Rough Ride: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance

I wipe another tear from her cheek before reaching into the pocket of my jeans and pulling out a navy velvet box. I pop it open with my thumb and hold it out to her. “Have I overstepped now?”

Everything stops. There’s no more tears, no more choked laughter, no more sound at all save for the beating of my own heart in my ears. Izzy’s eyes are wide, and her mouth is slightly agape.

I use the silence to my advantage, speaking before I lose my nerve. “Izzy, we’ve been through more than any couple should have to endure. It’s been one hell of a rough ride, but one hell of a beautiful one, too. Life led us apart, only to toss us back together when we least expected it. We’ve made it this far, baby. So, let’s go all the way. Isabelle, you’re already the love of my life. Do me the honor of being my wife, too.”

My voice was already wavering under the weight of my own emotion, so I understood completely when Izzy’s mouth opened but no sound came out. Instead, she nodded her head furiously, then broke into a full-fledged crying fit as she flung her arms around me. Tears stung my eyes, but she was in my arms and nodding wa

s a good sign, so I gave her the time she needed to compose herself.

Frankly, I needed it, too.

“Yes,” she sniffed when she finally pulled back and she’d calmed a bit. “So much, yes. I want nothing more than to be your wife.”

I kissed her mouth hard, an unspoken promise of what was to come. “You make me happy, Izzy. So damn happy.”

“You make me happy, too.” She shakes her head as I slip the three-stone diamond ring on her finger.

Past, present, and future. For me, Izzy is all of those things.

“I still can’t believe we’re here,” she breathes out. “Doing this. Being us.”

“We were always us, Izzy.” I give her a soft smile. “Miles and years couldn’t change that. That’s why I came back. To make sure it wasn’t just me that felt the pull of...us. I told myself I needed closure. But what I really needed was you.”

Izzy sighed audibly as I touched her face, leaning into my hand. “I needed you, too. Even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I think my heart always knew, though.”

I lean in, running my lips across her jaw. “Wine after whisky,” I whisper against her skin.

She smiles, as that phrase has become an inside joke between us. Something that so accurately describes the fire between us, an intense burning unmatched by the touch of anyone else. “I’ve never been a fan of wine, anyway,” she whispers. “Take me home, Jace.”

I smile down into her pretty brown eyes. “We are home, Izzy,” I remind her. “We’re together.”

Thank You