Finding Our Tomorrow (Imperfect Love #5)
CHAPTER ONE
JAX
Present Day
“What’s all this for?” I step into the condo I share with my longtime girlfriend, Willow, and find rose petals and candles scattered all over the place.
When I glance at our coffee table, two champagne flutes are sitting on top with a bucket of ice and a bottle of champagne next to it.
I was only gone for a couple hours, having a beer with my brother, Jase.
Willow steps forward, and her lips curl into a shy smile, a look I rarely see on her face.
My girlfriend isn’t shy by any means. With her midnight black hair that has different colors running through it—this month it’s blue, that same blue that matches her eyes—tattoos covering most of her arms, perky tits, and tanned, toned legs for days, she’s sexy as fuck.
And with her I don’t give a fuck attitude, she’s sassy as hell.
With her heart that beats outside of her chest, she’s giving and loving and selfless.
But she isn’t shy. So when she hits me with that rare smile, I know something is up.
“Today is our ten-year anniversary,” she tells me, her shy smile splitting into a wide grin.
I give her a shocked look. Not because I don’t know what today is, but because Willow Montgomery doesn’t celebrate anniversaries.
So the fact that she’s standing before me, suddenly celebrating our anniversary, definitely has my interest piqued.
“It is,” I agree. “An entire decade of getting to spend every day with you.”
Willow’s eyes fill with tears, and my thoughts jump to a worst-case scenario. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together. My girlfriend may live for today, but she knows I’m always going to be right by her side, living for today with her.
“Nothing is wrong,” she says, taking another step forward. “I’m just…I’m kind of nervous.”
Pulling her into my arms, I plant a kiss on her forehead.
She smells like the lotion she puts on every morning after she gets out of the shower.
Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana. It’s sweet and feminine and I could recognize the scent anywhere.
“You’re going to have to help me out here,” I murmur.
“You were just smiling and now you’re in tears. ”
Willow pulls back and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Jax, you are everything to me. You aren’t just my boyfriend, you’re my best friend, my other half.”
My heart pounds against my ribcage with every word she speaks. “I feel the same way.”
She pulls something out of the front pocket of her jeans. A ring… No, not a ring. Two rings. “I’m ready, Jax,” she says through her watery smile. “I’m ready to marry you. To spend the rest of my life as your wife. Jaxson Crawford, will you marry me?”
My gaze flits between Willow’s hope-filled eyes and the two rings she’s holding. The one I bought for her ten years ago, and a simple silver band that I’m assuming is meant for me. I want so badly to say yes, but before I do, I need to know one thing. “What’s changed your mind?”
Smiling, Willow places the rings on the coffee table and grabs a small, square black book. “This.”
She hands it to me, and I turn to the first page and then the second and then the third. Each page is filled with pictures of us, of our life, starting with the first night she took pity on me and took me out with her.