Page 89 of Broken King

I reach the first floor, and my stomach does a full flip when I see her standing alone in the living room near the door to the patio. Damn, she probably is going to be upset I left her down here alone.

She looks so incredible in that pink sundress she’s wearing. It wouldn’t matter what she was dressed in, though. To me, Kate’s always beautiful.

When she sees me, her face lights up, like I’ve made her day. Nobody else in the world has ever looked like that when they see me. Maybe my mother, but I don’t remember it’s been so long without her.

I hurry over to her and pull her aside. “Sorry I’m late. I had to take care of something.”

“Was it with Marius? I saw him come down just a few seconds before you. He was nice enough to say he’d go up and tell you I was here.”

Not wanting to explain what I was actually doing, I take another deep breath and nod my head toward the door. “Let’s go outside for a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay. Is everything all right, Ronan?” she asks as I guide her out to the patio, making sure to close the door so we have some privacy.

“Yeah. It’s just a little busy in there.”

Concern fills her expression. “If you don’t want to hang out here for long, that’s okay. I understand if you’re feeling uncomfortable around so many people. You know me. I’d be fine if I never had to be in a crowd again.”

When we get to where the table and chairs are near the pool, I stop and silently ask whoever is watching to help me not screw up the next minute that’s likely the most important sixty seconds of my life. A sudden calm washes over me, as if my mother saw how nervous I am and is silently making me understand everything’s going to be okay.

“So I wanted to talk to you about something tonight, Kate,” I say, my voice quivering when I say her name.

She looks up at me, her blue eyes wide. “Okay.”

I hear the fear in her voice and know she’s probably worried it was like that night all those years ago when I told her we needed to talk and then I confessed to cheating on her. She has every right to worry about that. I fucked up. I hurt the most wonderful person I had in my life, and I deserved to have her leave me.

That’s how I know what we have now is even better than what we were before.

My hand fumbles with the tiny box in my pocket for a few seconds, and then I slowly bend down on one knee. I see her stare down in shock as she realizes what I’m about to do.

When I pull the black velvet box out, it tumbles out of my hold, bouncing across the concrete patio. I hurry to grab it, hating myself right now for ruining what was supposed to be the moment we’d remember forever.

“I wanted this to be perfect,” I say, disgusted with myself.

Kate crouches down to stop me, picking the box up and handing it to me. “It’s okay, Ronan. You don’t have to be nervous. My answer is yes.”

“I wanted to do this the right way. I’m sorry I messed it up,” I say, hanging my head. “It’s just that sometimes my left hand and my brain don’t seem to want to work together.”

She kisses me softly on the lips and whispers against them, “Oh, baby, it’s okay. Nothing got messed up.”

Opening the black jewelry box, I show off the engagement ring I bought when Marius and I went shopping a couple days ago. The diamond isn’t huge like I can afford because I know Kate isn’t flashy like that. It’s a simple ring with a round two carat diamond and a gold band. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the perfect ring for her.

“Kate Abbott, will you marry me? You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. Do me the honor of saying you’ll be my wife.”

Tears fill her eyes as she nods and wraps her arms around my neck. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, Ronan. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved. You were my first everything. I never stopped hoping that some day this would happen. You’ve made me the happiest woman in the world!”

I let out a sigh of relief as I hold her in my arms. My Kate, the first and only girl I loved, said yes to becoming my wife. I thought I’d lost everything all those months ago as I lay in that hospital bed wishing I’d never survived the crash. In my wildest dreams, I wouldn’t have been able to see I could be this happy just eight months later.

She leans away from me and looks down at the ring as tears roll down her cheeks. “It’s so beautiful, Ronan. How did you know that’s exactly the kind of ring I’d like?”

I carefully lift it out of its velvet home and slip it on her ring finger. It’s even more perfect seeing her wear it.

With a smile, I answer, “Because I know you.”

Kate sniffles and throws her arms around my neck again. “Thank you for making me the happiest person in the world right now.”

“Thank you for saying yes.”

When we finally let go of one another and stand up, she slips her arm through mine and looks up at me with a smile. “Please tell me you weren’t nervous about this tonight.”

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