“Oleg,” she gasped, her eyes on the oval-cut diamond with three smaller diamonds on each side. I picked her up and settled her pretty feet on the ground before I dropped to one knee. As I reached and held her delicate hand that was so much smaller than mine but so much stronger in other ways, I had to swallow back the feelings that bombarded me.
“I love you. I want you. I know this is fast and fucked up on a million levels, and if you say no, I understand. But you gotta understand I’m going to keep asking. I won’t stop. I—“ Her fingers covered my lips, and a sneaky gleam shined in her eyes.
“You’re already arguing with me before you’ve even let me answer.” I kissed the tips of her fingers before pulling them off my mouth.
“I just want you to know that I’m a man with a plan when it comes to you and our life together. And the life of this little guy or girl.” My palm dropped to her stomach, and she laughed.
“This is crazy.” She blinked tears away, but they were as stubborn as the woman in front of me. I reached up and swiped them away.
“What’s crazy?”
“This. You and me and… I was with someone for so long, and I never had to take one test. Not ever. Not even close to having ever worried about being pregnant.”
“Coral,” I warned. “I don’t think talking about your ex at this moment?—“
“Shh,” she hushed as a smile grew on her face. “I was a little freaked out when I read the test but… not because I thought I was having a baby with the wrong person. I just… I didn’t see having a family in my future. Not really. Not even before…”
“But now?”
“Now…” Her smile was so bright and beautiful it made me feel alive. “Now I can’t see a life without you and anything that might happen from here on out.”
“Coral, babochka, will you marry me?” I asked. Vulnerability dripped from every syllable. She blinked away the tears that kept streaming down her face.
“Yes.” She shook her head. “Yes!” I stood and kissed her before placing the ring on her finger. “It’s a perfect fit,” she whispered.
“Like you and me.” I winked, and she laughed as I picked her up and spun her around.
“My parents are going to freak out.”
“Why?” I pulled away.
“I’m engaged to someone they haven’t met yet.” She laughed, and I chuckled.
“They have the rest of our days to get to know me. I’ll win them over, I promise. You like it here?” I asked, looking around the cabin.
“I do.”
“You sure? If you don’t, we can look for a new place or?—“
“I just want to be with you. I want to build a life together. I don’t care where.” Fuck, she had no idea how those words were making all my dreams come true.
“Okay. You’re moving in this weekend. I’ll hire a crew to get your things here by Saturday.”
“Oleg!” she exclaimed but didn’t argue with me.
“Fuck,” I cursed, cupping her face and leaning down. “Are you really okay with this? With everything I did?”
“I don’t know… seeing the cameras… they took me off guard but… is it weird they didn’t scare me? You don’t scare me, Oleg.”
“You like me watching,” I surmised. She chewed on her pouty lower lip before nodding.
“I do. And honestly, I don’t think I would mind watching us together,” she whispered.
“Fuck.” I swallowed then picked up my future bride. “Later, we can watch whatever you want. Right now, we need to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?”
“Yeah. You’re having my baby and agreed to marry me. If I thought I had a chance of getting you to agree to heading to the courthouse right now, I would be carrying you there instead of our room,” I gruffed, lifting her up higher, loving the way her legs wrapped around my waist.