Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Margot
There is something tranquil about standing just where I am with my eyes tightly closed. The scent of gently blooming jasmine rises to my nose. Birds chirp from the perfectly manicured greenery all around me.
I exhale slowly, my hands still trembling. Opening my eyes, I take in the beauty of the romantic gardens with the soft pink wild roses growing up and around the natural wood gazebo.
I’m so nervous that I can’t think straight. What if Stellan never saw my letter? Worse, what if he did and still doesn’t show up?
This whole idea was really romantic in my head, but now… standing here in the same outfit I was wearing when we met, sweating through my clothes…
It seems destined to fail. Biting at my thumbnail, I pace the gazebo. Eight steps one way, eight steps the other.
This plan was not well thought through.
I hear a rustle and whirl around. The rose garden just beyond the gazebo is still. The tree lined path leading away is long, empty, and all but silent.
I check the time on my phone. 3:15.
God, Stellan isn’t coming. I signed myself up for waiting all night for him… but I am as sure that he’s not coming now than I have been about anything in my whole entire life.
I head to the steps, sitting down and burying my face in my hands. I suck in a shaky breath.
“What are you doing on the ground, skatter?”
My heart pounds. I look up and my eyes widen. Stellan strolls down the path, looking as dapper as he’s ever looked in a tuxedo and a crisp white shirt.
One of my hands clutches my chest over my heart. “You came,” I whisper.
He covers the last few steps, stopping right in front of me. “I saw your letter. You asked me to meet you. How could I say no to you?”
His eyes sparkle with humor. I’m still petrified. I make a promise to myself that I wouldn’t cry.
Instead, I climb to my feet, looking up at him. “I should’ve written a speech. I didn’t get past the point of you showing up.”
He smirks. “I think we’ll manage.”
Reaching out a hand, he gently touches my shoulder. I don’t know what comes over me, but I jump onto him, climbing his big body like a tree.
Stellan chuckles, the reverberations vibrating his chest. “I guess it wouldn’t be real if you didn’t make it awkward, would it?”
He slides his hand along my cheek and cups the back of my head, lowering his mouth to mine.
I make a soft sound as his lips touch mine; he tastes sweet and clean, like fresh mint.
When his mouth opens and his tongue touches mine, sweeping the inside of my mouth, I put my arms around his neck and plow my hands into the back of his hair.
I’ve missed this so badly.
He groans against my mouth. “I’ve missed your scent.”
My lips curve upwards. “Is that all?”
He pulls back, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. “No,” he says quietly. “I’ve missed everything about you. Your smile. Your sense of humor. Your moral outrage. My body craves yours, skatter.”
I’m left breathless and wide eyed at his openness, his vulnerability in this moment. His ice blue eyes are so earnest that it almost makes me cry.
“Stellan…” I whisper, my voice breaking. “I love you so fucking much.”
He presses his lips to mine with such passion and intensity that I feel stunned. “I love you too, Margot. I know that my life is complicated, but I don’t think I can go on without you.”
I draw in a breath that turns into a hiccup. “I meant what I wrote to you. If you need me to, I’ll move heaven and earth to be yours.”
He exhales a shaky breath. “I think you know what I have to do, right?”
I arch a brow. “What?”
Pushing me back a step with gentle hands, he clears his throat and digs in his pocket. Then he kneels down on one knee. My hands fly up to my mouth.
He pauses for a second, lowering his dark head. When Stellan looks up at me, he gives me a tense smile.
“Fuck, I’m so nervous,” he admits.
My eyes well up at that. I brush my hand against his shoulder. “Don’t be.”
He bites his lip and holds up his offering, a small dark blue velvet box. When he cracks it open, a dazzling diamond and sapphire ring sits cushioned there.
Oh god. Is this really happening?
Stellan reaches for my hand. “Margot Keane. You are the most challenging, most wonderful, most amazing woman I’ve ever met. When I think of the future, the only one I can see clearly is one with you by my side. Will you please do me the enormous honor of being my wife?”
My heart beat drums its rhythm in my ears. I dash away tears from my eyes, nodding. “I will.”
His expression is glorious. He beams as he pries the ring from the box. Setting the box aside, he takes my hand and slides the ring onto my finger.
I reach down for him as he stands up. He kisses me and slips his arms around me, lifting me up in his arms. He’s marking me for the whole world to see: I’m his now.
His, and his alone, until the end of time.
I finally pull away with a giggle. “Is this real?” I wonder. “I feel like I’m high on something.”
He sets me on my feet, grinning. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
My cheeks hurt from how hard I grin. I definitely look like a lunatic but I don’t care. I glance at my hand and the ring takes my breath away again.
“Who do we tell first?” I wonder aloud.
He scrunches up his face. “My parents already know that I was planning to propose. They encouraged it, actually.”
A hand flies up to cover my heart. “They did?”
He nods. “Ja. And Erik told me to quit being so stubborn and call you.” He squints. “Everyone in my circle is very pro-Margot, it seems.”
I smile at that, but I suck in a breath. “Everyone but your grandmother.”
Stellan shrugs. “When she finds out that I have proposed to you and you said yes, she will change her mind. She wants the best for me. And you are what’s best for me, skatter.”
I grin. “Yeah?”
He pulls me against his hard body, smirking. “Ja.”
I put my arms around his neck and press my lips to his again, inhaling that clean masculine scent that is purely him. When he finally pulls away, he takes me by the hand.
“Are you ready to be my princess now? Because the second we leave this spot, the press will be all over us. The Gardens kept them outside just because I asked but you know they’ll be waiting just past the gates. They’ll have a million questions and generally be pretty invasive.”
I smile up at him. “As long as you’re by my side, I can face them. I can face anything.”
He twines his fingers with mine, kissing my hand. “Okay. I promise not to leave your side. You have my word on that, skatter.”
I blush. “I love you, Stellan.”
He gives me a wicked grin. “I love you too. Just wait until we get back to the palace, where I can show you just how much…”
My heartbeat thrums. “I can’t wait.”
Stellan winks at me, leading me out of the gazebo and down the tree lined path toward our future.