rriage—literally. “I love you so damn much. I’m sorry for all the mistakes I’ve made. I never meant to hurt you, and I’m bound to make more mistakes. You know I’m not perfect.”
“I’m not perfect either,” I murmur.
“But we’re perfect together.” He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it. “We don’t make sense when we’re apart, Ava. It hurt my heart so fuckin’ bad, not having you in my life for those months. Not being able to talk to you. Look at you. Be with you in every way I can.”
His voice lowers with the last sentence, making my skin warm.
“Marry me. Be my wife. Let me take care of you, Princess. Make me the happiest man in the world and say yes.”
I can’t help but waver. We haven’t talked enough yet about our situation. There are so many things I still need to say. Things I want to ensure. I want him to promise he’ll put the baby first. And me first too. It can’t always be about himself anymore. There are other things to consider. Other people involved now. It’s not just about him.
It’s never going to be just about him again.
But I can’t resist this man. I love him. Deep down, he knows it.
He’s got me.
“Eli…”
“Just say yes.” He pauses. “Please.”
This is a man who never says please for anything.
Except for me.
“Yes,” I whisper.
The smile that curls his lips is blinding. Beautiful. He tugs on my hand as he rises up on his knees, his mouth finding mine in a sweet kiss. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove to you that I love you, Ava,” he murmurs against my lips. “And that I love my baby growing inside you, too. I’m going to do right by you and the baby. Just you watch.”
I believe him.
I do.
Thirty-Two
Eli
Ava wraps her arms around my neck, and I deepen the kiss for a moment before I pull away, so I can stare into her beautiful eyes. “We’re really going to do this?”
She nods slowly, shifting so she can trace my left eyebrow with her finger. “Yes. We are.”
“I can’t believe you’re pregnant,” I whisper, my gaze eating her up. This woman—she is my everything. I need to tell her that more often. I used to all the time, when we were younger and first falling in love.
She’s always been my everything.
“I can’t either.” She draws her finger down my nose. “You have freckles.”
“Barely.”
“They’re there, though.” She lightly draws her finger across the bridge of my nose. “They’re cute.”
I make a face. “When I was younger, they were worse.”
She leans in, dropping a kiss just below my left eye and on the side of my nose. “I wonder if our baby will have them.”
My heart floods with love for this woman and I wrap my arms around her tightly, pulling her in as close as I can get her, considering I’m on my damn knees and she’s sitting in my desk chair. “I want a blonde baby with green eyes.”
“I think that could happen,” she whispers. “Your eyes look extra green right now.”