“Thanks.” She smiles at me and sighs. “Sorry, I interrupted.”
I debate a moment and look down at this woman… this woman was my world.
“I was told not to do this.” She frowns and opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. “But I’m not going to listen.” I pull her forward and rest my forehead against hers. “I know you’re it for me, Viv. You’re my beginning, my middle, and my end. I want to wake up to you every morning and go to sleep with you every night. I want to hold you on your sad days and lift you up on your happy ones.
“I want us to build a home together, build a family, and live the rest of our days out knowing we couldn’t possibly be more loved than we are in each moment together.”
I reach behind me and grab a roll of papers out of my back pocket. I hold them up for her and her brows scrunch in confusion. “Remember these?” I open them and hold them up. “This was a contract for us. One that stated we were fake dating, one that said you would pay me, but… I didn’t sign it.” I shake my head. “I never would have because from the second I had the chance to be with you, it was genuine for me.”
“For me too,” she whispers, and I nod my head.
“I knew that. I have wanted you for so long, but not like this.” I take the papers in both hands and rip them down the middle. The action makes her smile. “I propose a new contract.” I smirk at her confusion.
“Okay…”
I bend down to one knee and Viv’s eyes pop open comically, her hand slapping over her mouth. “No way!”
I smile, chuckling lightly, and reach into my pocket. I stare at the velvet box for a moment. “I bought this last week, not knowing if I was ever going to win you back but hoping with everything I had that I could. It’s not much, it’s less than you deserve, but I’m an impatient man and I don’t want to wait to ask you this for when I can afford something bigger.”
Tears stream down her face. “Archie.”
I smile as I open the box, showing it to her, and the hand covering her mouth moves to her eyes as she silently sobs. “Viviana Capello, I have a proposal for you. A marriage contract. In it, it will stipulate that you be my best friend again, that you will call me husband, and I will call you wife. That no matter what happens, good, bad, rain, or shine, you and I will be together until the very end. Will you sign it with me? Will you become my wife?”
Her head is bobbing, and she removes her hands from mine before sliding her arms around my neck, bending to hug me as she cries. I hold her tight, patiently waiting for her answer, though judging by the grip she’s got on me, I’m guessing I know what it is.
She pulls back and wipes at her face, smiling broadly at me. “I don’t want to wait to be your wife or your best friend again.”
I laugh and then say, “You don’t have to wait.” I gesture to the ring. “But do you want to say yes?”
“Yes! Oh my god, yes!” she yells like she just realized she didn’t say that yet and laughs at herself. I laugh with her, standing to my full height and sliding the ring over her left finger. We both stare down at it on her hand and I grin as the feeling of contentment and happiness fills my chest.
Not wanting to wait anymore, I grab her around the waist and lift her to me, my lips find hers, and I taste my woman again. I fucking missed the hell out of her.
We hear cheering and I reluctantly set her back to her feet. All around the gazebo are all our friends, cheering and whistling and clapping along with her entire family. I meet her mother’s eyes and note her tears.
I wouldn’t have asked for Viv’s hand without talking to Teresa, but she was more than ecstatic to give me her blessing.
“Archer.”
I turn to look at the woman who agreed to be my wife. She grins and says, “I don’t want to wait to marry you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t want to let another minute pass where you and I are apart. I don’t need a fancy wedding or a big cake, I just need you. I’ve known for a long time that I love you, so, let’s elope.”
I pick her up in my arms, kissing her through her laughter. When I pull back and look at her—look at my future—I know there’s nothing I want more.
Chapter Fifty-Four
“I didn’t know what life held for me, but as long as he was at the end of it, I would do anything I had to do to get there.” –Viviana
VIVIANA
So, as it turns out, you have to give the city time to process a marriage license before you can actually get married. But that barely slowed us down.
It is two days after Archer asked me to be his wife and I’m staring at my mother’s backyard, twinkle lights are strung around the yard and chairs are set up in rows, and there’s a gorgeous arbor set up at the end of the aisle.
My mother insisted that she throw us a wedding, and with the help of my family and our friends, they had pulled off the most gorgeous little setup.