Page 41 of Stunts and Sparks

“What is it?” She started to sit up, but he held her back against him.

“It’s the reason for this whole trip,” he said, a little tremor in his voice. “I’ve told you that I had problems getting close to people, problems trusting people. It’s a real struggle for me to maintain close relationships, even with the people I love.”

“You did tell me that, yes.” Her stomach was suddenly in knots, but why? Surely he hadn’t planned this whole vacation just to break up with her.

“I also told you that you’re the exception, right?”

“Yes,” Heather admitted. Her heart was starting to pound in her chest. She couldn’t tell whether she was excited or terrified, but there was a big chance it was a little of both.

“Well, I’d like you to keep the job,” he said. She felt him digging in his pocket for something. Then both his arms circled around her, and there, in the light of the stars and moon, she saw a little box that glittered when he opened it. “What do you say?” he asked. “Will you be the exception for the rest of my life?”

Heather couldn’t stand to not see him anymore. She whirled around in his arms, spinning on her knees until she faced him. “Do you mean it?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“This isn’t a prank?”

He laughed a little, but his nervousness was still apparent. “Sweetheart, would I have gone to all this trouble for a prank? This entire vacation, this whole trip has been building toward tonight. I’ve been doing pretty good at hiding my anxiety, but apparently, I failed these last few hours.”

“Well, stop stressing out!” She slapped his shoulder. “Of course I’ll be the exception.”

He smiled so broadly. “In the interest of avoiding ambiguity,” he said, “I am asking you to marry me.” He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. “Will you marry me?”

“Absolutely!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’m not going to let you get out of this one, sweetheart.” She called him by the endearment he was so fond of using for her. “I’m going to be kicking your ass for the rest of your life.”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.” He kissed her back and held her for a long time under the stars.

For the rest of that week, Heather couldn’t stop staring at her ring. She kept watching it glitter out of the corner of her eye, and it kept reminding her that her future was so bright, so warm that she never wanted to obsess over the past again. She would spend the rest of her life looking to the future, trusting, to some degree, that fate knew better than she did.

A life-altering accident and horrifying kidnapping had brought her to her future, and what a gorgeous future it was. Cole would be there for the rest of her life, and she knew from experience that he would not hesitate to do whatever it took to protect her. He would run toward danger, jump into any fray, and take on the most terrifying gang for her. And she was determined to promise him the same. For the rest of her life, she would do whatever it took to make him happy, to make him feel safe, even though he had made his heart vulnerable to her. She would make sure that he never, ever regretted making her the exception.

The End

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