Page 135 of The Heartbreaker
“Well, you do know most of it is for show and encouraged by our in-house publicist.”
“Makes sense.” She shrugged. “So do all the shots of the different hotels you’ve visited. It makes your followers want to check them out and live a life like yours.”
I brushed the hair out of her eyes before I held the side of her face. “Most of those are just some good Photoshopping.”
She stared at me. “You’re kidding me. They’re not all real?”
“Some, but not all. We’re staying at the Edinburgh hotel while we’re there, so that’ll get posted, but Dublin will get posted, too, and that’s not on the itinerary.” I turned to my side, leaning against my shoulder. “Pre-Daisy, all the pictures are real. Post-Daisy, my priorities have changed a lot. It’s not that I’m not dedicated to the company. I give it everything I have. But since becoming a father, my role as an executive has shifted.” My hand lowered to her side. “And it’ll shift once more when I become a father again.”
Her mouth opened, and a single laugh came out. “What are you saying?”
“We’ve talked about kids.”
“And I’ve told you how many I want, but, mister”—she blocked the crotch of my jeans with both hands—“we’re not starting that project today.”
I laughed. “You’re going to be my wife before that project starts. Cool?”
“Very, very cool.”
“But I’ve been dreaming about you being pregnant. Watching our baby grow inside you. Feeling it kick. Resting my face on your belly every night so I can talk to it before we go to sleep and tell it how much I love it.” I spread my fingers to her navel, the tightness of her yoga pants allowing me to feel the flatness that was there now. “That’s what I want, Addison.”
“Dear God, I hope my ovaries aren’t listening to you right now … even though they’re exploding.”
I leaned forward so our faces were close together. “I hope they are listening.” My thumb slowly brushed over her lips. “But there’s going to be an order here—engagement, wedding, baby—and I promise I’m going to follow it.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me.” There was emotion in her eyes as she looked at me, as she held me, as she extended her leg over my lap as though she couldn’t get close enough.
“You’ve done the same thing to me.” I turned her face toward the window as we began to speed down the runway, aiming her toward the clouds. “I see our future, Addison. I see it every time I close my eyes. The life we’re going to build together and the family we’re going to have.” I rubbed my teeth over my top lip. “When I saw that breathtakingly gorgeous redhead on the stage, shit, I knew I had to have her. I knew she had to be mine. And there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make that happen.”
Her arms went around my neck, and our bodies aligned, and she hugged me. I rubbed her back as I buried my face in a nest of her locks, her vanilla-latte scent wafting from them.
“I’ve been thinking about your dress,” I said softly.
“Yeah? Why?”
I pulled back and said, “It’s perfect, but I think there’s something missing from the outfit.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small box that I’d put there before I left to pick her up.
She glanced from the box to me. “Ridge … is that …” She cut herself off to take a deep breath.
“When I propose, it’s not going to happen on a plane on our way to someone else’s wedding. I’m going to be on my knee, and that moment is going to only be about us.” I placed the box in her hand. “Open it.”
Her eyes were already starting to fill with tears. “You’re spoiling me again.”
“And nothing makes me happier.” I nodded toward her hand.
She pulled at the pink ribbon that surrounded the small white box and lifted the lid. Her mouth opened the second she saw what was inside. “You didn’t …”
I reached inside and lifted the necklace from the holder, setting it in my hand. The design was dainty and so small that it got lost on my palm. “I got in touch with Brady’s jeweler, and I told him I wanted him to make me a sun. This was the third mock-up; each one I made smaller until I felt like it would sit perfectly under your throat. And the rays, we changed those too. At first, they were squiggly, but I wanted them straight with three diamonds on each one.” I opened the clasp and wrapped the chain around her neck, hooking it before I set it on her chest. “Now, when I’m not with you—and I don’t plan for that to be often—I’ll always be there. You won’t have to look at the sky. I’ll be right there, on your body, where I’m meant to be.”
She lifted it off her skin and squeezed her fingers around it. “I’ve never loved anything more.” The first tear rolled over her eyelid. “I lie. I have. And that’s you.”
THIRTY-THREE
Addison
“Look at my girl,” Rhett said as he stood beside me in the back of Brady and Lily’s Edinburgh home. His elbow was resting on the corner of my shoulder—a position that was more out of convenience than endearing—and the two of us were facing the grass, where Ridge and Daisy were dancing to the band. “She’s going to be one hell of a heartbreaker when she gets older.”
Daisy was in a light-pink dress that matched Rayner’s, who she’d pushed down the aisle while sprinkling flower petals. And of course, there were daisies weaved into her hair and along the edges of her dress.
