"No, Dane. I don't want to pick out my own ring. I just … Where did you get it from?"
"It was my grandmother's."
Her eyes softened, yet they were still filled with apprehension.
"What's wrong, Eden? I don't understand. Are you changing your mind?"
"Not at all. I want to marry you. And I want you to give me whatever ring you choose. I'd be honored to wear your grandmother's ring, but I don't know how I feel about wearing someone else's ring."
Suddenly, I understood her concern. "The only woman who has ever worn this ring was my Grans. No one else."
"You never gave it to … ?"
"No."
"This is probably the worst time in the world to ask … but why not?"
I laughed beneath my breath, finding her worry cute, and threaded my fingers through her hair. "To be honest, I don't know why. I never thought about it. She never mentioned it and I never offered. But when I told you I wanted to marry you, this was the only ring I thought about giving you. I never contemplated going and picking out something else."
She held her left hand out, fingers splayed, a giant smile brightening her face. "Put it on."
"I have to ask first."
"No you don't. My answer is yes. Always was and always will be." And with that, I slid the ring onto her finger.
We'd spent the entire weekend wrapped up in each other, aside from a few hours on Saturday when we went to pack up her belongings to move her in. When my alarm sounded on Monday morning, I wanted to let her sleep. She looked so peaceful snuggled into the middle of the large bed-our bed. But I had plans, and she needed to be with me.
"Where are we going?" she asked groggily. "I thought you had to go to work today."
"I do. And you're coming with me."
"I can't, Dane." She stretched and whined, making me want to crawl back beneath the covers and stay there all day with her. "I'm not your assistant anymore. Remember? I resigned."
"I know. We're equals in this now. You're my partner-in life and in business. You're going to be a Kauffmann, and last time I checked, that was the name on the front of the building."
She sat up and blinked at me. "That's ridiculous. Utterly insane. How will that work with a prenup?"
I yanked the blankets away and tugged on her arm until I had her on her feet. "It's easy. There is no prenup."
"Okay … now you're insane. And I'm sure your lawyers will agree with me."
"I don't care what anyone says," I called over my shoulder as I walked into the bathroom. I was ready for a shower, and I hoped Eden would join me. "You're going to be my wife, the mother of my children. I trust you and I know we're the real deal. I'm not entering into this marriage like it's some kind of business venture."
"What about Gabi?"
"What about her?" I locked gazes with her through the mirror.
"Imagine what would've happened if you followed through and married her without a prenup."
I turned and leaned against the vanity. "Eden … I don't care to talk about her. At some point, you're going to have to stop bringing her up. After this, no more comparing or questioning how things were when I was with her, considering I don't question or bring up your ex." I held my finger beneath her chin to make sure she was looking in my eyes. "I had a prenup drawn up with her."
She gasped and her eyes widened. "So why not with me?"
"Like I just told you, Eden … stop comparing. You're not her." I slapped her bare ass and nudged her toward the shower. "Now come on. We have a business to run."
* * *
We started the ball rolling on adding her name to the company. It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. However, the marriage license proved to be more difficult. We had to wait three days before we could even get married. That turned out to be fine, though. It allowed her parents time to come to Florida. They packed their bags and I bought their plane tickets. I worried when Eden had called to tell them, but they were surprisingly calm and accepting of the fact their daughter decided to marry a man they'd never met. When I asked her why they didn't object, she explained she'd talked about me every time they called-not the bad stuff, though. Apparently, they had kind of expected it. I wanted to know what all she had said about me for them to be so calm, but she wouldn't tell me. She said it didn't matter.
The only hesitation they had though, was about Janette. Eden had told them about finding her birth mother and explained the progress they'd made in building a relationship. However, once they arrived and met Janette, all worry vanished, and they all strangely acted like one giant blended family-me included.