Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Braxton said, putting a hand at her back and leaning down to kiss her. “It was busy at the office.”
She was too stunned to push him away.
“Ugh, I don’t think you and I have met,” Lucille said, holding out her hand.
“That’s right, I’m Jade’s fiancé,” he said. He took hold of Lucille’s hand and shook it.
Jade didn’t know what was going on now. She was in a state of panic, but she tried to ignore it. Braxton was at her workplace, describing himself as her fiancé. She was confused. She tried to spend her working days over the past couple of weeks trying not to think about him, and yet here he was.
“Fiancé? I didn’t know you were engaged,” Lucille said.
“Neither did I,” Jade said.
“It was sudden, but from the moment I met Jade, I knew she was the one.”
She wanted to turn on her heel and demand he explain himself. She stayed perfectly still and kept the smile on her face, to the point she was starting to think her face was going to break.
“Do you mind if I steal her away?” Braxton asked, sounding all very nice about everything, when it was the exact opposite.
Lucille nodded and gave her a look that clearly stated there was going to be a demand for details.
This was insane. She had to be asleep and it was time for her to wake up. She pinched herself but nothing helped.
Braxton kept a hand at her back all the way home. There was not a single moment where she could stop him.
Arriving at her apartment, she left him to bolt the door, removed her jacket and bag, and threw them onto the sofa.
She spun around and glared at him. “What the hell were you thinking? That was my boss, and you weren’t exactly forthcoming with your name for me. Why now?”
“She’s going to need to know who you are married to.”
“And that brings me right back to this. Who says I’m going to marry you?” She wanted to stamp her foot, but she stayed still, crossing her arms over her chest.
Braxton didn’t answer right away. He took several steps toward her and then went down onto one knee and held up a velvet box, which he opened.
“Jade Newton, I am completely, totally in love with you. I wanted to tell you the other day, but you got there first, and then I had to take care of business. I needed to know I would be able to tell you how I felt, and also ask you to marry me. I don’t know if you will or not. That’s why I told that woman I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance.”
“What?” she asked. This was unexpected, and she hated to admit it, but also incredibly romantic.
“I love you and I want to spend all my life with you, Jade. I know you deserve better than me, but I cannot live without you. I don’t want to live without you.”
Jade didn’t need to hear any more. She went to him and kissed him.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. “I love you,” he said, telling her in between kisses. She laughed, not wanting to let him go.
“I love you.”
“Is that a yes to my proposal?” he asked.
“Yes, but there has to be a condition,” she said.
“What?”
“You’ll always be there in the morning when I wake up.” She didn’t think she could stand for him to be anywhere else.
Jade didn’t want to make him suffer. She didn’t want to waste another moment. Yes, he had left, but the truth was, Braxton had never actually hurt her. His absence had, but she knew and understood why he did what he did. It didn’t matter. She loved him and wanted to be with him.
And that was all it mattered. She had found her soul mate, and she wouldn’t let him go.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Jade woke up, like she had many times, to find Braxton was no longer beside her in the bed. She reached out and put her palm next to the spot where he had fallen asleep. In the early days of their marriage, whenever this happened, she often felt a sense of foreboding, but over the years that had changed. She remembered on Valentine’s Day, she had woken with Braxton not there because he had been making her breakfast in bed. The same for her birthdays and Christmases.
Braxton liked to take care of her. This had been new to him as well. He wasn’t used to wanting to take care of anyone. During her first pregnancy, he refused to leave her side, much to Jade’s enjoyment. Even though Braxton provided for her, they had this amazing house, and she knew she didn’t have to work, she still did. She loved working.