Page 1 of Craving Paradise

PROLOGUE

JASPER

We’re currently sprawled out across my apartment’s floor, disheveled after one too many beers celebrating our graduation from university earlier in the day. We’ve come back to my place for the after-after party with my closest friends. This is the last time we will act like this because from next week, we all start our new adult lives.

Four years of university, and we’re supposed to have our shit together. All I know is I’ll be starting work at my father’s friend’s private investment firm, working on making rich people richer through investments. I know I only got the job because of who I am and how much money my family’s trust holds. Good old nepotism.

“I’m going to propose to Hazel this weekend in Paris,” I blurt out to the group, who falls silent upon hearing the news.

“Really?” Alistair questions, his voice raising an octave in surprise before knocking back another beer.

“Yeah, it’s about time. We’ve been together long enough.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” William asks with a grumble before slamming back the rest of his drink.

“I do,” I answer angrily. I’m not surprised in the least by his reaction. He may be one of my best friends, but I’ll always be the guy Hazel Woodward chose over him. He was the one to introduce Hazel to me. She was a family friend of his. We met one summer when I spent it with his family while my parents were going through their divorce. Our mums were best friends, and she suggested that my sister and I stay with William’s family for the summer to get away from all the fighting going on during that time at home. My father had relapsed from his gambling addiction and racked up debt worldwide.

We went to William’s country estate for the summer, and Hazel’s family lived next door. It was a magical summer spent fucking all over the countryside. When we first met, I didn’t know William and Hazel had had something the summer before, losing their virginities to each other. He never spoke about her. He kept what they had together a secret. I didn’t find out about their relationship until two years into my relationship with Hazel. It shocked me when Hazel casually mentioned it as if I knew all about their adolescent love. The next time I saw William, we argued about it. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t told me he had been with Hazel.

I knew she had been with someone else before me, but she never said who. It was the first time in our lives that we fought. He yelled at me for taking the girl he had a crush on, and I yelled at him for keeping secrets about their relationship from me. Of course, I felt bad that I supposedly took his girl, but in reality, it takes two to tango, and she made her choice, which has lasted for five years. There may have been something with them once when they were kids, but it wasn’t there anymore.

It took us a while to get our friendship back on track since both of us were stubborn. It was a long road for me to be comfortable with Hazel and William hanging out together without me. Hazel explained they had been friends their entire life and keeping them apart was cruel—he was her best friend, and I needed to get over my insecurities over what happened years before.

“Congrats, man.” Alex raises his beer in my direction. I can always count on Mr. Romantic to be happy for love.

“I’m fucking nervous. What happens if she says no?” I confess to the guys.

“She won’t say no. Hazel loves you,” Alex reassures me.

I’m sure I am not the first man in the world to have these fears. Hazel loves me, and I love her—that’s all that matters. Five years we have been dating, and we’re meant to be together. No woman has ever turned my head enough to make me want anyone else but her. That’s love. We’re about to move in with each other next month and take the next step into adulthood together, building the foundations of a partnership.

* * *

“I love Paris.” Hazel sighs as we walk out onto the rooftop terrace where I’ll propose to her. She doesn’t know tonight is the night. I’ve organized a romantic dinner in our penthouse overlooking the rooftops of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. I don’t think you could find anything more romantic.

“And I love you,” I say as I kiss her neck on the balcony. She stiffens for the tiniest moment, which kicks my nerves into overdrive.

“You scared me,” she says, giggling as she snuggles into my side.

Okay, that’s all it was. My nervous energy is out of control tonight. I’ve repeatedly played this moment in my mind for months, trying to work out when the right time will be to get down on one knee and ask Hazel to be my wife.

The sun is setting, and the city lights are turning on as they glitter beneath us. I kiss Hazel’s cheek and take a step back from her. My legs feel like they will give way any second as I get down on bended knee. As my knee hits the floor, I can feel the heat of the day through my pants’ leg centering me.

“Hazel,” I grab her attention away from the Paris skyline. She turns around and gasps when she spots me on one knee, holding up a red leather ring box. My hands shake as I open the box lid slowly for her. “Hazel Woodward, I have loved you from the moment I saw you in a sunlit field looking like an angel. I knew all those years ago that my heart was yours, forever and always.”

“Jasper …” Hazel stares at the glittering three-carat diamond ring. “Please, get up,” she says as she tries to tug me up from my knee.

“Let me finish, babe. Will you do me the honor of being my wife from this day till our last?”

Hazel looks at me in stunned silence as a crinkle forms across her forehead. I notice a tear slip down her cheek as she continues to stare at the ring box. Shit, I need to put the ring on her finger. That’s what she’s probably waiting for me to do. So, I do. I take the ring out of the box and move it toward her finger.

“Jasper …” She snatches her hand away from me.

Why would she do that?

Does she not like the ring?

I thought she liked the ring. As I stare at the stunning jewel, I remember everyone saying she’d love it.

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