He pulls me closer against him, and it’s almost on instinct that my hands slide up to his chest.
Suddenly, Austin’s face goes tight as he starts to breath quickly. He starts to drop to his knees, and all of a sudden the panic comes rushing back into me.
Oh God, the tackle in the church.
I’m suddenly realizing that in my whole ridiculous fainting spell, I’ve never asked him if he’s hurt from slamming Vince to the ground.
“Oh God, Austin!” I drop to my knees, my hands going to his face as my eyes go wide. “Shit, are you okay?!”
He stares at me. “What?” he shakes his head as his brow furrows. “Nat I’m-”
“Is it your head?” I’m gasping, feeling the the panic spiraling through me as I cup his face in my hands. “Sit down! I’m going to grab one of the med-”
“Natalie.”
The firmness of his voice stops me, and as I turn back I suddenly realize he’s grinning at me. “No, you stand; I kneel.”
“I-”
Oh.
OH.
He rolls his eyes as I slowly stand, feeling my heart hammering in my chest as my chest rises and falls.
“So, you left this at my place-”
Austin holds his hand up, and there in his fingers, glittering gaudily in the sunlight, is the ring.
My ring, from Vegas.
“And I was sort of hoping you might want it back.”
Oh my God.
My lips are opening and closing, but no words come out as I blink and just stare at the man on one knee before me.
“Natalie Ames-”
Austin looks up at me, that same cowboy grin on his face and that dangerous glimmer in his eyes that swept me away by the elevators of the Chateau Marmont. Before the fake marriage, before Vegas, before all the ups and down and turmoil.
Before I realized I fell in love with him with that first look.
My heart stops for one single beat as the whole world goes still around us and Austin looks right into my eyes and takes a deep breath.
“I fucked this up the first time around. But this time, I want to do this right.”
He looks me right in the eye, and I’m almost saying yes before he even says the words.
“Will you marry me? For real this time, and for always.”
I’m screaming and throwing my arms around him as he stands. And then his lips are on mine, kissing me fiercely - a kiss that fills in all the gaps and lets everything else in the world just fall away.
“I love you,” he murmurs into my lips, and I can feel the tears start to pour down my cheeks.
Happy ones this time.
“I love you too,” I whisper back, feeling him grin as he picks me up and spins me around, kissing me all over again.
“Natalie!”
I turn from Austin just as Vivian all but tackles me, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tight. “You scared the shit out of me!” She pulls back, grinning at me. “I can’t believe you fainted.”
My jaw drops. “Well I can’t believe you left me here!”
She laughs. “Please! I was getting your man here and his smooth spy of a friend to come break this whole thing up.” She nods behind her to a sheepishly grinning Kyle.
I furrow my brow at him over her shoulder. “Yeah, Kyle, you carry a gun now?”
He frowns, stooping to pick Vince’s glittering silver ring off the grass. “Why is this so hard for everyone to comprehend?”
Austin laughs and shakes head. “Because you’re a big sweetheart, buddy.”
“I am not,” he mutters.
Vivian grins. “Oh, I think it was very sweet of you to come help rescue my sister, you know.”
Kyle looks up, flashing a charming grin as he pushes a hand through his hair. “Hey, you know, just doing my job.”
I glance at Austin in time to see him roll his eyes.
“So, listen,” Kyle turns towards my sister with a shrug. “I was thinking maybe you and I-”
“Oooh my God,” Vivian’s face goes white as her eyes drop to his hand. “I, uh, look, I don’t even know you-”
Kyle’s face falls before he follows her eyes to the ring in his hand. “Oh shit!” His face goes red as he quickly jerks the ring behind his back. “No! No-no, I was going to say ‘get some coffee sometime’, not-” He swallows quickly. “You know, not that.”
Vivian blushes. “Coffee I could probably commit to.”
Austin pulls me aside.
“You know, you, uh-” He clears his throat and arches a brow at me.
“You never actually said yes, you know.”
The corners of my mouth curl. “Oh, I didn’t?”
“Nope.”
“Hmm…” I bring my hand up to tap my chin, pantomiming a long thinking face. “I mean, I’m going to need some sort of prenup - you know, to protect myself.”