Park Avenue Prince(84)
“Shhh, please don’t think about it. It was always yours. And so was I.”
“You know, it’s funny,” I said, looking up at him. “I always thought I’d get it back one day. I was devastated when I had to sell it, but even when I delivered it to the buyer, I believed it would be mine again one day. A bit like you, Sam Shaw.”
“But . . .” His mouth fell open as he struggled to find the words.
“I don’t need the big speeches and the expensive paintings—just you. I only ever needed you,” I said.
His eyes glistened with tears. “I don’t deserve—”
“You deserve to be happy,” I replied. “And I deserve to be with the love of my life. Which is you. I know that. I’ve always known that. But I need you to understand that you can’t run from me when the storm comes, Sam. We have to stick together.”
He nodded. “I get it. Really, I do. I’ll never leave again.”
I reached for his hand. “Good. I hate being without you.”#p#分页标题#e#
His hand curled around mine and he pulled me toward him.
“You never have to be. Honestly, Grace, I want to prove it to you. I want to give you everything you want and deserve.”
“And what do you want?”
“I want you. I want you to move in with me tonight. I want to make up for lost time. I want to marry you tomorrow.”
“You want to marry me?” I asked, fighting for breath.
“Of course I want to marry you. You are the love of my life—I want it all.”
“Is that a proposal?” I asked, the chatter of the gallery fading away, leaving just Sam and me in each other’s arms.
“Do you want it to be?”
I slid my hands over his. “I just got you back.”
“So, today your answer’s a no—but I’m going to keep asking until you’re ready. If it takes a hundred years, one day, Grace Astor, you will be my wife.”
“Oh? And what makes you so sure of that?”
“Because,” he said, tilting my chin up for a kiss, “you taught me the most important lesson in the Count’s story. ‘Happiness is like those palaces in fairytales whose gates are guarded by dragons: We must fight in order to conquer it.’” He smiled down at me. “I won’t ever stop fighting again.”
Epilogue
Sam
“Marry me?” I asked as I walked out of our bathroom, a towel around my waist, combing my fingers through my wet hair. Grace watched me from beneath the covers as she always did after my shower.
Morning, noon and night, I loved Grace Astor, but she always took my breath away first thing in the morning—her sleepy face, soft limbs and croaky voice. She owned me. Despite her wanting to take things slowly, we’d not spent a night apart since I’d gone to the gallery nine weeks ago.
She grinned at me and sat up in bed, smoothing her hands over her bed hair. “No. You marry me.”
I froze. Had I heard her correctly?
She bit the corner of her bottom lip, trying to stop her smile. I stalked across the room and pulled her down next to me. “What did you say?”
As we lay opposite each other on the bed, she traced her finger over my nose and across my lips. “I said marry me.”
“Are you asking me to marry you?” I asked, propping my head up with my hand.
She nodded.
“You’re finally saying yes?”
“No.”
I was confused.
“You’re going to say yes. I hope. I’m asking you.”
I chuckled. “Okay. I’m saying yes.”
“You’re saying yes?” she asked, her smile widening. Could she really think that she’d get a different answer?
“I’ve asked you every day for the last fifty-eight days—were you expecting me to say no?”
We laughed and I pushed her to her back and kissed her, taking my time to explore her warm, soft mouth, enjoying her fingers combing through my hair.
“This means we’re engaged,” I said.
She nodded. “I need a ring.”
“I bought three.”
“You have three engagement rings?” She tipped her head back and laughed. “When?”
I kissed her again, lingering over her lips. “Fifty-seven days ago. Want to see?” I started to move, but she pulled me back by the arm.
“In a little while. Right now, I’m good with you in nothing but a towel, kissing me.”
I pulled down the straps of her top and placed a kiss on each shoulder. “Kissing you where?”#p#分页标题#e#
She tugged at the bottom of her top and lifted it up and over her head. “Everywhere.”
No man was luckier in this moment than me. The best woman I’d ever known had promised to spend the rest of her life with me. Life didn’t get better than that.