She sniffles and swipes at the tears staining her cheeks. Since the other night, she hasn’t stopped crying and it’s breaking my fucking heart.
“I’m sorry,” is all she manages to choke out.
That’s it! I can’t take this anymore and pull over into a random car park. If she misses her flight, then too damn bad.
“Ben, what are you doing?”
She doesn’t get an explanation as I navigate to an empty space. When we’re parked, I turn to face her. Her blue eyes are bloodshot from crying and the tip of her nose is red. I reach across and grab her, hauling her awkwardly over the console. My lips crash into hers in a hard, searing kiss. She squirms against me, but I’m determined. I soften the kiss, swallowing her protests, hoping she’ll just give in to me and be honest.
She works her hands in between us and pushes herself away, breaking the kiss.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She screeches.
“Reminding you of how much I love you,” I answer.
“No, you’re forcing me to do something I don’t want to do.”
“You mean be honest? You don’t want to be honest with me?”
“Of course I do!” She sags against the seat.
“Milly, whatever you’re holding onto, just tell me and let me deal with it.”
“Fine. Alistair dropped by the other day. He told me I needed to convince you to agree with his expansion plan. And if I didn’t, he would ruin your businesses.”
“And you think that’s what we should do? Let Alistair manipulate me into making bad business decisions?”
She shrugs and looks away. “I don’t want you to lose something you’ve worked hard to create.”
“The only thing I’m afraid of losing isyouMilly. You mean more to me than anything else in this world.” I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out the red velvet ring box. “It’s not my Nan’s; in fact, it didn’t belong to anyone in my family. But I don’t want you to go back home without this.”
I lift the lid and show her the ring I found at a jeweler that specializes in vintage, estate pieces.
Milly’s eyes widen and she covers her mouth. “That thing is fucking huge!”
A laugh escapes my lips. “It’s three carats,” I tell her, plucking the ring from the box and holding it out to her. “There is only one thing worth having in this life and it’s love. If I don’t have your love, then I have nothing.”
I reach for her hand and slip the ring over her finger. It’s a perfect fit and looks stunning on her hand.
“What do you say?” She’s been silent for a long time and it’s honestly scaring me a bit.
She holds her hand out in front of her but her expression is still grim. “Of course you have my love, Ben. Forever.”
She has a look on her face like she’s going to say something else so I cover her hand. “That’s all I need to hear, Milly. Don’t say anything else. We’ll figure out the rest together.”
“Okay,” she says with a weak smile.
We leave the car park and make it to Heathrow with time to spare. “Why are you parking here? You can’t come to the gate with me,” she says when she notices we’re in a short-term lot.
“Yes, I can,” I say as I push open the car door. I round the back of the Range Rover to the boot and open it. I begin pulling Milly’s bags out and set them on the pavement before I reach for mine. When the boot is empty, I slam it shut. Milly is standing next to the car with a shocked, but expectant look on her face. “I bought a ticket. Oh, and I upgraded us to First Class.”
Milly
Ishould have known Ben would do something like this. I’m not going to complain though because First Class is fucking awesome.
“Okay, maybe having a rich boyfriend has its perks,” I whisper to Ben.
“Fiancé. I’m not your boyfriend anymore,” he says dryly.
