His heart pounded in his chest, getting louder and more violent with every passing second. He could propose here, and then Ginger would love this restaurant even more than she already did. But he couldn’t get the words out.
Kiki appeared at the end of the table and said, “Drinks?”
“Diet Coke,” Ginger said.
“Same,” Nate said. He didn’t particularly enjoy soda, but it would be better than the rose water they served here. “And he wants Sprite.”
“Sounds good. Do you know what you want?” She looked at the table. “You don’t have menus.”
“We don’t need them,” Ginger said. “I’ll have the pork fried rice and the teriyaki noodles.”
“Sweet and sour chicken,” Connor said. “Please.”
Nate grinned at him, glad he’d remembered his manners. “And I’ll have the steak and shrimp stir fry.”
“Be right back with the drinks.”
Connor was already absorbed back into the phone, and Nate didn’t have anything to distract him. He looked at Ginger and decided to just blurt out what was in his head.
“I love you, Ginger,” he said. “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Today, Connor and I looked at engagement rings, and we bought one for you. It’ll be here on Friday.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”
“I am not,” he said, ducking his head and smiling. “It’s really pretty, and I just know you’re going to love it.” He looked at her again. “What I’m wondering is if you love me enough to marry me?”
Tears filled her eyes, but she was already nodding. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I love you, Nate.”
He got up and rounded the table, meeting her as she stood too. He kissed her, not caring about anyone or anything else in the restaurant. He cradled her face in both of his hands. “I love you so much,” he said. “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”
“I love you too,” she said, resting her cheek against his. “I love you and your big, beautiful, hopeful heart.” She kissed him again, and Nate hoped he could be the kind of man she wanted, needed, and deserved.
“Diet Coke,” the waitress said, and Ginger pulled away from him.
“Sorry,” she said, giggling as she sat down. “But we just got engaged!”
Kiki gasped, looking between the two of them. “Really?”
“Really,” Nate said. “The ring is coming from Amsterdam.”
“It is?” both women asked together, and Nate felt like he’d done a very good thing with his engagement ring choice.
“It is,” Nate said.
Kiki grinned at both of them and said, “I’ll be right back with your food.”
He reached across the table and took Ginger’s hand in his. “I really think you’re going to love it.”
“I’m sure I will,” Ginger said.
“I love you, Ginger,” he said.
“I love you too, Nate,” she said, which were the best words in the whole world.
Read on for a sneak peek at the next book in the series, OVERPROTECTIVE COWBOY, coming soon to Kindle Unlimited.
I’m thrilled Ginger and Nate were able to find common ground for their love to bloom. If you are too, please leave a review now.
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Sneak Peek: Overprotective Cowboy Chapter One
Ted Burrows grinned when he saw the man sitting across the room, wearing a cowboy hat. His heart leapt at the familiar sight of Nathaniel Mulbury, though Ted hadn’t seen Nate in months.
He started chuckling a couple of tables away, and Nate stood up, a giant grin on his face too. “Nathaniel,” Ted said, engulfing Nate in a hug. The other man didn’t particularly like his full name, but he laughed too. Ted clapped him on the back a couple of times. “What are you doing here?”
Nate stepped back, something new lighting his eyes. Ted recognized the shine of freedom in his friend’s face, and he wondered what it would look like on him.
Ted was getting closer to his release date, but he’d been working very hard not to count down the days until he could walk out of the River Bay Federal Correctional Institution. He’d been counting up for so long, that counting down happened naturally. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew exactly how many days he had left inside these walls.
“I thought you were going to transfer to the camp,” Nate said, sitting back down in the seat where he’d been waiting for Ted. “Drive tourists from the ships to the restaurants and stuff.”
“Nah.” Ted sat down too, the chairs in this tiny cafeteria-like room too small for him. “The opportunity came up, but if I moved to the camp, I’d forfeit the opportunity for a halfway house.”
“Or the Residential Reentry Program,” Nate said.
“That too,” Ted said. “But I only have three and a half months. I think they put people in those programs who have six months.”
“Well, I’m not getting strip searched again,” Nate said with a smile. “So I guess this’ll be the last time I see you before you show up at the ranch.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was a compact square that he fumbled to unfold, and when he finally did, he smoothed it on the tabletop and slid it toward Ted.
Ted’s heart beat strongly in his chest, and he didn’t dare hope for the chance to go to the same ranch where Nate had been. His friend had sent plenty of communications about how much he loved it, and how much he thought Ted would love it. He wouldn’t wear the cowboy hat though, and he glanced at the dark gray one perched on Nate’s head. It felt as natural to Ted as it felt unnatural, and Nate caught him looking.
“You don’t have to wear the hat.”
“No?”
“You haven’t even looked at the paper.”
“Do I want to look at the paper?”
“Yes, Ted,” Nate said, with some measure of exasperation in his voice. “You want to look at the paper.”
Ted held his best friend’s eyes for another moment, and then he looked at the form Nate had put on the table. They’d both spent plenty of time in prison reading over their sentences and appeals, so a simple release form that listed Hope Eternal Ranch as the location of his Reentry Program was easy to understand.
The date made him suck in a breath, and Nate didn’t miss that. Another chuckle came from his mouth, and he said, “So we’ll be here on Monday morning, and we’ll see how long you last without a hat.” He grinned like he knew something Ted didn’t, which was entirely possible.
Ted’s life had changed a lot over the past eight years, and one of the key moments was the day Nathaniel Mulbury had joined him in prison. They’d become fast friends and blood brothers, always looking out for each other and forming a band of boys that wasn’t to be trifled with. They didn’t cause problems. They didn’t issue threats. Theirs was a mission to provide safety and security to everyone inside River Bay, and since it was a low-security facility, their strong presence ensured that the life was fairly easy for everyone.