Epilogue
What the hell am I thinking? I’ve been pacing the Japanese Gardens in Seattle for the last thirty minutes. We’ve been waiting for Alana to bring Paris and she’s late. I don’t know why I expected them to be on time because Alana is late for everything.
King and Alana have been in town for the past week, and while they’re here I’m going to ask Paris to be my wife. I have no idea why I chose this time, but it just felt right, now I’m freaking the hell out.
“You need to calm down,” King says.
“I am calm,” I lie.
He chuckles and I glare at him. He throw his hands up in surrender. “Sure, you are, that’s why you haven’t stopped pacing since we’ve been here. What’s got you so nervous?”
I stop, then face him. “What if she says no?”
My brother’s laugh reverberates around us like I’ve made the most ridiculous statement he’s ever heard.
It took months and a shit ton of money for me to reserve this place. But it’s one of the places Paris loves in Seattle, so I thought it would be the perfect place to pop the question.
But will it be enough?
The three and half acre garden is so peaceful with winding gravel paths, stone lanterns, a badass koi pond, and a wooden bridge. Whenever we come here, she takes so many pictures and can’t stop talking about how beautiful the place is. So, the place is perfect, all I need her to do is say yes.
“She’s not going to say no.”
In my heart I believe that, even though my mind is screaming I’m not enough for her.
“You don’t know that,” I say, running my hand through my hair.
“I do know that. Listen, I know it took me a while to warm up to her.”
“You don’t say.”
“I can admit it. But I’ve seen the way she looks at you and the way she makes you smile. I’ve seen the moments you two share when you think no one is watching. Paris loves you and you love her. Calm down. She’ll say yes.”
I let out a deep breath and let his words sink in. Paris has come so far since she left Oakland and so have I. I think this is right for both of us. I gave her my property patch within weeks of me moving to Seattle. This is the natural next step in our lives.
Her laugh reaches my ears, and it’s like the breath is knocked out, me when I see her.
She’s absolutely stunning. My mouth waters as I gaze at her black strappy heels, up her toned ebony legs showcased in a beautiful cream-colored skirt that reaches just above her knees, a sheer black long-sleeved blouse with a black lacy bra visible underneath.
When she sees me, she stops in her tracks. After her initial shock, a smile crosses her face. “What are you doing here?” She wraps her arms around my neck, as I pull her to me.
“I just wanted to see you.”
She looks at me skeptically. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
She gives me a kiss, and all I want to do is deepen it but it’s not why I’m here. When I pull away, I steal a glance at Alana, and she smiles giving me a nod.
“Paris.”
Alana calls her name, she turns around, and that gives me enough time to dig the ring out of my pocket and get down on one knee. For a minute I debated whether I would even do this because it’s not my style. But this is her moment not mine.
“Oh, never mind. I thought I saw something in your hair.”
She brushes her hand over her hair, then turns back around. In a moment of shock, she gasps, her hands rising to cover her mouth.
“Logan,” she says my name, the sound muffled by her hands.
“Paris, we had a pretty rough start, but when I first saw you, I knew you were someone special. I won’t make an extravagant speech. But now that you’re my old lady, I want you to be my wife, too. Will you marry me?”
I hold the ring out to her. Even though it’s not fancy, the single princess cut diamond set in gold is worth more than two hundred grand. It’s simple but precious just like her.
Tears glisten her eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, baby. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re the other half of my soul, Paris. Without you there’s no me. I want to make you happy for the rest of our lives.”
“Yes.”
“You’ll marry me?”
She nods her head. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Logan.”
“Thank fuck,” I say as I stand, while Alana and King laugh, and clap.
After I slide the ring onto her finger, she looks at it with awe. It fits perfectly. But I’m the one who is in awe. The woman I love wants to be my wife.
My brother kisses Paris on the cheek, congratulating her. Their relationship has come a long way. They both made an effort for me, which I appreciate.
King pulls me into a hug. “Didn’t I tell you?”
I chuckle, then pull away. “You did.”
“I’m proud of you little, bro. You did good.”
He squeezes my shoulder as we both watch Paris and Alana examine her ring and gush about how beautiful it is. “She’s going to ask how much that ring costs,” King says, laughing.
“And she’ll never know. If she finds out, she’ll worry about the money when I’ve told her over and over again money will never be a problem for us.”
We’re set for life. I’ve invested well and I own shares in a few companies. I’ve told her over and over again she doesn’t even have to work even though she chooses to.
When she looks at me, my heart almost stops in my chest. All the words I know cannot describe how much I love this woman. As she walks to me it’s like my future playing out in front of me. I can’t believe this woman is a part of my life.
I throw my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me, as she wraps her arms around my neck again. “I can’t wait to marry you,” she says.
“Well, let’s do it now.”
She looks at me confused. “You want to do it now?”
“Unless you want something big.”
She takes a deep breath and after a brief moment a smile smells across her face. “Let’s do it!”
I pick her up in my arms and swing her around. This has been the best day of my life. I can’t believe this beautiful person is all mine.
Thank you for taking this ride with me. I hope you enjoyed Reaper. If you can please rate or leave a review.