Epilogue 2
Violet
My eyes sting with emotion as I scan the letter on the tablet. I can’t believe he’s done this. My chest is filled with affection, with love, and I know I haven’t said it to him yet, but I know it’s time.
I re-read the letter in silence.
Dear Ida,
There’s a girl I know. She’s been in my life for a while now, and she’s made me a better man just by being there for me when I least expected her to be. By giving me a chance to prove to her that I can make her happy. She’s beautiful, funny, her laugh is infectious, and it’s a sound I want to hear until I’m old and gray, and even when I take my last breath.
Today, I want to go down on one knee and ensure she realizes, she’s now stuck with me. I’ve told her once, but I need to assure her, she’s mine, or I risk losing her, and that’s not an option. She’s everything to me, the air in my lungs, the light in my life, and the star in my dark night. She’s saved me without knowing she did it.
I want to tell her I love her. I’ve loved her since the moment I laid my eyes on her, and no woman who walks by me will ever turn my head because Violet is everything I could ever want in a woman, in a partner, in a wife. And hopefully soon, a mother to my children.
So, I’d like to ask her for all the world to see, if she would do me the absolute pleasure of being my wife. I know there is a risk she’ll say no, but I’m taking that chance because hell, I’m a brazen man, no longer a bachelor, but most certainly owned by the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
In love in New York
When I finally look up, I find Colton on one knee holding a small velvet box which has a stunning cushion-cut diamond ring set on a gold band. The gemstone glints in the low lights from our ceiling.
“Colton.”
“What do you say, love?” he implores, hope sparkling in his sparkling eyes, and I blink the emotion away as it falls with joy. “No crying now.”
“They’re tears of happiness, Colton. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, sweetheart,” he affirms in that accent that’s stolen my heart and soul. “Will you marry me?”
“I’ll have to check my planner,” I tease with a giggle, which earns me an eye roll before he slips the ring on my finger.
I’ve taken the Brazen Bachelor off the market, and it feels good.
THE END