Playing Dirty(147)

My eyes widened, and a smile spread across my face as his words sank in. I’d been acting so silly. Of course I knew he loved me, and that was the main reason he’d brought up marriage; not just out of family duty or honor. I’d been experiencing some rather wild mood swings recently, brought on by hormone changes from my pregnancy, and they’d taken my mind to a dark place on occasion, but as usual, he’d reassured me, and I knew he’d always be here for me for all the right reasons.

“Good speech,” I said.

“Off the top of my head, as well.”

“Really?” I smiled. “Sounded like you had it ready.”

Andrew shrugged. “Well, I spend most days thinking about how much I love you so it comes pretty naturally.”

I put my right hand on top of his. “I love you too, Andrew.”

“Is that it? I don’t get a speech? What the hell?” he joked. “All the effort I went to, and I don’t even get a speech...”

“I’ll show you what you get.” I kissed him.

We broke apart, and Andrew grinned. “I suppose that’ll do instead.”

He kissed me, and I felt my worries melt away. It was likely that all this was going to go badly; there would be arguments, shouting, angry people, accusations and ugly headlines. But we had each other. And right now it felt like as long as we had each other, we could face anything and everything that the world could throw at us.

“How should we tell your mother about the baby?” I asked when we’d finally broken apart.

“I’ll go and speak to her now,” he said.

“I’ll come with you, if you want.”

Andrew shook his head. “Best if I do it alone. I’ll see you afterwards and let you know how it went.”

He stood up and smoothed down his shirt, and I anxiously picked at a fingernail. “Good luck,” I said, my voice shaking a bit.

He leaned down and put his hand on my chin, tilting it up. “I don’t need any luck,” he said. “I already have you…and that means I have all the luck in the world.”

I was about to respond when he opened his mouth to speak again. “Screw it. I was actually going to wait for a better moment to do this, but…well, I don’t think I can wait any longer,” he said.

With that, he got down on one knee in front of me, holding out a small velvet ring box. My hand flew to my mouth, and he grinned up at me.

“I know we’ve been talking about marriage a lot, even just a few minutes ago, and you already know I want to marry you…but I thought you deserved a real proposal. I actually arranged to have this made for you the other week, and they just so happened to finish it today,” he said. “I know now isn’t the best time to be doing this, but I wanted to officially ask—”

I cut him off by practically leaping onto him. “Oh my god…yes!”

“You didn’t even give me a chance to ask you properly!”

“Oh. Sorry,” I said, my cheeks turning red as I sat down again, affecting a demure air. “You were saying?”

“Keira Valencia…will you marry me?”

“Hmm…I’ll have to think about it.”

“Too late, you already said yes a moment ago, you cheeky minx,” he said with a cheeky grin, and my face felt like it might split in two from my own smile as I watched him slide the ring onto my finger.

He was right in what he’d said earlier—maybe this wasn’t the most opportune time for this to be happening, given our uncertainty as to how his mother would react to my pregnancy, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a moment of happiness to share in the commitment we were making to each other. This ring on my finger symbolized something wonderful; it made it that much clearer that no matter what happened from this moment onwards, we were really in this together, and there was no going back now. I was his, and he was mine, and whatever the future held…we’d be here for each other.

Always.





Chapter 23

Andrew



I was officially an engaged man, and I’d never been happier.

I wished I could shout the news from the rooftops, but there was still the matter of telling my mother about Keira’s pregnancy first. Although my mind was made up on what to do in any given eventuality, and although I was resolute in how this confrontation would end regardless, my stomach still felt a little weird as I headed down the hall. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was that I was worried about. What was the worst that could happen? No one liked to be shouted at by their mother, but at the same time, no one had ever died from it. I was a grown man, and anything she said to me would just roll off me like water off a duck’s back. In the end, one way or another, I would be with Keira, and that was all that mattered.