Epilogue
LEXI
I stand up from my desk and stretch my hands over my head. I walk around my small office looking at the pictures on the wall, the flowers on my desk that Ben replaces every week, and the couch in the corner that Ben and I have made good use of.
My phone vibrates on my desk, letting me know it’s about time for my appointment. I turn the alarm off and smile as I walk out of my office and down the hall. Alice waves at me from the front, and we trade conspiratory winks. “I’m closing up. Gunner and Chief have already left.”
My smile gets even bigger. Ben and I are going to have the whole place to ourselves. After watching her walk out and lock the door behind her, I knock on Ben’s closed door and push it open. “Hey, you.”
He turns and smiles at me with his arms already open. His hug is everything, and I melt against his body. He kisses the top of my head. “I have one more appointment.”
I smile against his chest. “I know. It’s me.”
He leans back to look at my face. “It’s you? What do you mean it’s you?”
I put my hands at his waist and look up at him. “I asked Alice to make me an appointment.”
His forehead creases, and he frowns. “Princess, you know you don’t ever have to make an appointment to see me. What is this about?”
I pull back from his arms. “Well, you’ve talked about giving me another tattoo, and the only reason I made the appointment is because I knew if you gave me a tattoo, it would lead to something else, and I didn’t want to freak out Gunner, Alice, or any of the other guys.”
He guffaws. “Please, like us having sex is going to freak them out?”
I roll my eyes. “Anyway! They’re all gone, so you can do with me what you will.”
He groans. “Oh, honey, you have no idea what you’re saying to me right now.” He wraps his big hands around mine and pulls me in. “Princess, first of all you know you don’t have to make an appointment with me. You just tell me what you want and we’ll make it happen.”
I nod in agreement, but he’s not done yet. “So you’ll let me put anything I want on you?”
I nod without hesitation.
He walks over to his table and pulls open a drawer. When he comes back to me, he’s holding something in his hand. He looks almost nervous when he stops in front of me. He reaches up and puts his finger to my chin. “You said anything.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Yes, anything. I trust you.”
He releases me and holds a small box in his hands. He opens it, showing me the contents, and my heart starts racing as I look at the beautiful diamond ring. My mouth drops. “Ben?”
He takes the ring out and holds it up to me. “I love you, Lexi. I got this ring the day after I told the club you were my ol’ lady, and I’ve carried it with me every day since. There is nothing that would make me happier than if you were my wife. I love you, princess. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
“Yes, Ben, yes!” I shout as I dive at him. He catches me with a laugh and hugs me tightly. I’ve never felt happier than I am in his arms. He pulls back and looks between the ring and me. “Do you want to put it on?”
“Yes,” I tell him, holding out my finger for him to put it on.
It’s a perfect fit, and we both stand here staring at my finger. “I love you, Ben.”
Before he can say anything, I’m pulling from his arms. “Okay, to mark the occasion, you definitely have to give me the tattoo now. Have you thought about what you want to do?”
He nods his head. “You trust me?”
I roll my eyes. “You know I do.”
“You want to pick where it goes?”
I shake my head. “Nope, this is your thing. Where do you want to put it?”
He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I roll my eyes. “The tattoo, Ben. Where do you want to put the tattoo? Later, you can put that”—I gesture with my eyes to his waist—“anywhere you want.”
He groans. “Lexi, you know I’m hard already, needing to be inside you.”
“And I want you there too, but I also want this tattoo, and if we don’t do it now… well….”
He nods. “Fine. Pants off.”
“Ben…”
He holds his hands up like he’s innocent or something. “What? It’s for the tattoo.”
I give him a sly look because I’m sure he’s just trying to get me naked, but he backs away from me, hands up. “Get naked, up on the bed, and lay on your back.”
I do as he asks, and when he walks toward me, I’m holding my hand up to look at my ring. “I love it, Ben.”
He sets his tray up next to me, and his eyes graze down my naked waist. His hand is on my hip, and he leans over to kiss my lips. “You sure you don’t want to talk about this tattoo?”
I shake my head. “Nope, I want it to be a surprise.”
He nods and stands up. “Okay.” He cleans the area, and when he starts working, he also starts to talk. “You probably should call Cruz and Tara tonight. They knew I was asking this weekend. I had planned to do it at dinner, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”
With his hands on me, it’s hard to think. “Okay, I will.”
The buzz of the needle has me laying my head back and closing my eyes. He works for a few minutes, and I can’t stop bringing my hand up and smiling at the ring on my finger.
“You happy, princess?” he asks me.
I look over at him. “I’ve never been happier. I’m glad you came to your senses, Ben Dalton.”
He hovers over me. “I still have work to do to be the man you deserve, but I’m working on it.”
“You’re exactly the man I want you to be,” I tell him with emotion, wanting him to believe me.
He leans down and kisses me, and before it gets too hot and heavy, he pulls back. “I’m almost done.”
He works for a while, and it feels like no time when he pulls back and starts to clean up. “I wanted to write Property of Boss, but I figured that would be a little much. This is almost as good.”
Excited, I take the mirror he’s holding out to me and look at my hip. There’s a crown and then in beautiful script the word Princess . “You’ll always be my princess, Lex.”
“Oh wow! I love it, and I love you. And yes, I’m yours, and I always will be.”
He blows out a frustrated breath. “I need to be inside you. I need to know you’re mine.”
I laugh and hold my hand up between us, showing him the ring on my finger. “I think this right here says I’m yours, Ben.”
He growls with possession as he looks at my finger. “Mine.”
I pull him by the shirt until he’s over me. “I love you, Ben Dalton.”
“I love you too, princess.”
I lift my chin at him with a challenge. “Show me.”
He laughs. “Oh, I’ll show you.”
And in this moment, I’m glad I made an appointment and we have the shop to ourselves because he spends the rest of the night showing me just how much he loves me, proving over and over that I’m his, and he’s mine.