“I wanted it to be perfect.”
I glance up from the ring and into his beautiful eyes, glad I can see them both again. Even banged up and bruised, he’s absolutely gorgeous, but more importantly, he’s mine. I have to help him get on one knee this time, and I can see it’s painful for him, but he insists. He wants to do this right.
“Alexis, I’m not rich—I don’t even think I have a job—and I’m a pain in the ass. I can’t promise you anything more than all of me, and I hope that’s enough. Will you marry me?”
“Do you like Alexis Barton or James Strauss better?”
“How about Countess Alexis der VanDerVander and her aloof boy toy?”
“So, is that a yes?”
“No. It’s a hell yes, pretty boy.”
I’m crying, but I’m also laughing for the first time in weeks when my phone rings and I see Dani’s name pop up.
“Hey.”
“Hey, is Jamie with you? Are you crying?”
“Yeah and yes, but it’s not sad tears. Why?”
“Cool, can you guys come down to Sam’s? The cops are here and they need some info from you both. I’m not here to fuck with cops. Ugh, please come down here and get this sorted so Sam can get back to work and stop being a pain in my ass.”
“Yeah, okay. We’ll head there now.”
CHAPTER35
TAKE MY BREATH AWAY
??? EZI
Their timing couldn’t have been worse.Just as I thought I was getting her back again, she’s hiding in her bunker once more. She’s so fragile now, not the playful, wild woman I know. I take her hand and hold it, even though it’s a little awkward to reach over. I’ll deal with awkward so long as it means I get to feel her. It doesn’t matter to me who she is now because I still love her. People change, but no matter how much she changes, I will never give up on her.
I park behind Sam’s building and they’re both there waiting for us, but I don’t see any police around. Dani hugs Lexi when we get out and Sam comes over to me.
“How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, come on. I’ve got them waiting for us at the coffee shop, so they stop freaking everybody out at the office.”
As we walk, I tell Sam about the PIs and some of what they found. I keep it general because as much as I appreciate everything he’s doing for Lexi and me, some things just aren’t his to know. By the looks of it, the line for the coffee shop is out the door. Lexi won’t handle a crowd well right now, but she hasn’t noticed yet since Dani has been talking almost non-stop. I reach over and take Lexi’s hand, and just as I do, Sam steps in front of us.
“Before we go in, I want to talk to you both real quick.”
“I’ll meet you inside,” Dani says before taking off.
“Guys, I know you’ve been through a lot and I don’t expect answers today, this week, or any time before you’re ready to make these kinds of decisions.” Lexi squeezes my hand as Sam looks at her first. “Lex, I want to take the office remote and I need your help to do that. I’m thinking maybe hybrid at first and then transition everyone to fully remote. I’ll still keep an office setup and have desks for any time we need to meet in person, but I want you and everyone else to have a little more freedom—including myself.”
“Uhm, okay, sure.”
“Great. James, how would you feel about a full-time job?” He checks the time before I can answer. “Shit, let me tell you about it inside. We should get going.”
“You’d like remote work,” I say softly to Lex as we walk. She nods, still staring her feet instead of looking ahead. “We can talk about where you want your office later. You can have any room in the house. I’ll paint you a beautiful mural. How does a cherry blossom tree sound?”
“What if…no that’s stupid.”
“What?”
