Page 101 of Accidental Fiancé

I reached out and took her hand, brushing my thumb across her knuckles. “It's you, you know. You make us better, Maggie.”

She laughed shyly, but there was something in the way that she did it, like she wasn't used to compliments yet, even though I gave them freely. One day she’d get used to them. I would make sure of that.

She teased, “You're just saying that because I brought cupcakes.”

“Well, that certainly helps.” I watched as she unwrapped one and handed it to me. The icing was a swirl of pastel colors, soft pinks and purples that reminded me of the wildflowers blooming around us.

“My trainer already loves you. You don’t have to keep feeding me.”

She rolled her eyes and passed me the treat. “Just eat it.”

“You're spoiling me, you know.”

“It's only fair,” she replied, handing another cupcake to Piper, who had come running by. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was wild from the butterfly chase. Maggie continued, “You've done plenty of spoiling yourself, sir.”

Piper plopped down on the blanket beside us, her face lighting up as she took a bite of her cupcake, crumbs falling onto her lap. She said the same thing that she said every time Maggie made something for her. “These are the best. Better than last time.”

Maggie smiled, brushing a stray curl behind Pip’s ear. “I'm glad you like them, sweetheart.”

As I watched the two of them interact, something inside of me swelled, something warm and solid and so full of love that it almost scared me.

Maggie had come into our lives like a quiet storm, turning everything upside down in the best possible way. She wasn't just someone I loved; she was someone who had become a part of us, a part of our family. The missing piece to the puzzle.

I couldn't imagine life without her, without everything she brought into our lives, the way she loved Pip like she was her own. Maggie was more than I ever expected or deserved. As I looked at her, sitting there with Piper, her face lit up by the afternoon sun, I knew without a doubt I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life.

I had proposed on the surest whim I had ever felt, and every day, she proved me right.

“Maggie. I said quietly, my voice barely a whisper.

She gave me a questioning look. “Hmm?”

“I love you.”

She blinked, surprised at the suddenness of my words, and then smiled, her cheeks flushing just slightly. “I love you too, Julian.”

They were simple, those three little words, but they felt bigger than the sky above us. And yet, saying them was so easy. Because loving Maggie was easy. Being with her was easy.

I knew we’d have more trials and tribulations ahead; we had an actual trial coming up. Chloe Foster had been arrested, andsince she gave the arresting officer hell, Apollo added assaulting a police officer and blackmail charges, which made it impossible for her to post bail with the money she’d blackmailed out of me. As much as I didn’t want to deal with the pandemonium of a trial, it would be good to have Chloe Foster’s evil shadow out of sight for a while when all was said and done.

Life was never going to be perfect. I wasn’t naïve enough to think that. Marriage, no matter how privileged you were, was still work. But there was nothing I couldn’t face with Maggie at my side. We could do anything as long as we were together.

“Can we do this every day?” Piper asked, knocking me out of my reverie, her face smeared with icing as she reached for another cupcake. “The picnic, I mean. And the cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes.”

I laughed, reaching out to wipe a smudge of frosting from her nose. “Maybe not every day, Pip. We'll run out of cupcakes.”

“No, we won't,” she insisted. Her eyes were wide with determination. Maggie makes the best cupcakes, and we’ll never run out.”

Maggie chuckled beside me. “I do need to practice for my cookbook.”

I glanced at her, my heart swelling again at the way she sweetly looked at Pip. The way she stepped up into a mother figure role without hesitation or question. It surprised me every day. I wrapped my arm around Maggie’s shoulders. “I think we can manage a few more picnics. But next time, the cupcakes will be for the two of you only, or Dixon will make me do burpees until I puke, again.”

Piper, satisfied with my answer, turned her attention back to her cupcake, happily munching away, oblivious to the universe shifting around us.

The three of us sat there, enjoying the cool breeze as it swept in over the Pacific. The late afternoon sun cast a warm glow overthe meadow, natural beauty taking over my senses. It was one of those rare moments where time seemed to stand still, and nothing mattered except the people you were with and the love you felt for them.

“I can't believe how happy I am,” Maggie murmured after a while. Her voice was quiet as she leaned against me, her head resting on my chest. “It feels like a dream.”

“It's real,” I promised, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “And it's only going to get better.”

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