Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Is he finally going to ask me to marry him? These last three months have been wonderful, but I know if I could go to sleep next to him each night and then wake up next to him in the morning, it would be perfect. I even told him I should just talk to Cole about it, but Holden said no. He doesn’t want us to share a room until we’re married.
Now if only he’d ask me.
“So I’ve been thinking, and I know how my life could be even better.”
Oh God, this is it. He’s going to ask me. “How?”
He lets go of me and walks across the room, turning on the light to the therapy room. He gestures to the room. “I want you to work here.”
I stumble on my feet even though I haven’t even moved. “You want what?”
He holds his hands up. “I know you like your job, but I thought it would be perfect, if you wanted to, if you worked here as a therapist. We would get to see each other all day… we could build this together.”
I rapidly blink, and I don’t even try to hide my astonishment. “You want me to work here?”
He comes to me. “Are you okay? You’re pale as a ghost. What is it? It was just a thought, forget I even asked.”
He wraps his hands around my forearms. “No, I mean, maybe, we should talk about it. I thought you were asking me something else.” I pull from his hold and walk across the space into the therapy room. I look around the room, at the state of the art equipment. I look everywhere but at him.
“Cat.”
I force a lightness to my voice. “Yeah?”
“Stop. Look at me.”
I grit my teeth. You can do this, Cat. You can look at him without him knowing your heart is breaking in two. I force a smile on my face. “I can see how it would be a good idea, but I need to think about it.”
He’s frowning at me as he comes toward me. Oh God, if he touches me I’ll never get through this. I step to the side. “I should probably go get Cole.”
He moves to step in front of me. “Dom is passing right by here, so I asked him to pick Cole up and drop him off.”
“Oh,” I say. That’s another thing. I have gone from it just being me and Cole to a full-fledged family. Holden’s brothers and sister have just brought us into their family like we belong here.
I pick up the magazine on the table and thumb through it. Determined to change the subject, I start to ramble. “I’m so glad to hear that Dom is going out on a date. I know you guys said that he’s given up on dating and all that, but he’s too good of a guy to be by himself. Do you know anything about the woman? I should ask Chrissy, she would probably know.”
“Cat,” he says, and when I don’t look at him, he repeats my name. “Catherine. Look at me.”
I lift my head and grip the magazine in my hand. “What is it?”
He comes toward me and doesn’t stop until we’re toe to toe. “What did you think I was going to ask you?”
I shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders and holds me to him. “Talk to me, Cat. What did you think I was going to ask you?”
I struggle to get out of his grasp, but he doesn’t let me. “Let’s not do this, please. Cole will be here soon and—”
He releases me. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
He practically runs from the room, and I try to calm myself down. I can do this. I can act like nothing has happened.
When he comes back into the room, his face is flushed, but there is an excitement in his eyes. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while now, but I was waiting on you. I didn’t want to pressure you, and I said I’d give you time but—” He sucks in a breath and drops to one knee in front of me. He holds out a ring box. “Cat, I love you more every day. The only thing that would make my life better is if you are my wife. And before I ask you, I want you to know that I talked to Cole about this around two months ago, and he gave me his blessing. Will you marry me, Cat?”
My mouth is hanging open. “But…”
He laughs. “There’s no buts. We’re meant to be together, Cat. Will you please marry me?”
With my heart racing, I throw caution to the wind. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He puts the ring on my finger and then he stands up, takes my face in his hands, and kisses me until I’m breathless. The sound of the front door opening has us pulling apart.