Page 48 of Guarding the Princess
He holds out his hand, palm up, and I float over to him, eager to slip my hand into his.
“Charlotte,” he whispers back.
Ryker lifts my hand and kisses the back of it, his beard delightfully scratching my skin.
“I thought a private dinner would be nice after being on display all day.”
I swear he hasn’t even blinked, just looking his fill like he can’t get enough of me. My whole body hums with satisfaction. This man, this day, this life. Absolute perfection.
“You thought right. This is perfect.” I beam at him, wondering what my life would be like without him. What a pale comparison.
He guides me to my chair and I sit, letting him scoot me in before he has a seat across from me. He stretches his hand across the table and I slip mine into his grasp, loving how his big hand nearly envelops mine. Three months in Regora, living in the palace, hasn’t softened him one bit. If he answers my question the way I hope he will, I can rest assured he won’t be a lazy king. He’ll work hard for my people—ourpeople—unafraid of getting his hands dirty.
“Ryker.” I take a deep breath, ready to launch into the speech I prepared for just as much as the one I gave earlier into a microphone. “I—”
Ryker lets go of my hand and stands abruptly, his chair scraping against the wood slats. For a quick second, I’m frozen, thinking he knows what I’m going to ask him and he doesn’t want to discuss it. Could I have been so wrong about where our relationship is heading?
He moves around the table and drops to one knee. I release huge breath of air as I finally realize what’s going on.
Ryker grabs my hand again with his lips tipped up adorably on one side. “Hard to slow down the Queen enough to ask a simple question.”
I gasp, a bit of a laugh along with total shock that this is actually happening. The thought of turning twenty-one had caused me so much anxiety for so long, knowing what obligations came with it, I couldn’t believe that just a few months beyond that birthday could bring me everything I never knew I wanted. My heart begins to pound in my throat, cutting off any question I may have attempted to ask him. My future king beat me to it.
“I never intended to fall in love with you, and to be honest, I fell in love with more than a princess hiding out in America as a barista. I fell in love withyou, the woman. All the versions of you that you’ll become over the years. The title, the job, the location…none of it matters, as long as I have you by my side. I’ve always been a Duke, but I’d be humbled to become your king. Will you marry me, Charlotte?”
My eyes fill with tears and I can’t think of a more perfect moment. Or a more perfect man for me.
“Y-yes, I will marry you and gladly become a Duke. I love you, Ryker.” The words come out with more stutter than my training would dictate, but I’ve never said anything more from the heart and all the lessons in the world don’t prepare you for this situation.
He chuckles and squeezes my hand. “I love you too, more than anything.”
I lean forward and cup his face, feeling the scrape of his beard beneath my palms. I pull him in for a kiss, just like our first. He promises me forever with his kiss and I do the same. I start giggling which breaks our kiss. He pulls back and smiles with me.
“What’s so funny, my queen?”
The giggles are ill-timed as usual, but can’t be stopped. It’s been quite the day. “I just can’t believe I used to be so irritated by you! I literally asked you if you were going to follow me into the bathroom the first time we talked.”
His laughter joins in, still on one knee. “I loved your spirit. You looked like a model off the runway or an airbrushed magazine cover, but you had such fire and intelligence. And then when you let me in, I saw your heart. You’re a lethal combination, Ms. Isaksson.”
I reach to pull him back in.
“Oh!”
I freeze. “What?”
“I almost forgot.” He digs into his pocket and pulls out a black velvet box. “Your hand,härskarinna.”
I grin from ear to ear. I love it when he attempts Swedish. We’ll have to work on it. Extending my left hand toward him, I realize I’m shaking.
He slips a ring onto my finger, and only when it’s in place—a perfect fit!—do I get a good look at it. A round three-carat diamond perches in the center, surrounded by a ring of sapphires.
“Ryker! It’s gorgeous.” I bring it closer to my face. There are diamond baguettes lining the entire way around the ring. This must have cost him a small fortune.
He shrugs. “It’s a diamond fit for a queen. I lived very simply before I met you, just saving money for a rainy day. This is a much better way to spend that money. Oh, and the wedding band will be a plain gold band so if you don’t want to wear something so ostentatious, you can just wear the wedding band. And the sapphires are your brother’s birthstone, as you know. I thought it would be nice to have a reminder of him wherever you go.”
Tears fill my eyes again. My throat closes and I need a few minutes to collect myself before I can speak. Ryker waits patiently, the poor guy still on his knee.
“You know me so well.” I shake my head. “But I need you to know that I see you too. Like really see you. I won’t let anything overshadow you, not even a crown or a country. I need you permanently in the spotlight with me. We’ll always make room for our love.”
