Page 71 of Asher

“It’s okay.” Kelsey chuckled. “Judy and Harley are with the kids, but Bradley’s pretty upset so we have to get back. Thanks again for understanding. Good luck with Hercules. Bye!”

And off they went with timid Walter trotting behind them.

Asher lifted to his feet and walked to his open front door where Marlowe was watching them go. “What’s in the bag? Is it chocolate?” What else could it be?

She shrugged, then looked at the note stapled to the folded top. “Hmmm.‘For a rainy day.’Wonder what that means.”

Yup, it’s chocolate. Marlowe likes chocolate. Paige must’ve told Kelsey.

“Open it and find out.”

“You’re sure bossy this morning.”

“Noted. Now open the bag.”

Marlowe did, then, peering into it, her eyes widened. “Oh, my. It’s…”

“Chocolate! I knew it!”

“Nope.” She stuck a box of pregnancy test strips in his face.

Asher tipped his head back and laughed. “Oh, my hell? This is so much better than chocolate. I told you. Everyone knows what we’ve been up to, but most especially Kelsey would know.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

He snagged his good arm around her waist. The other would be in a protective sling for weeks to come. “Eventually. Women are intuitive. Us guys aren’t. Come on. Let’s go to the bathroom and—”

“You arenotgoing in there with me.”

“Nope, not unless you want me to. But be ready to howl at the moon if we’re pregnant.”

Marlowe shook her head all the way down the hallway until she closed the bathroom door behind her. No matter which way that test went, he was a lucky son of a bitch, and the ring in his pocket wasn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t time, not now, not with a possible pregnancy between them. He’d know when the time was right. Or would he?

Oh, hell. What was he thinking? Nowwasthe perfect time. Before, not after. Hurrying down the hall, Asher waited for the toilet to flush before he knocked. Excited to know what that test strip revealed, he didn’t wait for an answer, just burst in like the overbearing ass he usually wasn’t.

Pulling his grandmother’s ring out of his pocket, he dropped very carefully to one knee and extended the ring between two fingers on his left hand. “Marlowe Rich, will you please marry me? I don’t need to know if we’re pregnant to know I love you. A baby will only make the frosting on our wedding cake sweeter.”

His eyes filled with tears. Asher hadn’t realized proposing to the woman he adored would be so emotional or mean so much. He could feel Grandma Downey’s spirit there, in his bathroom, with him and Marlowe. He could smell her lilac cologne, and he knew, he just knew Gram was smiling down at him.

Marlowe stood at the sink, obviously shell-shocked by his question, the test strip in her trembling hand, and her eyes bright with emotions he couldn’t interpret. “Umm, what?”

The warning lights in his all-male brain started flashing. This might not have been the smartest move or the right time, damn it. Asher licked his lips, his arm still extended, waiting. Hoping he hadn’t screwed up what should have been a momentous occasion. What kind of man proposes to the woman he loves in a bathroom?

Apparently, an idiot, that’s who.

“Umm, sure,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “Okay. I guess. If you want to.”

Not the response he wanted. Yup, he’d scared her, and Marlowe was doing what she did best, retreating before she attacked.

Lowering his arm, Asher regrouped, swallowed his pride, and tried again. “I know this might be too soon and too fast, but, honey, I’m—”Stupid. He went with that. “I messed this up. Guess because I’m stupidly, hopelessly, in love with you.” The ring went back into his pocket. “Never mind. When you’re ready, you’ll know.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“I’m ready now,” Marlowe whispered, setting the test stick on the counter beside the sink as she turned to face Asher. “You startled me, that’s all. Of course I’ll marry you. I used one strip and I got two stripes, but it’s early. It might mean we’re pregnant, but the instructions say I should take another test tomorrow. Maybe more after that. You know, just to be sure.”

He shook his head. “Nope. No way. You’re pregnant, I can tell, and that makes me the luckiest man alive. And the dumbest. I hope you know I didn’t ask you to marry me just because we might be pregnant. I asked because” —Asher dug the ring back out of his pocket and held it out for her to see— “when Gram passed away, she left this, along with a handwritten note that said,‘For you, Asher. You’ll know who to give it to the moment you see her.’” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he struggled to swallow. “And honey—”

Time stopped, there on the edge of eternity. Marlowe froze, her poor pounding heart so full it felt like it might shatter into a million pieces. Asher wanted to marry her? Was this a dream? Afairytale come true? Did he really want to spend the rest of his life with someone like her?

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