Chapter 26
SEBASTIAN
“ M arry me,” I whisper, and her eyes pop open.
“What?” she screeches.
I chuckle, peeking out of one eye. “You heard me.”
“I was just naked in the shower!”
“Are you aggravated I’m not on one knee? Because —” I stop talking, jump out of bed, and begin to lower myself onto a knee, but Isabella grabs onto me.
“No, I don’t care about that. I always thought that was a weird tradition anyway.”
“Well, historically, it’s a sign of respect and submission.”
She snorts. “Submission? You? That’s not a word I’d use to describe your personality, Sebastian.”
“Being submissive isn’t a bad trait, Isabella. It also means that I fully trust you, and I know you have my best interests at heart. Submissive in the bedroom, now, that’s a different story. Are you going to answer my question?”
“You didn’t ask a question. That was a statement. You basically stated a fact.”
I shrug. “I mean, you’re not totally wrong. We’re getting married. I figured you’d like to be in on the planning of it, though. ”
“This is so surreal. We were just in a long shower. I’m shriveled up like a prune.”
I pull her into my embrace, my mouth millimeters from hers.
“I didn’t ask a question because it’s not a question.
It’s a fact. We are in love. We don’t want to spend a moment away from each other.
We want to parent our daughter, and maybe have some more rugrats down the road.
I didn’t ask because I know your heart, Naranja .
I know that when we’re together, our heartbeats sync up.
Half the time I know what you’re going to say before you say it, and you respond to me before I’ve even spoken a word.
I can’t imagine a day when I don’t get to fall asleep with you in my arms, or a time where you don’t bring me peace just by being in the same room with me.
You’re mine, and I’m yours. I want your last name to be the same as mine and Camila’s, and a giant ring on your finger so that no man thinks for a second that he can shoot his shot.
Please, baby. Put me out of my misery and say yes. ”
“You didn’t ask me a question,” she whispers, a sheen of tears making her eyes glassy.
I laugh quietly as I kneel on the bedroom floor. “My love, my sky, my queen. You’re my other half, and I will spend all of eternity cherishing you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” Isabella breathes, dropping to the floor beside me and throwing her arms over my shoulders.
I grunt as the movement jars my balance, and we topple over.
I make no effort to move, so I take the opportunity to memorize every detail of her face.
The tiny gold nose ring she got around her twenty-fifth birthday that her parents absolutely hate.
The chocolate brown eyes that sparkle more now than they ever have, like she’s finally living the life she never thought was possible.
Her pert nose that scrunches up, usually in disgust, when she tastes a sweet treat that isn’t up to her standards.
And her beautiful smile that is a balm to my soul, especially when it’s directed at me .
“I’m sorry I don’t have a ring yet,” I confess, swiping at the hair dangling in front of her face.
She waves a hand indifferently. “I don’t care about that. I rarely wear jewelry, and I’m not going to proudly show off a ring.”
“What?” I say, and I know I have a dejected look on my face. “Why?”
Isabella giggles. “I mean that it won’t be the first thing I tell people about our engagement.
I’ll tell people about what you said. How you made me feel.
A ring is wonderful, and I have no doubt you’ll pick out something beautiful and way too big, but what you think is so much more important than that. ”
A smile breaks across my face. “So you’re saying I can still buy you a massive ring?”
She snorts as she shakes her head. “Can we settle on something adequate?”
I scoff. “No wife of mine will wear an adequate ring, Isabella.”
“How many wives are you planning to have?” She asks, teasingly.
I look at her adoringly as I slide a hand to the back of her neck. “Only you, mi amor .”
She pulls my head down to hers, and I take her lips in a searing kiss, hopefully pouring my love and devotion into her soul.
Isabella breaks off the kiss with a gasp. “But I can’t wear a diamond while at work!”
I frown. I never thought about that.
Shit. Her work. I guess now is as good of a time as any. “There’s something we need to discuss about your work, mi Reina .”
Her eyes darken almost imperceptibly. “If you’re about to say that I don’t need to work anymore because I’m marrying you —”
I interrupt her. “Oh, no. Not that. If you want to work, I wholeheartedly support that. But there is something about your bakery you need to know, and I really hope you don’t get too mad about it.”
“I already forgave you about the MC order, Sebastian. I know you were just trying to support me.” She pauses, then her eyes widen. “SGI. You own my bakery?”
“I do. Well, I did.”
She’s silent for a long moment, and I can almost see the wheels turning in her mind. “But you’ve owned it for as long as I’ve worked there! Even before I took over the lease!”
