I slip off my jacket and lay it out on the grass. Then, I gently lay Evie down on it.
Oakley squeals when my tight grip finds her hips. I lift my woman, placing her between my legs so I can wrap my arms around her.
She sighs and leans into me, and I imagine her eyes are closed, just as mine are.
After a few minutes, she says, “I like chocolate cake better than this vanilla crap,” making me chuckle.
“I know you do.” I kiss her temple and playfully nip at her ear, making her laugh.
“Then, you know I want chocolate cake at our party.”
I bury my nose in her hair, letting her scent infuse every inch of me. “What party is that, baby?”
She hesitates a moment. “You know … our reception party. After our wedding.”
Every muscle in my body locks.
Never have we talked about this. Not fucking once has either of us dared to mention marriage after everything. I’ve thought it a thousand times. I would damn near kill to claim her in the last way possible by uniting us completely. All three of us. But I never thought she’d want my name after I gave it to someone else who hadn’t earned it.
Our wedding.
Me and her.
She said it.
To marry Oakley would … I have no words.
“Baby …” I think makes it past my lips, my arms dropping like dead weight to the grass.
She spins slowly, sitting on her knees in front of me. My beautiful girl smiles softly, a hint of bashfulness brightening up her cheeks, something I haven’t seen from her before but damn sure want to see again.
“We had a rough start, did everything wrong in the beginning. I used to wish it away but not anymore.” She shifts, her chin lifting higher, her confidence now shining bright in her blue eyes. “We’re stronger now, unbreakable if you ask me.”
Harsh breaths are forced past my ribs as my eyes shift between hers.
“From the beginning, you told me to be bold, to be brave, and to take what I wanted.”
“What are you saying to me, princess?” I whisper.
Her hands find my shoulders and slowly glide up my neck, her fingers sliding in my hair.
“I want what’s mine, Alec,” she fucking purrs against my lips, her eyes hitting mine hard and with more resolve than I can handle.
She’s never been surer. I feel it in the way she’s staring.
Every inch of me belongs to her, and she damn well knows it, but there’s still one last thing I can give her that she doesn’t already have.
And my baby wants it.
Her eyes drop, and mine follow, finding my fingertips digging into the soft skin of her thigh. Her hand comes down to tease across it, and a husky chuckle leaves her when mine twitches.
“Baby …”
She’s slow to look at me, but when she does, there’s nothing but pure devotion and need shining back.
“You want my name?”
Her hands move to rest on my chest, her palm spreading across my heart so that she can feel how hard it’s beating for her. She seals her lips with mine, kissing me slow and pulling away too fast.
“I want your all, Alec.”
I groan and lean in, but she tugs back with a grin.
“And I don’t wanna wait either.”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
“That’s exactly what I told them you’d say,” she whispers. Then, she jumps off me before I can stop her, giggling as she walks backward toward the building. “Grab our daughter, Mr. Daniels. Our families are waiting.”
My brows pull in, and I look from my baby girl to her mama. “Waiting?”
“Bags are packed, cars are loaded, and all our rooms are booked.” She smiles big, bright, and damn blinding. “We’re heading to Vegas. And you’re marrying me tonight.”
And then she’s gone, and I’m stuck like stone, staring at nothing.
Tonight. My girl will be my wife … tonight. I’ve never felt the power behind the title, but thinking of Oakley holding the crown is enough to undo me.
My fucking wife.
Evie’s cry pulls me out of it, and I hop to my feet, swooping her up quickly and kissing her chubby cheek.
“Guess what, baby girl?” I lift her in the air, and she smiles down at me, her little hands in her mouth. “You’ll be the only princess now.” I pull her in, shaking my head as I grab my jacket off the ground and rush for the building. “Daddy’s finally crowning his queen.”