“Don’t toss my words back at me. This isn’t a game, Cole.”
“No, it’s not. It’s the story of the rest of our life.”
Our life. As in singular. He said the words as if they had a life together, as one. They didn’t. Did they?
“How can you be sure?” she demanded, tiring of the toll his words were taking on her heart.
He took her hand into his, placed her palm flat over his heart. “That’s how I know.”
His heart pounded against her palm, beating strong and fast. For her.
“I want to believe you, Cole. I really do.”
“I know you do, sweetheart.” He put his finger on her chin, tilted her face upwards to his. “Just give me the rest of your life to prove how much I love you.”
The rest of her life. What was he saying?
“I asked your father for permission to date you, Amelia. That was six months ago. Earlier today I asked his permission to ask you to be my wife, to do everything within my means to convince you to spend the rest of your life letting me love and take care of you.”
Amelia’s vision blurred and she was pretty sure she swayed and that Cole caught her. Either way, his arms wrapped around her, holding her close, keeping her from collapsing onto the concrete patio.
“What did he say?” she croaked, wondering why she wasn’t telling Cole there was no way she’d marry him. She didn’t want to get married, had never wanted to get married. Except, on the weekend of Clara’s wedding, she had wished it was her who’d been going to walk down the aisle to Cole, had wished it was her who’d be spending two weeks with him in a honeymoon suite.
Her father’s parting words hit her.
“He said yes,” she gasped.
“He said yes,” Cole agreed. “But the more important question, Amelia, is what do you say?”
Holding her hand, Cole sank to one knee.
Amelia started shaking her head. “Don’t do this, Cole. Please, don’t.”
He hesitated only a second then, looking up into her eyes, asked her to marry him. “Be my wife, Amelia. My life partner, friend and lover. Be the best part of me and let me spend all my days showing you how much I adore you.”
“You adore me?” A crazy question at this point, but his word choice caught her off guard, seemed out of place for a man like Cole.
“I adore you, love you
, want you.” He squeezed her hand and she realized his trembled. “I need you, Amelia. For two years, I floundered, trying to convince myself I didn’t, but I do. I need to know you’re there, waiting for me, loving me in return. Maybe asking you to marry me is rushing things, but we’ve been apart too long already. I know how I feel about you and I know you’re what I want for the rest of my life.”
“Cole,” she began, knowing she had to say no. She didn’t want to get married. She didn’t want to constantly worry that he’d leave her again someday. She needed her freedom.
But Cole’s love was what freed her, gave her the power to be anything she wanted to be. And what she wanted to be more than anything else was his.
Because he was here, loved her, made her whole in a way no one else ever could. Because she’d rather be left by him a thousand times than live a single day without him. Because what she saw in his eyes assured her he’d never leave her, that for the rest of their lives he’d be by her side.
“I love you, Cole.”
He pulled her hand to his face, rubbing the back of her fingers across his cheek. “You’ll marry me? You trust me?”
Amelia didn’t have to think about her answer. She dropped to her knees, cupped Cole’s face and nodded. “With all my heart.”
EPILOGUE
COLE smiled at the woman lying in his arms, knowing without doubt he was the happiest man alive.
“What are you thinking about?” Amelia asked, trailing her fingers along his throat, blasting him with a fresh shot of desire.