mistaken, and neither were you. I should have asked you. I should have said it sooner, and I wish I could say it better. Avery Stanz, will you marry me? Will you be my wife and share my life? Will you let me love you in sickness and in health? Will you let me stand beside you for the rest of my life? Because, if you say yes, I will love you with all my heart. I won’t withhold myself from you, like I’ve done for so long. I will protect you and give you everything I have. Will you share my bed, my soul, and my life?”
The doors ding open on another floor and the people smile at the sight. Me with a shocked face, the old lady is grinning and close to clapping, and Sean on his knee holding up a ring. As the doors slip shut, they groan since they won’t hear my answer.
It’s then that I realize I’m taking too long. My heart is pounding and I’m lost in limbo, caught between reality and dreamland. But I’m awake, and Sean’s looking up at me, blinking those bright blue eyes, completely and totally vulnerable.
I find my voice. “You jumped.” I sound shocked.
He nods. “I’d do anything for you, Avery. I’ll be anything you want, anything you need, no matter what you say, but I hope you say yes.” He smiles hard and those dimples flash and disappear.
“Yes. Yes, to all those things.” My lips quiver and I start sobbing as I hold out my hand. It’s shaking so much that Sean has to take it in his to slide the ring on my finger. When the cold metal touches my hot skin a shiver races over me, and I gasp.
When Sean stands, he takes me in his arms and holds me. The old woman claps and rides the elevator up to our floor with us, chattering excitedly, and wishing us well.
For a second, a bitter thought crosses my mind. “You’d wish those things for us even if he were Sean Ferro?” Sean tenses in my arms. It’s reckless, because in this moment his guard is down, and so is mine. If the old woman reacts the way the woman did earlier, I’ll cry. I don’t know why I said it. Something within me urged me to ask, so I did.
The elderly lady smiles, and touches my arm. “I’d wish every happiness on the two of you, especially if he were Sean Ferro. That man has had more pain in his life than one person could reasonably tolerate, and he’s bore it with grace. Everyone deserves a little ray of happiness after so much rain.”
CHAPTER 13
Sean presses his lips to the side of my face, covering me in little kisses. I giggle, I can’t help it. It feels like I’m floating, as if nothing could ruin this moment. The ring catches my eye, sparkling in the dim light of the elevator. I want to look at it, but I don’t want to pull away from Sean. I don’t want this moment to end. Something changed today. The walls that Sean erected came crashing down and he finally let me in. There’s nothing between us now and I can’t wait to snuggle against him once we get back to the room. It’s so hard not to jump up and down. I want to tell everyone and show them the ring. I want to tell them that I was right, that Sean wasn’t going to be the one to destroy me. I trusted my gut and I was right. It feels so good. The last few months have tossed me around so much that I didn’t know which way was up, but tonight, my feet are on the ground, right where they should be—between Sean Ferro and a crazy old lady who looks like she wants to celebrate with me.
She pulls out her phone and deflates when she can’t get a signal. “All my friends are going to be so jealous! I got to see the sweetest proposal I’ve ever witnessed and they’re all sitting in the room.” She chortles and holds her phone up, tilting it to the side like that’ll help it get some bars. “They’re going to blow a gasket when they find out it was Sean Ferro. And you... You are so sweet. I’m going to call you Sweetie.”
Sean holds me to his chest, hugging me hard and laughs. “She is sweet, and thoughtful, and completely perfect.” He
The doors ding open on another floor and the people smile at the sight. Me with a shocked face, the old lady is grinning and close to clapping, and Sean on his knee holding up a ring. As the doors slip shut, they groan since they won’t hear my answer.
It’s then that I realize I’m taking too long. My heart is pounding and I’m lost in limbo, caught between reality and dreamland. But I’m awake, and Sean’s looking up at me, blinking those bright blue eyes, completely and totally vulnerable.
I find my voice. “You jumped.” I sound shocked.
He nods. “I’d do anything for you, Avery. I’ll be anything you want, anything you need, no matter what you say, but I hope you say yes.” He smiles hard and those dimples flash and disappear.
“Yes. Yes, to all those things.” My lips quiver and I start sobbing as I hold out my hand. It’s shaking so much that Sean has to take it in his to slide the ring on my finger. When the cold metal touches my hot skin a shiver races over me, and I gasp.
When Sean stands, he takes me in his arms and holds me. The old woman claps and rides the elevator up to our floor with us, chattering excitedly, and wishing us well.
For a second, a bitter thought crosses my mind. “You’d wish those things for us even if he were Sean Ferro?” Sean tenses in my arms. It’s reckless, because in this moment his guard is down, and so is mine. If the old woman reacts the way the woman did earlier, I’ll cry. I don’t know why I said it. Something within me urged me to ask, so I did.
The elderly lady smiles, and touches my arm. “I’d wish every happiness on the two of you, especially if he were Sean Ferro. That man has had more pain in his life than one person could reasonably tolerate, and he’s bore it with grace. Everyone deserves a little ray of happiness after so much rain.”
CHAPTER 13
Sean presses his lips to the side of my face, covering me in little kisses. I giggle, I can’t help it. It feels like I’m floating, as if nothing could ruin this moment. The ring catches my eye, sparkling in the dim light of the elevator. I want to look at it, but I don’t want to pull away from Sean. I don’t want this moment to end. Something changed today. The walls that Sean erected came crashing down and he finally let me in. There’s nothing between us now and I can’t wait to snuggle against him once we get back to the room. It’s so hard not to jump up and down. I want to tell everyone and show them the ring. I want to tell them that I was right, that Sean wasn’t going to be the one to destroy me. I trusted my gut and I was right. It feels so good. The last few months have tossed me around so much that I didn’t know which way was up, but tonight, my feet are on the ground, right where they should be—between Sean Ferro and a crazy old lady who looks like she wants to celebrate with me.
She pulls out her phone and deflates when she can’t get a signal. “All my friends are going to be so jealous! I got to see the sweetest proposal I’ve ever witnessed and they’re all sitting in the room.” She chortles and holds her phone up, tilting it to the side like that’ll help it get some bars. “They’re going to blow a gasket when they find out it was Sean Ferro. And you... You are so sweet. I’m going to call you Sweetie.”
Sean holds me to his chest, hugging me hard and laughs. “She is sweet, and thoughtful, and completely perfect.” He
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