18. Eaton
The pain in her eyes guts me. I wish there had been a way for me to spare her the hurt and not expose everything Daniel did to her, but it was unavoidable. Now, I just need to convince her I’m not him and that I’d never do the selfish things he did.
“I still don’t know if I can trust you,” she says.
“I wouldn’t expect you to. All I’m asking for is the chance to prove myself to you.”
She stares at me for a long while, the cogs in her head turning. “I’ll give you another chance, but I’m not moving back in. We can date like normal people and get to know each other better.”
I bite my lip, surely looking sheepish as fuck. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I realize there’s no time to stop what I already put in motion.
She pinches the bridge of her nose. “You already moved me back in, didn’t you?”
“Before you lose your mind, let me tell you the rest.” I hold up my hands in defense and she just waves for me to continue. “I know you didn’t want me involved with your company, so while I was on the phone with my porn producer customer, I told him about I Can’t Believe It’s Not Jizz, and he’s seriously interested. Not only to purchase your product for his films but also to invest. I scheduled a meeting with him next week.”
“Are you serious?”
“It’s up to you if you take the meeting or not, I just facilitated.” I hand her his card.
She stares at it for a long while before replying. “Thank you for this.”
“I’d do anything for you, Jenny. Anything at all.”
“Baby Cakes.”
“What about it?”
“I like it when you call me Baby Cakes or Baby. Not Jenny.”
I grin. “I’d do anything for you, Baby Cakes.”
“I really hate it when you make decisions for me. If this is going to work, we have to be partners. No more steamrolling.”
I hold up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Were you a scout?”
“No,” I say, and she rolls her eyes. “But the sentiment is there.”
“I was really sad when I thought you changed your mind about me.”
Not willing to wait to touch her for one more second, I pull her onto my lap and wrap my arms around her, relishing how perfectly we fit together. Her arms go around my neck, and she rests her forehead on mine. Fuck, I missed this. Not knowing if I’d ever have it again was a hell I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.
“I love you,” I say. Her lips part, and I cover her mouth before she lets out the rejection I know is coming. “I know you’re not ready to say it again, and that’s okay. I can love us enough for the both of us until you catch up.”
“I care about you a lot. I didn’t even know how much until I lost you.”
“You never lost me. Not for a second.”
With our eyes closed, foreheads touching, and breaths shared, we take a moment to let everything soak in. A lot has happened in a half hour, and it’ll be some time before things settle down. Jenny has her big meeting where I’m certain she’ll walk away with an investor and a mentor to get her through the door to many more opportunities. I have a lot of making up to do in order to prove I’m worthy of her love, and that’s a job I take very seriously. We also have a lot more to learn about each other, which I’m sure will lead to a few fights, but I’m certain the make-up sex will be out of this world.
“What now?” she asks.
“We start the first day of the rest of our lives together. I’ll help you finish up here, then we’ll go home where I’ll make love to my fiancée.”
“Fiancée, huh? Funny, I don’t remember saying yes or receiving a ring.”
“The yes part is coming, but are you sure about the ring?”
She holds up her hand, noticing the two-carat diamond solitaire ring in a bezel setting in twenty-four karat gold. Below that is an eternity band with milky white stones, also in a bezel setting. Gasping, she brings her hand closer to inspect.
“How in the hell did you?—”
“Didn’t want to give you the chance to say no.”
“I still can say no.”
“Yeah, but you don’t want to now that you’ve seen the ring. I know it’s not customary to present the wedding band with the engagement ring, but it was too special to wait.”
“What are these stones?” she asks, not taking the rings off, which I take as a good sign. It was presumptuous, but when it comes to Jenny, it’s the only way I know how to be.
I grin. “My jizz.”
Her eyes widen. “Really?”
“Yep. The idea came to me while I was lying awake one night, plotting how to get you back. I found a jeweler and put in a rush order.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“I swore to myself that I’d never jump into anything ever again. That my next relationship would go painfully slow.”
“Baby—”
She holds up a finger. “But this isn’t a new relationship, so I don’t think it counts.”
“And even though you’re an overbearing asshole, you’re my overbearing asshole, and the thought of someone else benefitting from all the goodness in your heart makes me feral. So yes, Eaton Beavers, I’ll marry you.” She lets an oomph as I tackle her to the ground, covering her body with mine as I plant kisses all over her face and neck. “But on the condition that we have a very long engagement.”
I don’t agree or disagree so that when she shows up to her own wedding next month, she can’t say I lied to her. It’s going to be beautiful, and she’ll love it. . . after what I’m sure will be an epic meltdown about how I never listen and how heavy-handed I am. But after that, she’ll walk down the aisle in the most beautiful frilly dress I can find before promising to God and everyone that she’s mine forever.
I can’t wait.