Page 11 of Attached At Heart
Fuck, she really didn’t want to know the full answer to that question. So I stuck to the one that would shock her the least.
And that was saying something.
“I’m thinking I could sneak a visit to the government center into my schedule.”
“The government center?”
“For a marriage license, of course.”
“For a—” She broke off, her eyes growing wide. “Blake?—”
“But I guess I should ask properly first.” I cleared my throat, both reveling in this moment and hating it in one breath. This was not how I ever imagined proposing. To anyone. I wasn’t exactly a creative person, but proposals were supposed to be…better. So much better than this.
This wasn’t a goddamn fairy tale, though. And I knew better than to imagine anything other than reality. So I flashed my best friend a grin and did my best to play it fucking cool.
“Delaney Delacroix, will you marry me?”
CHAPTER THREE
delaney
“I—WHAT?” I SPUTTERED. “Blake, you don’t?—”
“What?” His lips twitched as he pretended to be affronted. “I’m sorry, did you want me to get down on one knee?”
He started to push his chair back, and I reached across the table to put a stop to that immediately.
“Don’t youdare,” I threatened through gritted teeth.
Blake stilled and put his palms up to signify surrender. I thought maybe I was in the clear and this conversation would get pushed aside completely, but then he leaned forward again, flashing me a tilted smile.
My pulse, which had picked up its tempo as soon as the wordsmarry mehad left Blake’s mouth, thrummed loudly. I could hear it pounding in my ears as Blake lowered his voice and asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t want to marry me, Lane?”
“Oh, stop.” I fidgeted nervously with my empty wineglass,reallywishing the waiter would make a reappearance with that bottle. I couldn’t believe Blake had the nerve to tease me aboutthis. I mean,maybeI deserved it for lying to him about my engagement, but still. “Blake, this is?—”
“You did tell me I was handsome earlier today,” he cut in, his smirk growing.
“That’s what you took away from that?” I cried incredulously.
Blake lifted a brow, his gaze boring into me, making my cheeks heat. Oh my God, I hoped he couldn’t tell. The last thing I needed was for Blake to remember he had the ability to make meblush.
“‘Unfairlyhandsome,’” he added, and I wanted to melt into the floor immediately. “I think that’s what you said.”
“You’re unbelievable,” I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment because I couldn’t keep looking at him when he was staring at me like that.
“True.” Blake nodded solemnly before adding conspiratorially, “And I’musuallynice, too.”
I flailed, trying to find the words to combat Blake’s absurdity.
Blake seemed to be enjoying himself too damn much, which was not helping me collect my thoughts. “All in all, not bad for a husband, huh?”
As the wordhusbandfell from his lips, Blake’s attitude dropped. And in its place was a quiet calm that housed sincerity.
I looked at him, the person who’d been my closest friend for over a decade now. The person who’d kept me alive in med school and let me cry over the phone to him in residency about how I’d never become a cardiologist. The person who told me my dreams were going to be worth it.
And now he stood here, still pushing me toward them.
Because I realized…he was serious.
