Page 64 of Needing You

He squeezed her close once more, then let her go and padded down the short hallway to his room. The door closed, and the ball was officially in my court. Team member number three effectively set me up to score the winning point, and lucky for him, I’d come prepared. I’d been anticipating this moment, waiting and wondering what the best way to go about it would be.

And here it was, served up on a silver platter thanks to the drama of the evening and the peacemaking that followed.

Kate was wiping her eyes as she sat back on the couch next to me. “Well, that was a nice surprise.”

God, I loved her. Her steadfast determination to do everything for her son and yet that soft, sweet heart she’d somehow protected from becoming rotten or hard over the years. The momentum of that thought propelled me off the couch and onto one knee.

I took her hand and her brow furrowed. Then her eyes widened when I pulled out a small black velvet box.

“I hope this will be too.”

“Will,” she whispered.

Emotion clogged my throat, so I cleared it. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I cannot imagine my life without you. I don’t know what I was looking for when I left Granite Springs all those years ago, but I’m so glad you and Jackson were here when I came back. You two are all I’ve ever needed—all I’lleverneed. Thank you for raising our son, and thank you for being on my team.”

A tear tracked down her cheek, but she nodded, encouraging me to keep going since I clearly had more to say.

“I hadn’t planned on doing this tonight, but it just makes sense. I want our team to be official. Jackson gave me his blessing to ask you, and I—”

“He did? What did he say?”

I frowned, faking frustration and delighting in her quiet giggle. “Woman! Let me ask you the question, and then we’ll get to that.”

She grinned, then did a decent job sobering herself.

“Kate Preston, be my partner. Be my wife. Be my best friend and lover for the rest of our lives.”

“Yes. Yes,” she said, launching herself into my arms, then kissing me with so much passion I had to work to remember I couldn’t run my hands up her skirt and have my way with her right here in the living room.

After a minute, we pulled apart, and she beamed back at me. I hoped I wasn’t shooting myself in the foot here, but I did have a small bomb to drop. “I do need to tell you one thing that, based on what happened today, may not go as I’d hoped.”

Her smile faded a bit. “Okay. What is it?”

“I, uh… bought us a house.” I mumbled the last bit effectively enough that she grabbed my arm and pinned me with her beautiful brown eyes.

“What did you just say?”

Shi-et.Couldn’t I have waited until we’d at least had some hooray-we’re-engaged sex before I ruined it? “Uh, I bought us a house?”

“Will, seriously? Is that a question?”

I exhaled, shoving away all the nerves and fear and fucking going for it. “No. It’s not. I went house hunting, and I bought us a house. I was waiting to surprise you with that, too, but I realize I should’ve told you. I shouldn’t have done that on my own, and—wait. Are you laughing right now?”

She cupped my face in her hands. “Are you seriously telling me you bought us a house?”

“Yes.”

She pressed her lips to mine, then peppered my face with kisses and climbed into my lap to straddle me. “You are the most ridiculous man. Why would I be mad about that? You propose with this gorgeous ring, you’re already an amazing father, and now this? Are you kidding me? You bought us a house!”

She seemed giddy. But… did she understand? “You were so upset I was going to move us to Denver without asking. I just figured you’d be upset about this too.”

She shook her head, new tears snaking down her face as she smiled at me. “I’m not upset. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself. And as long as you promise to let me choose where I open my bakery and let me in on any other big decisions, I’ll be good.”

I kissed her once, joy and anticipation for everything ahead of us flooding me. “I promise. Like I always say, Kate, you can have whatever you want.”

31

KATE

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