Page 21 of From Grumpy to Forever
Fuck.
“I guess there’s only one thing to do then.”
Avery spun around and stared at me. “Reid. I already told you?—”
“Marry me.”
* * *
Avery
“Marry you?”
There was no way he just said that. The stress must be getting to me because there was no way I heard him say that.
“Yes.” His face was serious. No trace of a smile. He wasn’t joking when he said it again. “Marry me.”
What. The. Actual…
My mouth opened and shut like a fish, but no words came out. I pressed my lips together, took a breath, and tried again. Still, there were no words.
There was once a time when I imagined my wedding proposal a million different times in a million different ways, and not once had this particular scenario come up.
Not even close.
“Avery.” Reid grabbed my hand; his touch somehow grounded me and brought me back into the moment. “You need a husband, and I…”
What did he need?
His eyes darted back and forth, before landing on mine once more. “I need the money,” he said after a moment.
“Money?”
I don’t know why, but the admission stung a little. Which was absolutely bonkers because it wasn’t as if this man, who I hardly knew and I didn’t even really think liked me, had actually proposed marriage for any other reason than personal gain.
“You want me to pay you to be my?—”
“No!” He squeezed my hand and reached for the other one. “It’s not like that. I need this job. That’s all. Nothing extra.”
It was hard to think with him sitting so close. And the touch of his hands on mine was doing all kinds of things to my insides. Things I had absolutely no business feeling. Especially now.
“Wait.” I pulled away and jumped to my feet. I needed space to think. Space away from his manly, warm scent that was obviously clouding my better judgment. “You’re not serious.” I turned around to face him and the expression on his face that didn’t give me any other indication. “Are you?”
Reid crossed one leg over the other and leaned back with his arms extended on the bench behind him as he nodded. “Very.”
“You want to marry me?”
“I want you to keep the inn.”
“Because you need a job.”
“And you need the inn.”
So many thoughts raced through my head. I needed a minute to make sense of them. “But a few days ago, you didn’t even want the job.”
“Things changed.”
“What things?”
