“But Cade—"
I place a finger on her lips. “I was stumbling along, not knowing what I was seeking, not realizing that the one thing, the only thing that could redeem me was the woman whose name has been etched into my soul, one way or the other, since I was a teenager. You make me the kind of man whose gaze I can meet in the mirror every morning. When I’m with you, I become the version of me that I’d hoped to become, but which I’d abandoned along the way. You transform me, baby. You make me happy. You make me content—which is a state of mind I didn’t imagine would be so much more exciting than any other emotion I’ve ever experienced on the field.”
I sink down to one knee, still holding her hand in mine, then pull out the ring I’ve been carrying around in my pocket for a few weeks now. “Will you marry me, Abigail Warren? Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I promise to love you, and honor you, and respect you, and cherish you. I’ll be your dream, your wish, your every fantasy come true. I’ll be your hope, your love, everything that you desire. I love you with my every breath, my soul, my heart—which was, admittedly, a dark place until you came back into my life. You give me a reason to live; you give my future a deeper meaning. I found the reason for my smile, the day I found you. Will you let me be the reason for your smile, too?”
She laughs, then begins to cry.
Oh, hell. That’s not good, is it? My heart jumps into my throat. My stomach ties itself in knots. “Abby, baby… I didn’t mean for you to cry, Sparrow.”
I begin to rise, but she shakes her head. “Don’t you dare spoil the most beautiful, most perfect proposal ever.” She hiccups.
I swallow down the doubts that crowd my throat. “Does that mean—"
“Yes, you idiot, of course, I’ll marry you.”
57
Abby
“So, he won you over?” Solene pushes away from the window and walks over to me. We’re in Cade’s living room. After his declaration yesterday and our making up, I moved back in with him—for real, this time—into his bedroom. I updated Penny and Mira on the developments and was about to call Solene when she arrived in person. Now she pauses in front of me and reaches for my left hand. “That’s gorgeous.”
“Isn’t it?” I glance at the simple platinum ring with the square rough-cut emerald set into it. It’s completely different than the engagement ring he put on my finger in front of the press. This one is me. And him. This one is us. A little rough around the edges but we’re getting there.
“You really do love him, huh?”
I glance up to find her gaze on my face.
“Yeah, I do.”
“And you’ve forgiven him for how he treated you?”
I lower my hand to my side. “You forget, I enjoyed what he did to me. I loved how rough he was with me. He didn’t treat me like a fragile princess, he—"
“Okay!” She holds up her hand. “TMI, babe.”
I chuckle. “Suffice it to say, if I’d told him to stop at any time, he would have.”
“You’re so sure about that?”
“I was sure about him, all along.”
She inclines her head. “How did you know he would come around? When you walked away from him, how did you know that he would come groveling back to you?”
“I didn’t.” I move my hair over one shoulder. “I really didn’t expect him to do what he did. I… I didn’t think we’d have a relationship after that. It wasn’t that he’d been a bully to me that made me angry with him. It was the fact that he told me Knight had asked him to look after me, only Knight hadn’t. He used his relationship with my brother to make me comply with his wishes. Then, Knight actually did ask him to take care of me, so I guess it turned out okay in the end, but still… He used Knight to get to me, you know??”
She blows out a breath. “Jesus, woman, that’s some story.”
“He also apologized to me about it.”
“And—?”
“And he said he’d already come clean to Knight about it, too.”
“What did your brother say?”
“Cade told me Knight promised to kick his ass.” I shuffle my feet. “But then, I hadn’t told Knight about my stalker either so—" I lift a shoulder. “So, in a way, he’s relieved Cade is here to take care of me. But he’s also very pissed about what Cade did.”
“As he should be. Damn, but you lead an eventful life.” She throws herself into the seat opposite mine. “Jesus Christ, woman, how are you still in one piece after all this shit went down?”
“Because of him.” I half-smile. “He makes it all worth it.”
She looks taken aback, then shakes her head. “Love really is blind, eh?”
“It must be, for him to fall in love with me.”
“I’m in love with you because you’re gorgeous, both inside and out,” Cade says from the doorway. He crosses the living room floor and squats down to take my hand in his. “Because you’re brave enough to admit your mistakes. Because your heart is giving and generous. Because you remind me about everything good and decent, and that it’s okay to want to be happy. It’s okay to want the ordinary things in life. You make me want to stop running, because everything I’ve ever sought is right here with you. You’re my safe space, my home…and I don’t want to be anywhere but with you.”
“Aww.” Solene smiles at me. “You two are adorable together. And I think I’m done here.” She gets to her feet, then stabs a finger at Cade. “If you dare even raise your voice at her, you’ll have me to deal with.”
“Get in line behind Knight.” He brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “I can’t believe Abby’s giving me a second chance. There’s no way I’m wasting that. From now on, I’m going to dedicate every moment of my life to making her happy.”
Heat sears my cheeks. “You’re making me blush,” I mutter.
“Not saying anything I don’t mean.”
“I know you do.” I reach forward and cup his cheek where his five o’clock shadow is already showing. And he shaved this morning. I know because I perched on the counter next to the sink as he ran his razor over his cheeks. It was so intimate and, weirdly, domestic. He touched his foam-covered finger to my nose, and I giggled. Then, he decided to give up all pretense of shaving and kissed me until I was wearing half of the foam on my face. Needless to say, it dissolved into him slowly making love to me, right against the counter. And when we finished, he had to start shaving all over again. Then, he had to scramble to make his appointment.
He met with the television network where he’ll take on his role as a commentator for the upcoming cricket matches. That he gave up an active sports career so he can spend time with me… Well, that’s the biggest grand gesture of all. Sometimes, it’s about what someone does without telling you, instead of what they do for you to your face, know what I mean?
“I love you, baby.” He leans in and brushes his lips over mine. I part my lips, his tongue slides in, and he—