Page 84 of Pretty Rings and Broken Things

“If I tell you something, you promise you won’t run?”

She lifts her chin. “I’ve never been much of a runner.”

This makes me smile. “You haven’t heard what I have to sayyet.” I try to keep my voice smooth and not let her in on the fact that my heart races in my chest with nerves. There’s a high chance I tell her I love her and that she runs. It’s even likely she could decide that my feelings for her are too much and not what she signed up for, and she could ask to leave the marriage altogether.

Even if she doesn’t run from me confessing my love, she probably will when she finds out what my family is planning to do to hers.

Winnie watches me closely for a few moments, like she’s trying to figure out what I’m going to say before I even say it. Finally, she lets out a long, controlled breath. “What do you have to say, Archer?”

I hold on to the way she says my name. It might be the last time I hear her say it with affection. Soon, she might be cursing my name because of the terrible history between our families—and the fact that mine can’t leave the baggage in the past.

“I’ve fallen in love with you,” I say, talking slowly so she doesn’t miss what I’m telling her. I stuff my hands in my pockets instead of reaching out to touch her. All I want to do is pull her body into mine and tell her I love her while kissing every inch of her skin, but I want to do this right. I want her to have a clear head so she can really think about what I’m saying.

“What?” she asks through a gasp. Her eyes go wide in disbelief as she shakes her head. “I don’t think I heard that right.”

“I love you,” I repeat, keeping my words clear and concise. “I love you so much that it completely overwhelms me. I don’t really understand it, but I know that…” I take a deep breath because my words no longer come out controlled. My voice quakes ever so slightly from the weight of what I’m confessing. “All I know is every time you leave a room, it feels like I can’t breathe. And then the moment you return, the air returns to my lungs, and I’m able to breathe again. You’ve always consumed my mind, but through the course of our time together…you now consume my heart, too.”

Her entire body stills, and I stand in place, willing her to give me some kind of indication that she’s right there with me. Or at least that me telling her I’ve fallen for her isn’t the worst news she’s ever heard.

“I…” she begins, her mouth opening and closing like she doesn’t exactly know what she wants to say.

I wave at the air, wanting to get all of my thoughts out before asking her to give me any kind of response. “I know you weren’t expecting me to admit that, so you don’t have to tell me anything right now.” I give her a smirk while rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet. “It’s kind of funny. I’m a man who prided himself on keeping every thought and feeling to myself because I liked to hold all the cards. Then I met you. Now, here I am, laying them all out and telling you to take your time with your next move.”

“I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting…” Her words die off as she meets my eyes. She’s always worn her emotions all over her face, but for once, I can’t tell what she’s thinking. Or maybe it’s my own self-preservation because whatever is written on her face right now, it doesn’t seem like it’s happiness.

“I know, baby. Please don’t say anything yet. There’s still more.”

“How is there anything more than that?”

I laugh, looking around the house. “For starters, I want to buy you this house so you can make it your own. Well, more that I hope you’ll make it a home—for us. For a future family for us. All weekend, it was obvious how happy you were decorating Beck and Margo’s new place. I wanted to give you that. I hired designers for the Manhattan place, not knowing your passion was interior decorating.” I hold my arms out wide, doing a circle in the middle of the entryway. “So I found a house with a lot more space for you to have fun with. If you’re interested, of course.” I hate how timid the last sentence sounds, but I can’t change it.

Winnie Bishop makes me nervous in away no woman has before. She completely unnerves me, and it’s something I’ve come to accept—even appreciate. She makes me anxious because all I want is to make her happy. I’ll weather the feeling of butterflies in my stomach from anxiousness in my pursuit to give her everything she’s ever wanted.

“Archer, you’re not buying a house that’s fifty million dollars so I have more rooms to decorate.”

“That’s exactly why I’m buying it,” I respond. I risk taking a step closer to her, even though I told myself I’d give her space. When she in return takes a step closer to me, I close the distance between us completely.

Maybe I haven’t lost her—yet.

I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, using the gesture as an excuse to touch her. “Like I said, I love the idea of you making this a home for us. There’s nothing I want more than to live here with you, to see you make it perfect.”

She laughs, leaning slightly into my touch. “The place is already stunningly perfect.”

“Not yet. Not without your special touch added to it.”

She’s quiet for a moment, her eyes roaming my face. I relish in the silent moment between us, letting her gather her thoughts from everything I’ve unloaded on her. I desperately want her to tell me she’s fallen for me, too, but I don’t want to push it. Her still standing here, letting me touch her, is enough for the time being.

“You’ve acted differently since you first got home. Like you are scared of losing me. Is it because you’re…”

“In love with you?” I finish for her, a smirk playing on my lips.

“Yes.” Her cheeks turn their perfect shade of pink as she smiles up at me.

I return her smile, but mine is sad, knowing what I still have to tell her. “I’ve never told someone I love them, so I’ve been uncharacteristically anxious about finally saying those three words out loud.” I sigh, my breath hitting the side of her cheeks. “I wish that was the only reason, but there’s something else I have to tell you.”

Two tiny lines appear between her brows with her frown. “What is it?”

I take a deep breath, knowing that me admitting this next thing to her will change so much. With her, with my dad, with everything. It could start a trajectory that’ll forever change my life, but I know I won’t regret being honest with her. At the end of the day, everything else means nothing if I lose her trust—or don’t earn it.

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