CHAPTER EIGHT #3
Cade looks up at me and smiles. “Hanna, my love. From the first day I met you, you have blown me away. By your heart, by your kindness, by your smile, by your laughter, and by the fact that the moment you step into the room, you’re all I see because you are you.
You, who also happens to be one of the most beautiful and sexy women I’ve ever laid eyes on.
” My eyes are more than watering, but I don’t move a muscle to wipe them away because I don’t want to lose this moment.
I also can’t wipe the smile off my face.
Cade reaches into his pocket and pulls out a beautiful ring.
It’s got a sapphire in the middle and two small diamonds on each side.
Nothing too flashy, but its beauty and elegance lie in its simplicity.
He holds out the ring and whispers, “This was my grandma’s ring.
My grandpa always said he picked it because the two small stones represented the two of them as individuals—like diamonds, they were strong and able to stand on their own just fine, but the sapphire represented them as a couple, a team.
It is strong, but also beautiful and memorable.
When I talked to my dad about getting the ring from him and how I felt about you, he said something that stuck with me.
It matched what your pops and dad said when I talked to them.
Dad said he knew my mom was the one for him when she walked into the room, and no one else existed.
He said she supported him in ways she still to this day doesn’t know, but more than anything else, he realized she was his favorite person.
She still is every day. When he told me, it all clicked.
You are my favorite person. The one I want to do everything in life with.
The one I want all the highs and lows with.
The one I want a family with. You’re the one that I want to sit in our recliners when we’re old and wrinkled and talk about how our lives have been filled with fun, tears, and a whole helluva lot of love.
I want to wake up every day next to you. Hanna, will you marry me?”
I nod, tears streaming down my face. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” He slips the ring on my finger, and I can’t help but throw myself into his arms and hug him as I kiss him.
I break the kiss, and the words just come out.
“I love you so much! That was the best proposal ever!” Cade chuckles as he touches his forehead to mine.
“I had planned to do it at dinner, but when you came out, all I could think was that I couldn’t leave this room without you wearing my ring so the whole world knows you’re already taken.
” Well hell, that’s about the hottest, most possessive statement I’ve ever heard, but now I want the same thing.
I look down at his hands, and a thought crosses my mind.
“What if we don’t wait?” I watch his face as he’s not following my train of thought. The man is always sexy, but his confused face is as cute as can be.
“What do you mean? I didn’t wait to propose. You got the ring on your finger right now.” I nod and look down at our joined hands and quietly admit my equally possessive train of thought.
“I was thinking about what you just said about not wanting me to leave the room without a ring on, and I realized I want you to wear one too. I might be nearly blind, but I know you catch a lot of women's eyes and I want them to know you’re not available. So my question is—what if we don’t wait to get married? I mean, we’re in Vegas…”
Cade quickly stands up and pulls me up with him, not breaking eye contact with me. “Are you telling me you don’t want the fancy dress, the party, the whole shebang? What about your dad and pops not getting to walk you down the aisle? I’m not saying no, I just want to make sure you’re sure.”
I squeeze his hands. “I do want that, too. What I was thinking is that we get married tonight. That’s just for us, something to keep between you and me.
Yes, it’s lawful and will be binding, but it’s just for us.
We plan a whole thing where our family can come, and we can renew our vows.
Only everyone doesn’t need to know it’s a renewal, just us. ”
He looks like he’s deep in thought, and it’s got me questioning how stupid my idea is. “I mean, we don’t have to do it at all. We can just wait, and that’s fine, it was just a flee—” Cade puts his hand up to my mouth to stop my rambling.
He looks at me but doesn’t move his hand.
“I love you. I don’t care if we decide to do a big wedding or not.
I’ll do whatever you want, but I definitely want to marry you tonight.
” He leans in and kisses me like I hold his next breath, and breaks the kiss right as I was reaching up to unbutton his shirt.
“Get your shoes on and fix your makeup so we can go. We’re getting married tonight.
Gonna go to dinner, then we’re gonna come back here, and I’m gonna spend all night making love to my wife.
” Fuck me. I love it when he sounds all alpha-y.
It’s hot. You know it is. I hurry back to the bathroom because I just know it’s going to be a night to remember.