Unexpectedly His(59)

Marianne picked up her cup and turned it around so that the words faced her friend. Grande. Passion. Marianne. She smiled over at Jane, her eyes brimming. “You’re right. I’m not.”

…

Nick arrived home to find his ex-fiancée waiting in the hallway outside his condo, holding a picnic basket in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other. She was dressed to kill in a preppy trench coat and a pair of ruby red stilettos, sexy proof that there was no place like home. Her usually perfectly pressed coat sported a few wrinkles, which made him wonder how long she’d been waiting. He hoped not too long, although he knew he’d wait for her forever.

Goddamn, how he loved her.

He approached the door, stood across from her, and waited to hear the words he knew would change his life forever. Because he was ready. Nick was done with the rules. He wanted to take this woman out on back-to-back dates. He wanted to share sleepovers every Sunday during football season. No, every night. Every night for the rest of his life.

Her unwavering blue eyes caught his. “Are you sure about passing on the partnership?”

Nick nodded, knowing he’d never been more certain of any decision he’d ever made. “I’m sure.”

“No regrets?”

“No regrets.” He reached out to straighten the collar of her trench. “Not if I have you.”

“Well, then, counselor.” She dropped her chin and glanced up at him from behind her glasses. “You’re in luck, because I’ve consulted with the ‘legal department’ at Smart Cupid…”#p#分页标题#e#

“The ‘legal department’?” He leaned his hip against the doorjamb.

Marianne nodded and kept on talking. “Apparently, the whole ‘fake engagement’ portion of our agreement is totally unenforceable in a court of law.”

“Really?” he said.

“Totally unenforceable,” she said, with a teasing gleam in her eyes, “Love, however, is a different story, love is totally binding.” She tilted her head back and looked up at him, tracing the line of buttons on his shirt with the champagne bottle. “And according to my most recent matrix calculation, after analyzing all the data, I have determined that you love me.”

She bit down on her bottom lip and waited for confirmation.

Down the hallway, the elevator dinged as a smile inched across his face. He took the sapphire and diamond engagement ring out of his pocket. “Marry me?”

Returning his smile with one of her own, Marianne swayed another inch closer. “Did I mention I’m naked underneath this trench?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Can I take that as a legally binding ‘yes’?”

“Yes.” Her whispered answer sent his heart soaring as every piece of the puzzle fell perfectly into place. “Absolutely, yes.”

Nick brushed a kiss across her lips and slipped the ring back onto her finger where it belonged. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Marianne dropped the picnic basket and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, the champagne bottle hard against his back.

Nick gathered her against his chest and pulled them into the doorframe. He planned to tell her about her ex and his conversation with her dad…everything, so that there would never be any secrets between them. He wanted to know why she’d packed up and left, too. But she was here now—home. The rest of the truth could wait until the morning. Until he proved to her how much he loved her—body and soul. Then he’d let go of the past and embrace a permanent future with his anything-but-temporary fiancée.

A future he hoped would last forever.

“Think we’ll make it?” he asked.

She smiled up at him, a mischievous twinkle at the back of her blue eyes. “Statistically speaking, I’m 99 percent sure.”

He tilted his head back and laughed up at the ceiling, happier than he’d ever been, more sure of his commitment to her than of anything he’d ever done. “And the other one percent?”

Eyes never leaving his, Marianne took a step back as her hands dropped to the belt at her waist. She untied the knot and let her coat fall away. “Convince me.”





Epilogue


“The real lover is the man who can thrill you by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”

—Marilyn Monroe

White and blue twinkle lights reflected against the white canopied tent, and Marianne smiled up at Nick, loving her newly minted husband in his conservative tux and sexy, undone tie. Her voice softened with a hint of wonder. “We did it.”

The band played Ed Sheeran’s “Kiss Me,” and Nick twirled her around the edge of the parquet dance floor. “You’re stuck with me now.”