He continued. “You said you wanted one, just not before you got married. Not a permanent one anyway.”
Despite the warnings to herself that she was getting way ahead of herself, her heart slammed against her rib cage, her jaw inching open as her eyes slowly widened.
He couldn’t be.
Could he?
Glancing down at his shiny loafers, Ethan took a small step forward. “This is where I held you for the first time. Where I wanted to kiss you for the first time. Where I wanted you, period, consequences be damned. This… is where my feelings for you took root.”
Willow shifted, her hands nervously finding a lock of hair and twisting it round and round.
“I didn’t really know you then. I didn’t know how incredible you were, how strong, how courageous, how… you would not just capture my interest, but me. All of me. I didn’t think there was anywhere else in the world I wanted to be, and before I stood here,” he said, looking at the ground, then back at her, “with you in my arms… there wasn’t. I was a different man before that night. Maybe a better man, so sorry you get the discount version, but….”
Producing a shaky smile, Willow rolled her eyes.
Ethan swallowed, reaching inside of his long coat pocket.
Unable to keep it in, Willow murmured, “Oh, my god.” Almost intuitively, she took a step back and her hand made its way to cover her mouth as she watched him drop to one knee before her.
Ethan looked at the ring box instead of her. “I know you’re not in any hurry, and I’m not either. I know you have to set the art world on fire and finish college. I know it won’t always be easy, but I also know it is what I want. You’re what I want, you and only you for the rest of my life.” Finally he tilted his head up to gaze at her. “On that note… Willow Kensington, would you do me the honor of agreeing to marry me… someday?”
Bursting with glee, she grabbed him and pulled him awkwardly to a standing position as he laughed. Willow threw her arms around him, pulling him as close as she could with her clothes on and squeezing him.
“Yes,” she said, not having to think about it. “Yes, Ethan Wilde, I will absolutely marry you.”
“Yeah?” he teased, holding up the forgotten ring box. “I mean, maybe you should inspect the goods before you enter into a binding agreement?”
Rolling her eyes, she snatched the box. Biting down on her lip, she paused before flipping it open to see what ring he picked out for her.
It was simple and elegant—a stunning radiant cut diamond larger than anything she would’ve expected, set in shining platinum. She loved it instantly, and her fingers shook as she drew it out of the box.
Ethan smirked. “Nervous?”
“It’s cold,” she said, attempting to give him a dry look but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
Sliding it onto her unsteady finger, she held her hand out and admired it.
“Wow,” she said, quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Oh yeah,” she assured him, nodding. “You did well, Mr. Wilde. Really well.”
“Good. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to return it.”
“Not without my finger attached, you’re not,” she told him, arching her eyebrows and hugging it protectively against her chest.
Ethan pulled her in for a hug, and she dropped her hand to wrap her arms around him. In her wildest dreams, she hadn’t been expecting that homecoming. To think, not an hour before she was standing at the airport alone, questioning whether or not he had even missed her.
Now she was engaged.
Holy. Shit. She was engaged.
To be married.
Someday.
Biting her lip, she tilted her head back so she could look at Ethan. “You’re kind of technically my fiancé now, aren’t you?”