I took one step, and Valen blocked me, a wide grin on his face. I turned back to find the other three lined up, Kingston wearing the fancy Santa hat with the soft fur trim and silky red material. They were all dressed already, and it occurred to me that they were dressed very well.
Each of them had on dress pants and a tailor-made linen button shirt. They looked polished and full of anticipation.
“What’s going on here, you guys?” I asked with a nervous giggle.
Valen moved to stand next to the others, and Kingston stepped forward, presenting me with a smallish box wrapped in bright red brocade.
“Evie, this is for you from all of us. This is the only gift that matters right now. All the others can wait,” Kingston said, and every one of my Kings wore the same smile filled with anticipation and excitement.
“What did you guys do?” I asked carefully and took the box from him. I turned it over to try and get an idea of what it might be, and I had a feeling I knew. “Is this what I think it is?”
I laughed, turned it upright, and concentrated on carefully untying the silk ribbon that tied the lid onto the rest of it. I let the ribbon drop and removed the lid with a shaking hand.
Inside the box, nested on a bed of the softest red silk, was the prettiest ring with the biggest diamond I’d ever seen in real life in the center of the clasp.
I gasped, looked for my Kings, and found each one of them down on one knee in front of me.
“Evie, we all came to the same place in our lives this past year,” Kingston said. “I’ve been asked to speak for all of us, so believe me when I say this is coming from each and every one of our hearts. Will you marry us? However, we manage to find a way. Will you make our union official and accept us as your husbands?”
Tears prickled the backs of my eyes, but before I gave them an answer, I couldn’t help it.
I threw my head back, and I laughed.
CHAPTER8
Kingston cleared his throat,and each of them looked as confused as the next. They slowly rose to stand in front of me, looking down as I stopped laughing and handed Kingston the box with the ring in it.
They looked even more confused when I stepped around them and walked toward the tree, found the four small gifts I had put there when we’d arrived the night before, and turned around.
“I want you to open your presents, too,” I said. “This is the only one that matters.”
They were still confused as they tore the paper off and found a black velvet jewelry case in each one of their hands.
And then they caught on to what was happening.
“Is this?” Ryker started to ask but then stopped himself. He raised an eyebrow and started to chuckle.
They opened their matching boxes and found their matching rings. Each one was done in platinum with a single diamond inlaid in the band. I had gotten a special message engraved on the inside of each one.
Kingston’s read “My First Love.”
Ryker’s read “My Rebel.”
Archer’s read “My Trickster.”
Valen’s read “My Heart.”
Each message corresponded to their personalities, and each one of them smiled when they read it, knowing I had hit the nail on the head.
I sunk to one knee, looked up at the four of them, and started to speak.
“Will you marry me? I don’t know how we’ll work it out, but I want this forever. I can’t imagine my life with anyone else, and I can’t fathom how I could go without all of you there for me until my dying breath. I need each one of you, my loves, my support, my Kings.”
And it was their turn to laugh. They reached for me, pulling me up and into their arms. I was encircled by their solid, muscled bodies as we all laughed and let tears of joy fall down our cheeks. They helped me put my ring on my finger, I helped each of them, and we held our hands out together to admire them.
“Just like real life, you sparkle bigger and bolder than any of ours,” Valen said, noting the size difference in the diamonds.
“I hope you don’t expect something larger,” I said with a dramatic, exaggerated sigh. “I have four of them to buy. You guys are sharing the price on one ring. It’s not exactly fair.”