Page 87 of Cruel Devotion

Aunt Cindy gasped. Natasha laughed. Grayson whooped. “I get an unca!” He missed thatl, and it was too damn cute.

Haley turned her head, smiling at me while I kept my arm around her shoulders.

“Will you be my wife, Haley?” I asked quieter, meaning it both times. As I reached for the ring box in my pocket, I lowered to one knee and faced her. I didn’t have much, but there was plenty to grow on with the love between us.

Staring up at the sweetheart I was a fool to ever bully, the one friend I’d pushed away, I prayed she’d accept this ring and officially beminefor everyone to see.

“Will you make me the happiest man on earth and be my wife, the mother of all my children?”

She gaped at me, her laughter clear in her eyes. “Allyour children?”

“We’re only getting started, right?”

She laughed. “Let’s pace ourselves.”

“Okay. We’ll aim for six.”

“Six!”

I smiled, cherishing the satin softness of her hand in mine. She was so smooth and silky, beckoning me to touch and taste her every chance I could get. Even when she needed something a little harder, a little bite of pain, she was still the sweet soul I couldn’t imagine my life being complete without.

“How about we go with one and see where things go?” she teased back.

“Whatever you want,” I told her. I would always do all I could to make her happy. That was all I needed to know everything was right in my world.

“Okay.” She nodded.

“Wait. Okay, we’ll have three kids or?—”

She laughed, tugging on my hand to get me to stand. “It’s okay, I’ll marry you.”

I hugged her close, kissing her without any patience to slide the ring onto her finger. So long as she gazed at me like that, like I was her hero, her man, her reason to smile and stay strong, I couldn’t resist crushing my mouth to hers and stealing her breath.

Her hands came up to frame my face, making me damn near sigh against her. I loved every way she touched me, but there was something about that gesture that always got to me.

“I love you, Haley,” I promised.

“And I love you, Eli.”

I kissed her once more, then lowered my head to watch as I slid the ring on her finger.

Congratulations followed again, but this time, we moved it to the house. Finn and Davina had to go with their families, but they’d come over later to help us finalize the packing.

Greg and I loaded the heavier stuff in the van, and while I appreciated the chance to get to know him better, counting on his being in my life in the city, I kept myself from regretting that I couldn’t be doing all of this with Haley. After eating out for lunch, she and Natasha focused on keeping Grayson preoccupied.

“Well, you’re almost done,” Aunt Cindy said, checking the contents in the moving van.

“You know, it seems like it’s a lot,” I said, teasing her, “but are you sure you don’t want to just pick up the house and transport the whole thing?”

“Oh, stop. I can downsize.” And she was. Instead of staying here in Marsten, she decided to move with me and Haley to the city. We would all be together, both of the sisters near each other. Grayson would be able to grow up with his new cousin, too.

Aunt Cindy put the house up for sale with the plan to move in with us and help out. Since she had her experience at the daycare and she was excited for the baby to come, we figured out that she’d live in the same building as us and help out so Haley and I could both focus on work, too. Balancing a new baby and a new job would be a challenge, but it became an adventure with our being in a new home too.

Haley had already accepted a job at a school, and she would decide her goals for grad school after the baby came. With Aunt Cindy there to help as a nanny and living comfortably with the sale of the house, Haley didn’t have to put off her academic dreams for good.

The start of my career wasn’t shabby, either.

A gym near the apartment building had already offered me a job, and while the job requirements were a little beyond my experience and scope of knowledge, they agreed to pay for me to take additional certification courses to get up to speed so I could count on an even higher salary than what I told myself I’d be getting.

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