Page 27 of Accidental Fake Billionaire

The deep, peaceful feeling vibrating through me was intense, but calm. The sense of belonging that I’d always hoped to find was right here.

“You’re the one, Tara,” I said softly. “The only thing that’s stopping me from proposing right now is that I’m half naked and it’s a bit undignified.”

Her sweet, high giggle filled me with so much joy, I couldn’t resist.

“Baby, hand me that?” I pointed to the roll of medical tape they had used to secure the IV in my arm that was sitting on the table .

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “If your needle is coming out, I’ll go get the nurse.”

“Relax,” I chuckled. “Hold on.”

Unwinding a length of the tape, I spun it into a little white rope. Taking her left hand, I twisted it around her ring finger twice, then stuck the ends together.

“Tara Johnson, love of my life, light of my heart…will you accept this ring as a token of our pre-engagement?”

“I will,” she smiled, her eyes shining with tears. “Yes.”

“I love you, gorgeous. I promise to try to be as boring as possible for at least a month.”

“I love you too,” she smiled, trailing her fingertips along the tattoo on my ribs. “We’ll have plenty of adventures, but they can wait until after I’m moved in.”

My heart jumped as my mouth fell open. “You’ve already decided?”

She nodded, holding her hand out to admire her new ring. “Yes. I did a little online research, and there are no negative statistics for couples who move in together really quickly.”

Tara cuddled against my shoulder, as I held her in the tiny hospital bed.

It was clear we were going to be a good team, and bounce back and forth taking care of each other forever.

Epilogue

_____

Tara

* Eight Years Later *

After all this time, I couldn’t believe that I was in this position again. My mouth was dry, my heart was hammering in my chest, and my knees weren’t as stable as they should have been.

I had been expecting my husband to be here to help me.

We’d gotten married just eight months after we met, in a simple ceremony in his backyard. Well, our backyard now. I moved in with Jared just one month after we realized we were in love, and we’d been practically glued to each other ever since.

Of course, it was terribly convenient that we already had our perfect wedding clothing. We simply wore the outfits we had on the day we met. Jessie was absolutely thrilled that we were using her designs. We even used one of the photos of our very first kiss as our save the date card.

Now here I was again, about to model for Jessie’s new clothing line while prickles of terror ran up my spine. Oddly, the prickles were much less intense. I’d almost learned how to control my fear. At least now I knew I’d always make it through.

“Tara, you’re next,” Jessie smiled encouragingly. “Trust me – it’s a lot more casual than last time.”

My fingers were like ice, but I held tightly to the little hands that reached up to me. “Are you guys ready?” I asked with a giant smile.

Corbin gave me a dramatic nod, with all of the seriousness a six-year-old could muster. Ryan, who was not quite five, looked terrified.

“What if we do it wrong?” he whispered.

“There is no right and wrong,” Jessie said, adjusting his adorable blazer and patting down his blonde hair one more time. “People just want to see the clothes, and how cute you boys are.”

Meeting her eyes, I didn’t need to ask the question out loud. “I called again, but no answer,” she said worriedly. “He’s probably–”

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