"What does happen in six months?" I ask, hardly daring to hope.
"Nothing." He takes my hands in his. "Because I don't want an arrangement with an expiration date. I want a real marriage. With you. For as long as you'll have me."
Joy surges through me so intensely I can barely breathe. "Are you proposing? Again?"
"Better this time." He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small wooden box I've never seen before. Inside sits a ring even more beautiful than my engagement ring. A perfect match,designed to sit alongside it. "I had this made for today. A real wedding band for a real marriage."
I stare at him in wonder. "You knew? Even before today?"
"I knew what I wanted." He takes the ring from the box. "I just didn't know if you wanted the same thing. If you were ready to admit what's been growing between us is more than convenience or great sex."
"It's so much more." I slide my hand into his, letting him place the wedding band alongside the engagement ring. The fit is perfect. "I love you, Colt Reeves. I've been falling since you knelt on that coffee shop patio."
"So marry me." His eyes hold mine, vulnerable and hopeful. "For real this time. No contracts. No arrangements. Just us choosing each other."
I launch myself into his arms, nearly knocking us both to the floor. His laughter rumbles through his chest as he catches me, arms strong and secure around my waist.
"Is that a yes?" he murmurs against my hair.
"Yes." I pull back enough to see his face. "But we're going to need a new wedding venue. And I'm going to need a new dress. This one has dust all over it."
"We could elope." His hands trace up my back. "Just us. No audience. No pressure."
"My father might actually arrest you if we do that." I smile, remembering my father's unexpected support. "Besides, I think he's finally starting to like you."
"Miracles never cease." Colt stands, pulling me up with him. "So what now?"
I look around at my grandmother's house, seeing it with new eyes. Not just as an inheritance to claim, but as a home to build. "First, we clean up this place. Then we plan a real wedding."
"And then?" His arms tighten around me.
"And then we live happily ever after." I rise on tiptoes to kiss him. "Just like we're supposed to."
His mouth meets mine, the kiss sweet and sure. Everything that was tangled inside me unravels, replaced by certainty. This is right. This is real. This is where I belong.
What started as a business arrangement three weeks ago has transformed into the greatest love story I could have imagined. Not because it's perfect or easy, but because it's ours. Built on truth, and trust, and the courage to be vulnerable.
"I love you," I whisper against his lips.
His smile is everything. "I love you too, future Mrs. Reeves. For real this time."
For real, and forever.
EPILOGUE
COLT
FIVE MONTHS LATER
Five months. One hundred and fifty two days since Savannah ran out of that courthouse. Since she told me she actually loved me. And today, finally, I get to make her my wife for real.
I adjust my tie in the mirror of the chapel's back room, still not entirely comfortable in the formal suit Ridge insisted I buy rather than rent.
"You only get married once," he'd said with surprising sentimentality. "At least if you do it right."
A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts. Jax pokes his head in, grinning. "Almost time, little brother. You ready?"
"Been ready for months." I check my pocket for the twentieth time, ensuring the wedding band is still there. A simple platinum band I forged myself, matching the one I'll be wearing, and completing her 3-piece set. "How's it looking out there?"
