yet.” I shoot Ruby a playful glare. She’s been teasing me for weeks, calling meMrs. Harding.

I raise my hand, reminding her that I don’t have a ring, and I’m not keeping a proposal story from her or Ember.

She pouts, sticking out her bottom lip as we walk over to the studio backdrop. Ember’s London studio is littered with photographers and makeup artists.

“I swear…” Ruby shakes her head in disappointment. “When is that man going to propose?”

I shrug. “I haven’t really thought about it, Ruby.”

“You’ve been with him for more than four years, Adeline. He’s thirty-seven years old. You’d think he’d have proposed by now, especially since the man worships the ground you walk on and talks about making a million babies with you.”

“He doesn’t worship the ground I walk on. But I wouldn’t mind making a ton of babies with him.” I blush, suddenly hoping this photoshoot won’t take as long as I think it will. “Besides, we agreed we weren’t rushing things. All I did as a kid was rush things. I love Micah, but I don’t want to pressure him just because we think it’s what we should be doing.”

“But you wouldn’t be marrying him because you should,” she argues. “You’d be marrying him because you want to.”

“He knows that,” I reassure her. I wrap my hand around her arm once I step onto set. “And I know that, Ruby. Of course, I want to marry him. I promise I will tell you when he proposes. And when he does, I already know I won’t hesitate to say yes.”

“Fine.” She rolls her eyes and moves behind the photographer.

After I finish the photoshoot and leave Ember, Ray gives me a ride to the airport. He drops me off just outside the hangar, where Micah and Archer are waiting for me outside of the private jet. The stairs leading to the airplane door are ready for us. The stars are out against the backdrop of London in the distance.

I can’t deny that I haven’t gotten my conversation with Ruby out of my head.

“Fuck,” Micah says, bending over at the waist with his hands tucked in his pockets. The sight of him still makes my heart flutter. “You look so fucking beautiful.”

I changed my outfit at Ember’s studio, but I decided to keep my hair and makeup intact. I always hated washing it off after a shoot, anyway. Feels like such a waste.

“Well, thank you,” I coo, wrapping my arms around him when he meets me halfway to the plane. My lips immediately land on his, and the familiar sensation of safety fills me. Micah is my home, and I missed him today.

He kisses me as if he hasn’t seen me in days. Reality is I saw him this morning when Ray dropped me off at Ember’s studio before taking him to a meeting with a client in the heart of London.

I moan when his hands slide down the length of my back, pulling me against his tall, muscular frame. He growls against my mouth and tugs my bottom lip between his teeth before he pulls away.

“I missed you,” he says, pressing his forehead to mine.

I giggle. “I missed you, too.”

“All right, all right.” Archer groans behind Micah. “That’s enough of that. No one wants to see it.”

I pull away but keep my hands wrapped around Micah’s neck, tilting my head to get a view of my brother behind him.

“Archer.” I give him a pointed look. “We’ve been together for four years. You should be used to it by now.”

“I know.” His eyebrows flatten, creating a shelf above his eyes. “It doesn’t change the fact he’s still my best friend and you’re still my little sister.”

I stick my tongue out at him the way I used to when I was a kid.

I laugh, but Archer doesn’t find it as humorous. He makes a face.

We’ve worked to heal our relationship over the past several years. Forgiveness didn’t come easy. It took me several months to reach out to Archer after he’d confessed about Micah taking the fall for him. I couldn’t get past the fact he allowed him to go to prison, knowing the lasting consequences it would have on Micah’s record. But at some point, I let it go.

Micah’s sacrifice came from a place of love and loyalty, because if there’s one thing that’s well known about the Hardings, it’s their determination and faith in loyalty.

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