Come Home to Me (27 page)
“If I decide not to have someone else run it for me. I’ll see if I can sublease it. That’s all I can do.”
“And your brothers will be okay with that?”
“Any loss will be my loss alone, since I’m the one who took the risk. I’m just glad I negotiated a good price and the right to sublet if I want. That might make it possible.”
“But...your brothers. I just saw them. They can’t know you’ve changed your mind, or they’re the best actors in the world!”
“No one knows. I was afraid it would spoil the surprise if everyone was smirking and whispering when they ran into you.”
The tears she’d been holding back for most of the night began to slide down her cheeks, only now they were happy tears. “So you’re really back? For good?”
He leaned down to kiss her lips. “That’s right. And I won’t ever leave you again.”
When she threw her arms around him, he muttered another quick warning about how dirty he was, but she didn’t care. She would’ve hugged him even if he’d been covered in mud. She’d never been happier in her life.
I won’t ever leave you again
. Aaron had said that, and he didn’t make promises lightly.
“I was so mad when you missed my party,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry about that, babe. If I’d realized that I was going to blow it this badly, I wouldn’t have bothered with the surprise. But once I decided to come back, I couldn’t leave my stuff behind. I wanted to pack up and get out of there as soon as possible.”
“It’s fine. Having you here, in my arms, that’s all I care about. You’ll be okay with Anya and Natasha...and your father, when he gets out?”
“I’ll have to be,” he said. “Did you like the yoga mats?”
She nodded. He could’ve given her a bucket of water from the hose and she wouldn’t have cared now that she had him home for good.
“I’m glad. I’m hoping you might like this even better.”
He pulled away long enough to extract a small wrapped box from his front pocket. When she glanced up to meet his eyes, his smile was slightly crooked. “Another reason I was late. I had the plan laid out so perfectly in my mind, and this was part of it.”
Presley’s heart pounded as she accepted the gift. She told herself not to get excited, that it
couldn’t
be a ring. But it certainly felt like one.
She drew a calming breath, trying to prepare herself in case it was a necklace or earrings instead.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
Her eyes were burning again. She didn’t want to cry, but she felt so hopeful and vulnerable and in love. She prayed he couldn’t tell that her hands were shaking as she ripped off the wrapping paper and opened the velvet box.
Her breath caught in her throat. It was a diamond, all right: a huge solitaire, bigger than anything
she’d
ever dreamed of owning.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s gorgeous!” she said. “The most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. But...it must’ve cost you a fortune. And with moving back, and having to pay on those leases until you can find someone to take over, I’m afraid we should return it.”
She heard him chuckle. “No way. You deserve to come first for a change. I wanted you to think it’s the most beautiful ring you’ve ever seen. That’s why it took me so long to decide. It’s not easy for a guy. There were hundreds to choose from,” he complained, as if the whole process had been harrowing indeed.
She laughed. “You did well. I love it.”
“Will you marry me, Pres?”
A ripple of pure excitement ran through her. She’d gone from opening yoga mats to a stunning engagement ring, complete with wedding proposal. While she’d been moping around her party, she’d thought this might be one of the worst nights of her life. Now she knew it was the best.
“Are you
sure
you want me?” She knew that probably wasn’t the usual question a prospective bride asked her groom. But Aaron had been so wary of commitment.
His lips curved into a confident smile. “Would I have asked if I wasn’t?”
She laughed again through the tears that were slipping over her lashes. “No.”
“There you go. I wanted to be sure I was doing it for the right reasons, not out of a sense of guilt or obligation but because we were good together, right for each other. I had to screw up my whole financial picture to finally realize it, but...I’m there now. And we’ll recover eventually.”
We’ll
recover. That had a nice sound to it.
She gazed down as he slid the ring on her finger. “Wow. Would you look at that! It’s so big I’m afraid I might get mugged.”
“No one had better hurt you, ever, or they’ll answer to me,” he said. Then he cupped her face in his hands and wiped her tears with his thumbs. “Presley?”
For a moment it seemed as if her little-girl self, the grimy waif who’d had to steal food from Dumpsters to survive, was watching her from one side—watching her adult self step into a fairy tale. “What?”
He kissed her, tenderly. “I love you.”
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460328569
COME HOME TO ME
Copyright © 2014 by Brenda Novak, Inc.
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