Epilogue
Roxanne
There are moments in life that announce themselves as important. You can feel them before they happen. A strange awareness settling beneath your skin.
Tonight feels like one of those moments, and I just don't know why yet.
The restaurant itself isn't unfamiliar. Asher rented out an entire private rooftop dining space overlooking Manhattan, which isn't exactly unusual behavior for him anymore.
The first few times he did things like this, I was suspicious. Now I've accepted that Asher Sterling's love language apparently involves grand gestures, excessive planning, and spending alarming amounts of money on experiences he claims are ‘perfectly reasonable.’
His definition of reasonable remains questionable.
The rooftop glows beneath soft golden lights. Fresh flowers line the edges of the terrace. While the city sparkles beyond us.
I rest a hand over my stomach automatically, a smile tugging at my mouth.
I'm six months pregnant now. The baby has become increasingly determined to remind me of its existence at random moments throughout the day.
Especially whenever Asher is nearby. Which feels suspicious. This baby clearly loves its father more already.
“You're smiling.”
I glance up at his voice. Asher sits across from me. The sight of him still affects me months later. After being together all this time, he still has the ability to make my heart behave irrationally.
“Maybe I'm happy,” I tell him.
His eyes soften immediately.
God! That look.
It gets me every time. I’m beginning to wonder if that’s the reason he keeps doing that. He has to know the kind of effect he has on me.
Dinner passes easily. Our conversation flows effortlessly. We talk about the baby, Felix, my new friends Maya and Eleni, Alex, who keeps gushing about married life, and Lucien, whom Asher surprisingly can’t seem to agree with.
Somewhere during dessert, I notice Asher becoming quieter. I frown, wondering why he’s suddenly acting so nervous.
He doesn't get nervous. The last time he looked visibly nervous like this was at Maya’s wedding when he asked me to be his girlfriend.
His gaze keeps drifting toward me, from me to basically anything around us.
A slow smile appears on my face. “Asher, you’re acting strange. You've adjusted your watch three times in the last five minutes.”
His gaze immediately drops to the watch, then he lets out a chuckle.
“You're way too perceptive.”
I shrug. “I have to know my own man.”
The warmth in his eyes deepens. He takes in a deep breath as he wears his serious expression.
I tilt my head to the side, watching him intently. Asher stands up, and I blink.
“Where are you going?”
Instead of answering, he walks around the table. My heart begins beating faster as he stops beside me. He then lowers himself onto one knee.
Every part of my body stiffens as I watch him with my mouth hanging open.
“Asher.”
My eyes are focused on nothing but him. He takes out a small velvet box from his suit jacket as my eyes gradually fill with tears.
He smiles softly, reaching up to dab at my tears. “I had a speech.”
“So what happened to it?” I sniffle.
His smile grows. “You started crying.”
A helpless laugh escapes me. The tears are falling even faster now, and I can’t seem to stop them. Asher laughs.
“I spent a very long time getting things wrong,” he begins. His gaze doesn’t leave mine as he talks. “I misunderstood you. I hurt you, and I almost lost you.”
That last sentence seems to take a little more out of him because his voice gets husky.
Thinking back to that incident, too, makes me emotional. I’m just glad everything is settled now, and they’ve all been punished, including Tristan.
“And somehow, despite all of that, you chose to stay.” His eyes grow even softer. “You're my best friend and the love of my life. You gave me a family when I didn't even realize that's what I wanted.”
His eyes briefly drop to my stomach, then return to mine.
“I love you, Roxanne.”
I grin. The words still make me weak, even though I’ve heard them hundreds of times already.
“I'll spend the rest of my life proving it if you'll let me.”
My vision blurs completely. “Asher.”
His thumb strokes gently across my hand. Then he opens the box. The diamond ring catches the light.
“Marry me, Roxanne.”
The world seems to hold its breath in that moment. It’s like everyone stopped for us to have this.
For years, I wanted this man, hated him, and also loved him until I found him again.
Now he's here. Looking at me like I'm the most important thing in his world. And I know I am. Just like he's become the most important thing in mine.
The answer is the easiest decision I've ever made.
“Yes. I’ll marry you.”
His eyes close briefly, and his shoulders relax visibly. He slides the ring onto my finger and pulls me into his arms.
He slams his lips over one, kissing me fervently as he slides his hand over my body and another over my belly.
“I love you,” he murmurs against my lips.
I wrap my arms around his neck. “I love you too.”
I give in to his kisses as I begin to look forward to the future ahead of us. We have an entire lifetime together. All I can do is look forward to it.
I know with utmost certainty that wherever life takes us, Asher Sterling is my home, and I am his.
THE END