Between The Lines (Main Street Merchants Book 5) Read online

  Regan looked around exaggeratedly. “They must be pretty small. I don’t see any boxes or gift bags.”

  “Yeah, they’re pretty small.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a chain, and knelt down next to Regan’s chair. “Here’s the first one.”

  She took it from his hand. Dangling from the end was a purity ring, a lot like his, only thinner and daintier.

  “Will you wear this for me?” he asked, his voice low.

  Her breath caught. “I’d be honored to,” she said. He took it back and fastened it around her neck, brushing her hair out of the way.

  “But that’s not your only gift,” he said, kneeling in front of her again.

  “Oh? Lemme guess—it’s a pony. But it wouldn’t fit in your car, so you stabled it somewhere outside town.”

  “No, but that’s an awesome idea. Maybe for your birthday.” He paused, searching her eyes with his own. “Regan, I just asked you to wear a purity ring. You know what that symbolizes, and you know how important that is to me. But there’s something else I’d like you to wear.”

  He pulled something else out of his pocket and held it up. There was no mistaking what it was—a diamond ring. He stroked the back of her left ring finger. “I’ve been crazy about you for a long time. In fact, I think I’ve had a crush on you since we first met, but this last week just closed the deal for me. Regan, I love everything about you. I love your brains, your gorgeousness, this obsession you have with snacks, your guts, your determination, the way you feel in my arms . . . everything. There’s not one piece of you I don’t love. I want to marry you. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life, and if you said yes, I would be the most blessed man on the planet.”

  Regan wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. Here he was—absolutely everything she’d ever dreamed out, every book hero rolled up into one incredible, real-life man. “I don’t know,” she said after a moment. “I mean, if I accept that ring, I’ll eventually have to give up the first ring you gave me, and I kind of like it.”

  He leaned forward again and spoke low. “What if I give you my ring, and you give me yours, and then we’ll both still have one?”

  She pretended to consider. “That might work. Yeah, I think that might work.”

  He picked up her left hand, slid the engagement ring into place, and then kissed the back of her hand. “I love you so much. Thank you for saying yes.”

  “Well, I mean, it was the least I could do.” She reached out and trailed her fingers along his jaw line. “You are sitting out here on my porch, in the cold.”

  “It is cold, isn’t it?” He seemed to notice it for the first time, and Regan had to admit, she hadn’t felt it either. “Let’s get you back inside.”

  “Right now?”

  He smiled. “In a minute.” He helped her to a standing position, made sure she was balanced, then took her into his arms again. This kiss was a message. It was a promise for the future. It was a commitment that would last longer than a day or a week. It told her that he was all in, that she meant the world to him, that she would be the most important person in his life for as long as he lived. How could anything in the world—in a book or in real life—be more wonderful or more perfect than this?

  The End

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