My stomach tightens as I scroll through the different pins she’s saved. “This feels wrong,” I tell Connelly. And it does, it feels like I’m getting a peek into all of her hopes and dreams she’s envisioned for a special day in her life that I’m not supposed to be a part of.
“How else are you supposed to know the type of ring she wants? If she didn’t want you to see, she’d have made the board private,” he assures me.
“Fine,” I grit out. The kid must be on to something because as I continue to scroll, the same type of ring is pictured in pin after pin. When the salesperson sits back down, I turn the phone to him and say, “I think she wants something like this.”
“Ah, she’s got lovely taste. Let me grab a selection and you can determine the carat and setting. Do you think she’d like white gold, yellow gold, rose gold, or platinum?”
My brows knit in confusion. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realize there were so many choices. What happened to just silver or gold?”
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll just grab a few of each and you choose what you like best,” the salesperson suggests.
When he’s out of earshot, Connelly leans closer and murmurs, “You’ve got that sick look about you again, Cap.” He claps my shoulder and chuckles. “Lighten up, you’re making me nervous for you. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like she’s gonna say no. You’re Bennett freaking Wilson.”
Why do those feel like famous last words?
Scarlett
I open the front door to find Bennett pacing the length of my front porch. When he looks up and notices me, he pauses his steps. His dark hair has a mussed-up look, different from his normal slicked-to-perfectionstyle, but if anything it’s only amplified his sex appeal. He’s wearing slim dark khaki pants that cling to his muscular thighs, crisp white tennis shoes, and a navy button-down with the sleeves rolled up, showcasing his delicious forearms.
Damn, he looks good.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear the doorbell. Have you been out here long?”
“What? No. I didn’t—I didn’t ring the doorbell.”
Ugh. He’s acting weird and it has everything to do with me opening my big mouth today. Why did I think he’d maybe get a small bout of amnesia and forget all about our conversation? So much for wishful thinking.
“Do you think we could talk for a moment before Gemma and Gunner notice I’m here?”
Confused by his request but knowing Gemma and Gunner are occupied doing a craft, I nod and shut the door behind me before stepping off the front porch and following Bennett to the back of the house.
“Where are you going?” I ask as I try to keep up with his quick pace. My bare feet feel cool against the grass as he disappears around the other side of the large willow tree in my backyard.
I stop short when I round the tree and find Bennett standing in the middle of a bed of white rose petals surrounded by a dozen or more vases lit up with flameless candles.
I’m unsure if it’s nerves, butterflies, or trepidation swimming in my stomach right now.
“Bennett, what—” I start but he cuts me off.
“I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t go about things the right way in your office,” he pauses and holds his hand out for me in invitation to join him just beneath the willow tree. I walk over to him, and when he takes my hands in his, I feel a slight tremor to his. This breathtakingman is shaking with nerves and I can’t for the life of me understand what the actual hell is going on right now.
Bennett takes a deep breath. “I know we’re only just getting to know each other, and I know this is probably the last thing you anticipated happening this year, but my gut is telling me we could make this work.” He pauses when I hold up my hand.
My brain finally catches up to what I’m seeing and hearing. “Let me stop you right there. I know whatIhave to do. But I can’t do this to you. I won’t trap you. A marriage between the two of us would not be mutually beneficial to both parties. I’d be the only one gaining anything from the arrangement. Besides, it’s not just me you’d be signing your life away for. I have to think of Gemma and Gunner. What would they think? They already know you. I mean, you’re giving Gemma guitar lessons for crying out loud—”
Before I can continue, Bennett shocks me silent once again when he drops to one knee and reaches into the pocket of his pants and pulls a small burgundy velvet box. He doesn’t open it, he just holds it in one hand, taking my left hand in his other.
“If you agree to this, I’m all in. Yes, we will have a contract marriage, but the only two people who would be aware of that would be the two of us. As far as you, Gemma, and Gunner are concerned, the three of you would be mine. And I would be yours in return. They will never know anything except that I chose them when I chose you. I’ll be there for them in every capacity that they need me and however makes you most comfortable. I haven’t gotten where I am today without giving my all when I set my mind on something. If you’ll have me, I’ll do everything I can to be the partner you deserve. We’ll be teammates in this arrangement. So what do you say, Little Red—will you take a gamble on me?”
I’m stunned speechless, staring down at this man before me on one knee as he opens the velvet box with his thumb, his hands are steady now as he holds the most beautiful diamond ring up to me and says, “Marry me, Scar.”
I swallow deeply past the lump forming in my throat. “That didn’t sound like a question.”
He half chuckles, half scoffs. “I’m not asking.”
“It sounded more like a command,” I tell him, narrowing my eyes.
“Nope. It’s a demand.”
