Page 45 of Will You (Not) Marry Me

“I’ll help you, then. I just want you to be happy. I don’t want you to have to choose between things anymore, not if it’s going to destroy you like this. So take your camera with you everywhere. Chase down the galleries and the shows and the campaigns. Work until the early hours of the morning doing all of the editing that, frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of. Be yourself. Be happy. That’s all I ask.”

“It’s not very prim and proper of me,” Eva said. But now a smile stretched across her face. Could she really have the best of both worlds? Was that even possible? No one had ever given her that option before. She’d never even known that was a possibility.

Finn snorted. Actually snorted. “I don’t want prim and proper,” he said. “I want snarky and disheveled and someone who isn’t going to be afraid to talk to me like I’m a real human being and not just a cardboard cutout of a prince.”

Eva reached up and put her hands to his face, copying the gesture that he’d done to her so many times. That seemed to behisbreaking point. He closed his eyes and settled into the feel of her hands on his cheeks, his shoulders relaxing back into the posture she’d seen at the cabin. The relaxed, authentic version of himself. The version she’d fallen in love with so hard and fast.

“I’d say that sounds like a pretty good deal on my end,” she said with a soft smile as Finn continued to nuzzle into her hands. “But if we’re going to be partners, right?”

Finn answered her with a nod. “Partners. Always.”

“If we’re going to be partners and equals, then you can depend on me too, you know. If you need someone to stand by your side, I’ll be there. I’ll be wearing slacks, but I’ll be there.”

Finn laughed at that, scooping her back into a hug.

“I’ll be there when you have important events to go to,” she continued into his chest, knowing that he was listening to every word. “And I’ll be there to get you out of talking to dignitaries who are boring you to death. I’ll be there for whatever you need, okay? So don’t you ever be afraid to ask for it.”

They looked at each other in silent agreement, more meaningful than any stupid public engagement announcement, than any diamond ring. The look was only broken when Finn, almost hesitantly, placed a hand on her stomach as if she might break if he put even the slightest pressure there.

“How long have you known?” he asked. Not accusing her of anything, just curious.

“Ahhh, well the whole concept of time has gotten away from me a bit, but less than forty-eight hours?”

Finn’s face lit up in a smile. “You really could have phoned, you know. There are these things called video calls as well. It’s wondrous what technology can do these days.”

“I can go back to New York if you want,” she said, fake pouting.

“I think the return trip might actually kill you if you went right now.”

“Yeah, probably.”

He laughed but then just continued looking at her stomach beneath her sweater as if it held all the secrets of the universe.

“It’s really strange to think there’s a baby in there. Like a little alien.”

Eva laughed. “You’re a typical man, sometimes. You know that?”

“Why?”

“You just are,” she said and threw her arms back around his neck, burrowing her face into his chest so that she could feel his heartbeat against her cheek. She never wanted to move, ever again.

“What are your family going to think? About the whole not-actually-getting-married-yet-and-having-a-baby-first thing?” Eva asked, pretty sure that she knew the answer already.

“I imagine once we’re behind closed doors, they’re going to go absolutely ballistic.”

“Oh, good. Mine too.”

Finn laughed, loud enough that someone might actually hear and find their hiding spot.

“Oh, God,” he said, massaging the bridge of his nose. “How are we going to tell them?”

“Together?” Eva asked, looking up at him, already knowing the answer to that too.

He smiled. “Together.”

EPILOGUE

ONE YEAR LATER: EVA

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