Page 69 of Love & Rockets

“What?” Jake stiffened, then extricated his hand from hers. “How? How would you know?”

Darla smiled and swept a hand toward the candlelit picnic spread. “Who do you think masterminded this whole ‘grand gesture’ thing?”

The man looked as if she’d clubbed him over the head with his big, fat telescope. “My mom?”

She chuckled, grasped his elbow, and steered him toward the blanket. But the minute she stepped onto the edge, she realized she had no graceful way of sinking onto it without playing peek-a-boob or giving him a shot of the pretty lace panties she’d bought but never worn for him. Feeling awkward and hoping to distract him from any possible flashing, she motioned for him to go first.

Thankfully, he held up the camera in his hand. “Gimme a sec. I’ll put this on here so I don’t lose track of it.”

While he took a minute to attach the camera to the telescope, she quickly dropped to her knees then swung her legs around, yanking the low-cut bodice into place as she situated. Luckily, Jake took the time to adjust the scope’s trajectory.

“Do you mind if I snap a couple of pictures?”

Her head came up and her hands stilled. “Of the moon?”

A smile twitched the corners of his mouth as he bent to make a few more adjustments. “I’d take some of you, but I won’t need them.”

“You won’t?”

“Pretty sure this dress will be permanently etched on my brain.” He pressed the button to trigger the camera’s shutter. “Tell me my mother didn’t pick it out for you.”

“Uh….”

He laughed as he backed away from the telescope. Turning his full attention to her, he shrugged. “You’d think I’d be past needing my mom to set me up.”

“I dread the day Grace stops needing me.”

Jake dropped down onto the opposite side of the blanket, then kept on going. He stretched out long on his back and laced his fingers together behind his head, his gaze locked on the moon.

Darla smiled, charmed by the ease and fluidity of his motions. This was a man who clearly spent a lot of time sprawled out on his roof staring at the sky above. Swinging her legs out in front of her, she lay back until the enormous orb loomed over her.

“I don’t need to know his name,” he said as soon as she settled.

Darla turned to look at him. “No?”

He shook his head, but continued to stare up at the glowing white orb. “But there is one thing I do need to know,” he said quietly.

“I love you.”

Jake nodded and reached for her hand without tearing his eyes from the sky. The moment her fingers slid into place between his, he blew out a sigh. “Before you say anything else, I want you to know I intend to send Gracie to Space Camp whether she earns the scholarship or not.”

She quirked a brow at him. “Oh, you do, huh?”

He turned to look her in the eye then nodded again. “Yep. And I’m going with her.”

“Oh.” Darla wet her lips, then gave a little shrug. “Think they give family discounts?”

“Are you proposing to me?”

She fixed him with an earnest gaze. “I kind of promised your mom and Gracie I’d make an honest man out of you.” Heedless of the scant material of her dress, she rolled up and scrambled for the beach towel-covered lump anchoring one corner of the blanket. Uncovering the Styrofoam and construction paper model of Saturn Grace had made for the Young Scientists gala, she held it out to him.

He smiled up at her, a wicked gleam in his night-sky eyes. “Are you going to ask politely?”

Laughing, she ducked her head before conceding defeat. “Please, Jake,” she whispered, looking up at him from under her lashes. “Say you’ll marry me. I beg you.”

“I’ve been waiting a long time for you to give in.”

She smiled and nodded, then she hit him with the line Gracie assured her would seal the deal. “Say yes, and you’ll never want for ammonia.”

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