Inhale, Exhale
Page 19
Catching the tail end of his conversation, it dawned on me who was on the phone. I bounced on my heels with excitement. “Well? It’s good news, right? What did they say?”
Grant hung up the phone, but stayed silent as he walked to the couch and sat down. I followed him, sitting on my knees next to him. “Ugh! You’re killing me, babe! You graduate in a week, and we still haven’t decided which position you’re going to take.”
“Well, I think I have made a decision now. And that decision is—we need to go shopping.”
I squinted my eyes at him. I was too excited and didn’t want to play cryptic games with him, but I knew him too well and went with it. “Okay, fine. What are we shopping for?”
He beamed up at me. “Well, we’re going to need a few umbrellas.”
Understanding dawned on me. “Oh, my God! Seattle? You got the job at The Gates Foundation?”
“They hired me as a Network Engineer. It’s a paid position, not even an internship!”
I wrapped my arms around him. “That is the best news ever! I’m so happy for you. I mean, California would have been fun, but Yahoo only had that unpaid position. Now you won’t have to take out any loans or anything. Ahh! I can’t believe we’re moving to Washington! I’m so excited. Okay, I’ve got to call my mom, and Gamma. I’ll wait to tell Ava, Trish, and JT until they get here. They’re supposed to come over for dinner before Ava helps me cram for my Russian final. And I’m going to have to confirm with the University of Washington. I mean, I got their acceptance letter for my transfer but had been holding off until we knew—”
“Whoa, whoa. Slow down, Cupcake. There was more.”
His faced turned serious, so I paused and sat back, waiting for him to tell me. “Okay, what is it?”
He took a deep breath, taking my hands in his own. They shook a bit and that made me nervous. Whatever he had to tell me, it was obviously big.
“Well, you see, I don’t want to take my girlfriend with me to Seattle.”
My face crumbled, and I tried to pull my hands away. I was shocked. Stunned.
“Oh, okay. I…we’d talked about it a few times. I guess I just assumed…” I bit my lip to keep the tears at bay. “So now what? You’re breaking up with me?”
Grant recaptured my hands and kissed my palms before he pulled me closer. “No, you misunderstand. I don’t want to take my girlfriend away from her friends, family, and the only town she’s ever lived in.”
“Grant, I don’t follow.”
He paused, pulling a small box out from his pocket. “I don’t want to take my girlfriend with me. I want to take my fiancée.”
I drew in a sharp breath and let the tears flow. “Oh, my God.”
Grant slid off the couch and got on one knee. “Jillian Anne Mayfield, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Oh my God. This is happening. This is actually happening. My heart pounded in my chest, and my eyes lifted to the face of the man whom I adored, whom I loved with every ounce of my soul. And now, he was going to be the man I married.
“Yes! Yes, I will marry you.” I threw my arms around him and pulled him on top of me, kissing him with everything I could muster.
He kissed me back until we were both gasping for air. He sat me up and took the diamond ring out of the box. My hands trembled as he slid it on my finger. “It was my mother’s.”
The pear-shaped diamond glittered brilliantly as I held it up to the sun. The antique setting highlighted the stone, which had to be at least a full carat. I had never seen anything quite so stunning.
“It’s beautiful. I love it.”
“And I love you.”
He sat and held me for a long time as we basked in the joy of it. Love emanated from the room, and I imagined down the street and around the block too. The sun shined, the birds chirped, and my world was perfect. As long as Grant was by my side, it didn’t matter where we went. He was my home.
“Go ahead,” Grant urged.
“What?”
He smiled down at me. “You’re not fooling me. I know you’re dying to go call the girls and your mom. So go ahead, I’ll start dinner.”
“Nah. I think I’ll stay here and cuddle with you a bit longer.”
He tilted his head in surprise. “Really? You’re not dying to tell them?”
I jumped off his lap. “Gah! You’re right. I’m dying.” I gave him a quick kiss and ran for my phone.
“Mom? I have the best news! You’re never going to believe it.”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I started my obsession with reading at an early age, getting in trouble for sneaking BabySitter Club and Nancy Drew books into math class in elementary school. I would read any fiction book I could get my hands on. I knew it was an addiction when instead of grounding me from TV or music, my mom would take away my books as punishment (The Horror!). My love of all things paranormal was inspired by my good friend Laurie, who convinced me that books with vampires, witches, and all things shifter were amazing. After a little reluctance, I gave it a shot with the Sookie Stackhouse books, realized she was right, and the rest was history.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, graduated from The University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English, and taught 8th graders to love reading as much as I do for several years. I will always be a proud member of Steelers Nation, but I couldn’t take the cold and moved my frozen tush to Florida where I now live with my family and two cats. You will find me many days with my trusty Kindle in hand and toes in the sand!
Books by Sarah M. Ross
Patronus Series:
Awaken
Avenge
Atone
Avowed (coming Fall/Winter, 2013)
Earth Angel Trilogy:
Echo of an Earth Angel
Fate of an Earth Angel (coming Summer, 2013)
Stand Alone
inhale, exhale—a New Adult Contemporary Romance
Never Gonna Tell—a New Adult Contemporary Romance (coming 2014)
Connect With Sarah
Website–www.sarahmross.com
Email–sarah@sarahmross.com
Twitter– https://twitter.com/#!/SarahtheAuthor
FaceBook–http://www.facebook.com/SarahtheAuthor
Goodreads–http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5447785.Sarah_M_Ross
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“An individual is but a silent spark when they must stand alone, but when others stand beside them, that simple spark becomes a vigorous flame.” ~ Deanna Lee
The opportunity to do what I love, every single day, is a blessing I do not take for granted. But it wouldn’t be possible without the help of these amazing people. I can never thank them enough, but I’ll never stop trying.
Thank you to my amazing family: Mom, Steve, Jessica, Ryan, Grammy, Lexi, Teresa, Aunt Terri, Uncle Paul, Aunt Kim & Uncle Kevin, Debbie & Tom, and everyone else who supports this endeavor of mine.
Alisia and Carl—thank you for having such an inspiring love story!!!
Nichole Chase—I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again: you rock my socks off. Daily. Thank you, my friend, for always being there, for reading all my books even at their ugly stage, and giving me countless hours of advice and support.
My amazing Beta readers: Courtney Cole, Heather Self, Michelle Muto, Dolorianne Morris, Amanda Crick and Sarah Geiger. I am blessed and honored to count you as friends. Thank you!!
Special thanks to Joelle Edouard-Seltzer and Juliya Bykova for helping with all the French and Russian translations in the books. I am so grateful for your help on this book!
My amazing publicist, KP Simmon. Every time I talk to you, you amaze me more. I’m so happy I found you. Be prepared for a tackle hug at Utop. Be Prepared!
My brilliant team of people who do amazing things I couldn’t even try: Tawdra Kandle, my editor; Kristina Circelli, my editor/proofreader; Elizabeth Sharp, my cover designer; and Julie Titus, my formatter. Thank you for polishing my book and helping it shine!
Your talent amazes me and I am thankful for all your hard work!!
My Street Team: you all are amazing! Thanks soo much for everything you do.
And finally, a big, sloppy, wet-kiss thank you to all my readers. I can’t do this without you, and if I could thank you all personally by name, I would. I am so grateful that you buy my books, recommend them to your friends, and write reviews for them so others can enjoy them too. I love you all to pieces! MUAH!
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS