Page 123 of The Roommate Remodel

“But the NHL, Brax!” I nearly yell. I’m not sure if I should feel flattered that he chose me or push him to reconsider. I can’t be Brax’s reason for settling. “I don’t want to hold you back.”

He shakes his head. “You could never hold me back,” he urges. “I want to build a life with you. And you’re here, which means I’m not moving.”

“Are you sure about this?” I ask, my chest constricting. I don’t want Brax to let go of his dreams for me.

“Never been more sure, Jazlyn.” He pulls out a black box from his pocket. A small velvet one. “I want this to be our home. And for you to be my wife. If you’ll have me.” Then he kneels in front of me and opens the box, revealing a solitaire diamond.

My heart stutters in my chest. “Wait. You’re asking me to marry you?”

“Told you I’m not leaving,” he says with a grin. “I don’t deserve you, Jazlyn. Every day when I wake up and hear your laughter downstairs, I feel like the luckiest man alive. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. You make people feel at home, like they belong here, which is really special. And you’re crazy stubborn when you want something, which is why you didn’t give up on me. You know how to take broken things and fix them up. You fixedmein a lot of ways I didn’t know I was broken. And I realized if you found out I’d turned down the NHL, you’d be ticked at me. But I couldn’t ask you to leaveRose & Thorn. I love this place too much to let it go.”

“But I would foryou,” I protest.

He presses my lips gently with his finger. “I know, and that’s why I’m saying no. Because when I’m sure of what I want, I go for it. And I want you.” He punctuates his words with kisses across my face. “What do you say, Jazlyn? Do you want to make a life with me?”

“More than anything,” I say, laughing and crying at the sametime. He pulls me against his very solid, very warm chest and kisses me hard, nearly taking my breath away.

Even though I don’t want to stop, I still have one more question. “Brax, I don’t understand. Why would you choose me?”

“I love you so much, Jazlyn. I want to make thisourhome. And you,mywife.”

He cups the back of my neck and tugs me to his lips again in a kiss so tender, it’s the only answer I need.

“I love you so much, Brax MacPherson,” I whisper against his lips.

He leans his forehead against mine. “You were always the one for me. Which is why I don’t want to wait long to marry you,” he says in a voice low and urgent. “For now, let’s celebrate with the team.”

“I think we’re doing a good job celebrating right here,” I say, kissing him on the nose.

A little growl comes from his throat. “Wish I could.” He sighs. “But the team is coming any moment to surprise you with an engagement party, because I knew I might not stop kissing you otherwise.”

“Someday, you won’t have to,” I say, making him a promise I plan to keep.

Suddenly, there’s the sound of a door slamming below and a rush of feet stomping through the house.

Sloan’s voice comes up the steps. “She better have said yes, or I bought all this food for nothing.”

“Don’t worry, she agreed to be my wife,” Brax yells back, and all the guys erupt into cheers so loud it nearly shakes the house.

Brax grins and turns back to me. “One more thing. Whatever you want to plan for the wedding is fine, as long as you marry me soon. I don’t want to go any longer than I have to sleeping in this bed alone. And I only have two requests for the wedding.”

“Only two?” I ask, suddenly curious what Brax would demand.

He hands me a small cardboard box from his end table. WhenI open it, I see the most decadent red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

“You want red velvet cake?” I ask.

“No, you do.” He grins, like he knows how much this pleases me. “But the second thing ismyrequest.”

He reaches over to a small drawer and pulls out a tiara, the same one he found the night he first kissed me. I had no idea he’d kept it. He places it on my head, just like the night of the wedding.

“I want you to wear this,Princess.”

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