Page 19 of Brides and Brothers
“I’m not sure. I wanted to be close to Amy and my best friend, Daisha, but even if I move to a neighboring city, I don’t want to feel isolated. I’m thinking about moving in with my aunt in Michigan.”
“Michigan?” Aiden blew out a breath and looked everywhere but at her. Finally, he met her gaze, his green eyes earnest. “I have a better idea. Let’s get married.”
In a million years, she wouldn’t have predicted those words would come out of his mouth. “What?”
“We both know there’s something special between us. You need a place to live, and I don’t want to keep saying ‘I’ll see you later.’”
She pushed down the thrill of his words. “We can’t get married just to fix my housing problems. I know we share similar values, but there’s so much we don’t about each other.”
“I’m not proposing a temporary, fake marriage. This would be the real deal. With your birthday in January, your housing contract will end with the semester right before Christmas. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot of time to get to know each other, but we’ll date as much as we can and make sure we’re on the same page.”
“A Christmas wedding?” Her thoughts whirled. “Why would you do this for me?”
He frowned. “For selfish reasons. I haven’t wanted anything for myself for as long as I can remember.”
It took time for words to form in her current state of shock. “Are you going to ask me how many kids I want next?” she joked.
He gave her a sheepish smile. “How manydoyou want?”
She laughed, more from awkwardness than anything. They had a lot of ground to cover in the next three months. “I don’t know. Don’t people normally have a similar number to what they were used to having while growing up?”
“You want seven kids?” Aiden smiled and winked.
“Seven?” Confused, she raised her brow.
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Like me and my six brothers.”
Camille’s eyes widened. Apparently, today was a day for surprises. “You have six brothers?”
Aiden blinked. “You’re joking, right?”
“No.” Camille’s laugh was weak. “Every time you told a story about a brother, I assumed it was Grant.”
Taking her hand in his, he asked, “Amy hasn’t told you a bunch of wild stories about us?”
“She mentioned you and that’s it.” Big families were a novelty to Camille, but it wasn’t like she was marrying them.
“I’m clearly the only one worth mentioning.” His smile was forced. “Nah, my brothers are great. You’ve actually met two of them. Remember the blond guys from the diner?”
“The one with the dating card and his lookalike?” Camille covered her laugh. “No way.”
“Yeah, Daegan’s sense of humor is a little lacking. Once you get to know them, they’ll grow on you. Let me know when you’re ready to meet the rest. We’re all about two years apart and pretty close.” He scratched his neck. “I’m sure there will be lots of surprises we’ll have to weather together. But together, we can figure it out.”
There were no flowers, no ring, no bended knee, and yet the idea of marrying Aiden brought her real joy. “Yes,” she breathed.
Aiden’s smile was curious. “As inyes, you’ll marry me?”
Camille nodded and said more firmly, “Yes.”
The tenderness in his gaze was as powerful as his touch. “I’ve never proposed before, and I’m realizing how unromantic I made this. You won’t even have a good story for your friends.”
“I don’t need a good story. But I do need someone committed to me.”
“That I can promise.” Aiden pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her under his chin.
She curled up against his chest, and a happy sigh escaped. “I think I’ll go home and make a countdown on my calendar with hearts all over it.”
He chuckled and pulled her closer. “Sounds cute.”
Finally, she would have the home and the family she had longed for. “Good, because I want you to hang it in your office.”
