Page 153 of Attached At Heart
Blake was on his knees.
“What—what are you doing?” I choked, the wind knocked out of me.
His grin had a softness to it. “You wouldn’t let me do this the first time around, so I had to sneak down here before you stopped me.”
“The first time around?” I repeated.
Finding new words? Impossible.
“Proposing, Delaney.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “I’m proposing.”
All I could do was stare at him. “But we’re already married.”
He sighed. “I was really hoping that there’d be less arguing if I did this properly.”
“I’m not—” I hiccupped into a laugh and then covered my hand over my mouth, sealing my lips shut.
Blake’s lips curved into a full-fledged smile. And then he readjusted himself a little bit, leaning one of his elbows on his knees and piercing me with a gaze that took my breath clean away.
“This all started so that we could get here,” he said. “To this day, to this point. But now that we’re here, I need to make it clear right now that this is not the end. This is just the very beginning, baby.”
I swallowed and managed to whisper, “I like the sound of that.”
He closed his eyes momentarily, like he was savoring my response. “You don’t know how fucking happy it makes me to hear that.”
“Yes,” I blurted, wanting to skip to the part where I got to say that.
“I’m not done,” Blake said, giving me a look that seemed to be a warning. “There’s more.”
“More than getting to stay married to you?” I countered, clutching a hand to my chest. “That’s already a lot. That’s already perfect.”
“Yeah, Lane,” he insisted. “Because I don’t just want to stay married to you. I want to remarry you.”
“You…what?”
“I want to remarry you,” he repeated firmly. “I don’t care where or when or who comes. I don’t care if it’s in the same courthouse or at a vineyard with endless bottles of your favoritewhite wine. I don’t care if our whole family comes or if we don’t invite anyone at all. I don’t care if it’s tomorrow or in a year. But I want it to be on our terms. I want to buy you a wedding dress that youlove, Lane. I want to take you on a honeymoon that isn’t a single bit fake. I want to say ‘I do’ and then fuck you in a bridal suite like it’s our first time. I know you’ve never wanted to get married, but goddamn, marrying you is all I’ve ever dreamed of. I chose to go on this wild ride with you because I wanted to, so fucking much. You did it because you felt like you had to. I want you to get a chance to choose this time. I want you to decide if marrying me is really what you want, and then I want to do it the right way if it is.”
He’d rendered me powerless to my own body, his words breaking down functions inside me. My heart roared, my breathing stuttered, my vision blurred. He’d said so many things, and I couldn’t think of one coherent thought, one single thing that could even begin to convey how he made me feel.
“Delaney, I love you,” he said in a final sort of way.
I dropped to my knees, meeting him on the ground. Onourground. “I love you, too. I love you so much, Blake.”
“And that’s all I really need, sweetheart.” He cupped my face between his hands. “Your love. But if you want more than that…”
I nodded aggressively. “I do.”
“Stop skipping ahead,” he said cheekily, giving me a wink. Then he released my face and fished in his pocket for something, pulling out a small jewelry box.
“Blake…” I shook my head. Because he’d already given me the most gorgeous ring in the world. “What’s that?”
“It’s a wedding band. But if you want to put it on now, you can put it on now. You’re already my wife. But I’m still going to ask.” He popped the box open to reveal a perfect single band. “Will you marry me? Marry me again, Lane.”
“Yes,” I breathed as tears filled my lash line.
“Yes, what, Lane?” he pressed gently. “I need to hear more.”
“Yes, I want to marry you, Blake.” The tears had broken free, streaming down my face. I wiped at them, but it was no use. “Again and a million times over. I’ll choose you every single time you ask, okay?”
