“I’m the owner of Austin Security now,” I said. “As of today.”
Juliet dropped her fork. “That’s amazing! Congratulations!” She rose to her knees and leaned over the spread of food to hug me. “I’m so proud of you.”
I was proud of me too. For a kid who never thought he’d go to college to have both a degree and a wildly successful business to call his own, I was doing pretty well. But there was one more thing. “Thanks,” I said. “But there’s one more thing I wanted to tell you.”
“Okay.” Juliet drew out the word, wary suddenly at my change of tone.
“My life has changed in so many ways since I met you, Juliet. Some of them hard to accept at first, but all of them good.”
She nodded, her hair slipping over her shoulder.
“And I’m hoping we might make one more change—not right away. But someday. Maybe in a year or two.”
I rose so that I could kneel properly, and when I did, Juliet’s entire expression shifted to an excited smile.
“I love you, Juliet. You’re the light in my world, the air I breathe. When I’m with you, the insanity around us all makes sense. Or maybe it just doesn’t matter to me anymore. You’ve made my life better in so many ways, I can’t even count them.”
“I’m your KY Jelly,” she said, interrupting my romantic proposal.
“Did you just make a lube joke in the middle of my proposal?”
“Are you proposing to me, Jace?” She grinned.
“I’m trying.”
“Go ahead.” She mimed zipping her lips.
“As I was saying,” I went on dramatically. “You’re the lubricant that makes everything in my life slide more easily. And I hoped you might agree to be my wife someday. Will you marry me?” I held out the ring I’d bought—something smaller than what she’d had before, but beautiful and simple.
“Yes!” she said, standing to walk around all the food and then throwing herself into my arms. “Yes.”
I kissed her then, soft and long and deep. I kissed the woman I wanted to spend my life with. And then I offered her the ring, taking it out of the box as she lifted her finger for me to slip it on.
The fit was a little snug. “We can get it sized,” I told her.
She grinned at me, her movie star smile dazzling me just as it always had. “Or I can just use lube anytime I need to take it off. So many uses,” she said.
I pulled my fiancée into my arms, both of us laughing, and together, we found several other uses for lubricant, right there on the floor in front of the fire.
THE END
Also by Delancey Stewart
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The Movie Stars in Maryland Duet:
Book One: Happily Ever His
Book Two: Happily Ever Hers
The MR. MATCH Series:
Book One: Scoring the Keeper’s Sister
Book Two: Scoring a Fake Fiancée
Book Three: Scoring a Prince
Book Four: Scoring with the Boss
The LOVE IN THE VINES Series:
Vintage
Redemption Red
Beyond Redemption
A Holiday Delay
The Love in the Vines Box Set (Books 1-4)
The STARR RANCH WINERY Series:
Chasing a Starr
THE GIRLFRIENDS OF GOTHAM Series:
Men and Martinis
Highballs in the Hamptons
Cosmos and Commitment
The Girlfriends of Gotham Box Set
STANDALONES:
Without Words
Without Promises
Mr. Big
Adagio
The PROHIBITED! Duet:
Prohibited!
The Glittering Life of Evie Mckenzie
Happily Ever Hers: Movie Stars in Maryland, Book Two Page 22
