Page 70 of The Billionaire's Kiss
She blinked several times as her jaw hung open. “You came here, bought a castle, and are about to start a business, and you did all of this for me?”
“I did. And I want you to be my partner in this business. I want you to manage the bar and maybe some other things here, too. Fifty-fifty—what do you say to that?”
“I say that I’ll have to think about it.”
“You will become a very rich woman if you take the offer.”
“I’m not quite understanding you. You came here, got this castle, are turning it into a business, and you want me to own half of it? Is that right? You came to give me something that will make me wealthy?”
“No.” She wasn’t understanding me completely. “That’s a by-product of why I came here. I came here foryou. I came here because I loveyou. I came here because living life withoutyoudoesn’t make me happy. I came here because I missedyou,and not a day has gone by in these last six months that I have not thought aboutyou.”
“This is overwhelming.”
I got up and went to her, taking her hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
She came along without any hesitation. My hand burned where it touched hers. The electricity between us was still there, strong as ever.
I took her to my car and then drove her to the cottage. It wasn’t as glorious-looking in the fog as it was in the sunshine, but I did see her eyes widen when she saw it. “What’s this?”
“This is my new home. I’ll be renting out the rooms at the castle. But this will be home.” I got out of the car, and she did too, meeting me in front of it. I took her by the hand again and took her inside.
“This is lovely, Warner.”
“Look around. I’m going to go get something, and I’ll be right back.”
I wasn’t going to waste another minute. I got the item I’d bought for her before leaving Austin and took it to her.
She was in the kitchen, marveling at everything. “This place is five times the size of mine. And it’s beautiful. Everything is new in here. Top of the line appliances, too.”
I took her by the hand again, leading her back to the living room to stand in front of the fireplace. The flames crackled, and the light from the fire made her glow like the angel that she was.
Her eyes darted back and forth as I got down on one knee and held out the ring that I’d bought for her. “I know you’ve got one proposal on the table already. And I am not asking you this just to one-up Killian, I swear that to you. I bought this ring before even leaving Austin. This had always been my intention, Orla.”
I held the ring between my thumb and forefinger, holding it out to her. Her hand trembled as she stretched her fingers out, moving them toward the ring. “You came here to ask me to marry you?”
“I did.” I’d had this lengthy proposal planned out. But it didn’t seem to matter now. “I love you more than I knew possible, and I want to marry you. I want to make you happy, and I want you to make me happy. I want us to be partners in every way imaginable, baby. Become my wife, and I will become your husband. We can build a family together. All you have to do is say yes.”
She looked away from the sparkling ring and looked into my eyes. I don’t know how much time passed as we stared at each other—it could have been ten seconds or ten minutes. All I knew was that my heart stopped beating as I waited to hear the most important word of my entire life.
“Yes.” Tears flowed down her cheeks, and soon my eyes were stinging as well.
“You have no idea how happy you’ve just made me, baby.” I slid the ring onto her finger, and the tears spilled over.
Finally, we’ll be together forever.
