Page 81 of Baby for My Enemy Billionaire

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Finn

I can feel the box in my pocket as if I’m carrying a heavy stone. I’m surprised that it’s not dragging along the ground. But I do my best to ignore it as I get out of my car outside Jade’s bookstore. Maddison is leaving, and she crosses to join me.

“Is she there?” I ask.

“Yes, and the store is currently empty except for Katie.” Maddison laughs at my expression. “You look positively terrified. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s been a while since I’ve done this.”

“Well, you’ve rehearsed it plenty of times, and we all approve of it. So you just need to get her to say yes.”

“Do you think she will?”

Maddison groans.

“Honestly, Finn! Jade loves you, and we can all see that. You would have to be blind to think she thought about you otherwise. If you don’t propose to her, you’ll do her a disservice. And yourself while I’m at it.”

I sigh and shove my hands into my pockets.

“You’re such a great cheerleader. Do you know that, Maddison?”

“I’m not here to be a fluffy person, am I? Look, your mom and Jade’s dad have Cassie at your house, I’ve ensured that Jade isn’t busy, and Katie is making sure she stays in the store. And Kenny is holding down the fort at the offices, right?”

“Yes…”

“Then you’ve got no more excuses, and you should stop wasting your time. Just walk in there and ask her to marry you.”

That is easier said than done. Even after being with Jade for a year, I find it hard to get the words to ask her to be my wife. It couldn’t have been this hard when I asked Katie’s mom to marry me. Or was it? It had been such a long time ago that I’d forgotten.

Taking a deep breath, I adjust my jacket.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

“Good. There shouldn’t be any problems now. We’ve made sure of that.” Maddison jerks her head towards the shop. “Now get in there, cowboy.”

Rolling my eyes at the comment, I head toward the store. This had better work. Maddison had helped me plan this, as well as Katie. Kenny has been telling me that I should ask Jade to be my wife for some time now, and I know our parents have often commented about it. I just wanted to do it in my own time. We are parents of a five-month-old, after all, and that took up a lot of our time.

I know Mr. Summers wanted me to marry his daughter before the baby arrived, but I didn’t want us to worry about that. Giving birth and getting used to being a new parent again was more important to us. Now we don’t really have an excuse.

At least we don’t have to worry about Nate coming along and getting in the way. After the day, I caught him outside Jade’s family home, and he was sent home soaking wet. Nate had tried to come back into Jade’s life. He wasn’t happy that she was pregnant with someone else’s baby, but once I got my lawyer involved and sent him a legal letter threatening to take him to court with a lawsuit should he continue to stalk and harass Jade, he backed off. I don’t know if it was the threat of legal action or if some of his friends had told him that he had done enough and needed to back away, but it worked. Neither of us has seen him since, and I don’t care to know where he is.

He was too much of a headache for Jade, and now he was off bothering someone else. It shouldn’t have come to a threat of legal action for him to go away, but it happened. Jade is certainly more relaxed, knowing he’s not turning up to ask to get back together.

She deserves to relax after what she went through with her. Of course, she’s still technically a tenant of my company, but Kenny has dealt with all of that. I don’t know what he’s done, but he assures me that Jade is guaranteed the store for as long as she wants. Jade is very appreciative of that; the bookstoreisher life. She doesn’t need to work again but loves being there.

I can’t blame her; it’s thriving now, and the love is pretty clear in everything she touches. Who wouldn’t want to go into a place like this?

I enter the bookstore and see Katie curled up in one of the chairs by the window, a book open on her lap. Jade is behind the counter, leaning over a book and meticulously writing something. She doesn’t look up as I enter, but Katie does.

“Hey, Dad!”

“Hey, sweetheart.” I wink at her. “I swear you’re shackled to that chair whenever I find you here.”

“What can I say? These chairs are comfortable.”

“I’m glad they’re a good investment.” I head over to the counter. Jade is still writing. “Hey, gorgeous.”

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