Page 117 of Always Been Mine

“I’m not. You’re just OCD about contracts.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Nate shot back.

Gabe cleared his throat. “We’re going to be late for our dinner reservation, Beatrice. We need to get going.”

A hand settled on the small of her back, firmly guiding her to the door.

She had a feeling she was going to get the caveman treatment from Gabe later. Her man controlled his jealousy in public in deference to her reputation, but the signs were there. A narrowing of the eyes, a hardening of his jaw, and the most obvious of signs, a seemingly calm tone. It was when he got her in private that he let her have it, reminding her to whom she belonged. She wasn’t complaining; she just didn’t want him feeling needlessly jealous.

A delicious ache between her legs caused her steps to falter.

It was going to be a long dinner.

Dinner wasan enjoyable affair as usual. Between discussions of their work and home improvements, the renovation of Beatrice’s home office took up most of the conversation. Gabe was tired of Doug walking in on them in the mornings, especially when Beatrice was feeling frisky and her man had to take a cold shower because of an unfulfilled hard-on. He was redesigning their home so there would be a separate entrance to her office, which was in the back of the house anyway. It would have been simple enough, except Old Town Alexandriawas a historic neighborhood and every exterior change had to go through the City Council and the Board for Architectural Review. Tonight was a celebration of the approved plans.

However, Beatrice noticed that Gabe was a bit off, distracted even. He had grown quiet around dessert time, and on the drive home, he barely spoke a word. Their vehicle was an AGS-issued black Ford Explorer. Gabe never replaced his wrecked SUV from that mess with Ryker, and since he was working on the house anyway, he used the Silverado pickup.

“You’re okay to walk a few blocks or do you want me to drop you off at the front of the house?” They had circled twice for closer parking, but since it was late, the ideal spots were taken.

“I’ve walked blocks in heels before, Gabe,” Beatrice quipped.

“Next project will be off-street parking; at least for one of the cars,” Gabe declared.

Zipping into an empty space, Gabe muttered for her to stay put as he quickly exited and rounded the vehicle to her side.

“Pulling out all the stops tonight, Sullivan?” Beatrice teased.

“I want it to be perfect,” Gabe replied simply.

Suddenly, her heart thumped wildly under her breastbone.Oh, God. Was it what she was thinking?

Gabe smiled at her almost boyishly, which was a feat, because boyish Gabe was an oxymoron.

Silence fell between them as he took her hand in his and started walking toward the house. The annoying click-clack of her shoes echoed on the pavement. Gabe, as usual, maintained a stealthy gait.

When they reached the wrought-iron fence of their home, he unlocked the gate and guided her through, keeping a firm grip on her elbow as though he was afraid she would escape.He didn’t waste any time with his objective. It was evident in the look he cast her when he came for her in the car.

He dropped to one knee.

“Gabe. What?—Here?” Beatrice breathed, partly in panic and partly in elation. He was holding on to her hand.

His brows scrunched in a frown. “Proposing? Yes.”

“Uh—”

His eyes drilled into hers even when he was the one in a vulnerable position. There was a stubborn set to his jaw. “You are going to hear me out before you start panicking.” His grip tightened on her hand.

“Okay,” she whispered. She was going to tell him to go ahead and ask her, but hey, if he intended to go all bossy about it, she wasn’t going to stop him.

Gabe pushed out a deep breath. “The start of our relationship had not been ideal. In truth, I was afraid I could never get you back. But I think we have what it takes to make this work. This”—he waved to the house—“I’ve always meant for you to have this whether you took me back or not. Even with everything that separated us—the distance, the years, and the hurt, you’ve always been mine, Beatrice. I may have let you go then, but in my heart, I never did. All my life, I’ve never felt an emotion this intense. I. Fucking. Love. You. You are my oxygen; you are the heart of me, poppy.” His voice thickened. “God knows you’ve suffered too much because of me.” His fingers shifted from her hand and trailed up her forearms, his thumb caressing the smooth expanse of skin where her scars used to be. Cosmetic surgery, at its finest, took care of all the physical evidence of torture. “And yet, you’ve accepted me as your man. You’ve taken me at my darkest and brought me to this dream. I’m almost afraid if I don’t bind you to me now, I will lose you. I can’t lose you. So put me out of my misery. Be mine in every way. Marry me, Beatrice.” He reached into his pocket and took out the most gorgeousdiamond ring Beatrice had ever seen. Three carats at least, her discerning eye told her.

She must have stared at the ring for too long, and made Gabe nervous. He visibly swallowed. “I took the liberty of choosing the ring, but if you don’t like it—”

“Yes.”

“You don’t like it?” His face fell.

“No, you silly man. Yes, I’ll marry you.” Her laugh was choked because her heart was almost beating into her throat and she might also be crying. She didn’t care. She had the most perfect proposal given by the most perfect man. She loved him so much; it frightened her sometimes, but knowing without a doubt how deeply Gabe loved her, made such fears inconsequential. “Don’t you dare return the ring. It’s mine.”

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