I nod. “I bought it around the time you started your apprenticeship. I intended to sell it to you, but it never seemed right. It wasn’t a way to get an ‘in’ with you,” I use air quotes, “but a way for me to support your dreams.”
“You’ve raised the rent every year,” she comments. “I’m paying a similar amount to all the other tenants on the block. Do you own all of them too?”
“No, just yours. I’ve kept the amount on par with everyone else. The week after I had you move in with me, I added your name to the deed. It’s yours, Isabella. Ours.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “What?”
I nod solemnly. “If you want my name off the deed, say the word. It can be yours outright.”
She shakes her head. “No. I want us both on there. Except for one minor thing …”
“What?”
She gives me a beautiful smile. “I’d like it to reflect my new last name.”
There’s something so homey and peaceful about a motorcycle ride with my woman wrapped around me. My fiancée. The love of my life .
Isabella tucks her hands under my jacket, her hands sliding up and down my abs. It’s not sexual in nature. It’s a comfort. A natural connection between us. Each day, Isabella becomes more comfortable in how she expresses herself with me. It’s about intimacy and familiarity.
It boggles my mind how any man in Isabella’s past fumbled her so badly. She’s a diamond in the rough, and she’s been waiting for someone to come along who sees her exactly as she is. Those men were dumb to leave her, but I’m not mad that they did.
As we slowly head down the driveway for both my house and the Clubhouse, I see Trace wave from the doorway with a quick nod of his head.
He was incredibly worried about Isabella, and admitted in a text last night that he views her like a little sister.
He also knows how much she means to me, and if anything happened to her, he’d be the one who would be tasked with helping me function.
“Do you think she’ll be okay with this?” Isabella asks from behind me. I can hear the worry in her voice, and almost see her chewing on the inside of her cheek as she waits for my response.
“I know she will, sweetheart. She loves you. My parents do too. They will welcome you with open arms.” I smile as I think about my grandmother, and assume she’ll undoubtedly shower Isabella with all kinds of “gifts,” that will all be tied to fertility in one way or another.
As we turn the final corner, our house comes into view. As expected, my grandmother, parents, and Camila all stand at the front door with wide grins. I may have let slip in another text that I’d asked Isabella to marry me.
As soon as I turn off the engine, Camila runs to us. I turn to catch her, then look on in surprise as she dances around me to get to Isabella. She squeals in delight as Isabella scoops her up while still sitting on my Harley. Quickly pulling out my phone, I snap a picture .
My world, all wrapped up in one perfect image.
Wrapping my arms around both of my girls, I kiss each on the temple. “ Naranja , is it okay if we tell her now?”
“Tell me what?” Camila asks.
Isabella’s eyes meet mine as she nods. “Can I tell her?”
“Of course,” I answer, my smile so big my cheeks hurt.
Camila looks between the two of us as Isabella says, “Your dad asked me to marry him.”
“Daddy,” Camila whisper-shouts, looking at me with a grin, “I get a Mommy now! Is it okay for me to call you that now, Isabella? I think you’ll make a good Mommy. Don’t you, Daddy?”
I set one hand on Camila’s back, as I wipe the tears clinging to Isabella’s lashes with the other. “I agree, Mija . She’ll make an excellent Mommy.”
“Can I have another present?” Camila asks.
“The last time you asked, I got suckered into a kitten,” I respond, deadpan.
Camila giggles. “I love Oreo. And Butterscotch. But I want something else.”
“What do you want, baby?” Isabella asks softly.
Camila turns her beautiful blue eyes toward Isabella, and the love emanating from them steals my breath. “I want a baby brother.”
Isabella inhales sharply before stammering, “Oh. Well, we don’t get to pick boy or girl for a baby.”
Camila harrumphs. “I guess I’ll be fine with a baby sister.”
“ Mija , babies take some time, so you’ll need to be patient,” I tell her. “It may be a few years.”
“Years!” she yells. “Why that long? Even the pet store doesn’t make us wait that long to pet the puppies.”
Isabella looks at me in confusion, and it takes me a moment to understand what Camila thinks. “ Mija , babies don’t come from a store. A baby sister or brother will grow in Isabella’s tummy. ”
“Mommy’s.” Camila looks plainly at me. “It’s Mommy’s tummy.”
I chuckle. “My mistake.”
“Well, how long does he have to grow?”
“Nine months,” I tell her solemnly.
“That’s almost a whole year! I can’t wait that long!” she screeches.