Chapter Thirty-Seven
ONE YEAR LATER
Elly
“Careful. Step up.” His hands are on my shoulders, steering me, and a cloth is tied over my eyes. I just know I’m going to trip and fall over a tree root or something. My hands are on his hips and my head keeps bumping into his chest behind me.
A few more minutes of him giving me blind directions over my head and we stop. I can’t help the smile that’s been glued to my face since he told me he had a surprise. But I didn’t expect a walk in the woods, or I would have changed from my work flats into some sneakers.
In the past year, since I moved to Oklahoma, I’ve become accustomed to the Harlow ranch and learned the trails and some of the most visited areas of the reach. I’ve kept my condo in Tulsa that’s close to my job, but in all honesty, I spend most of my time here.
It was the best move of my life. I do miss my parents sometimes, but since I’ve become part of the Harlow’s sanctuary, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
“Ok, ready?” He asks, his voice close to my ear. His warm breath moves across my ear and cheek, making me shiver.
Unable to stifle the laugh that escapes my chest, I say, “Yes!”
His hands let go of my shoulders and he unties the blindfold.
I squint against the orange light of the sunset that’s peeking through the trees over one of the natural spring pools on the property.
It’s surrounded by rocks, moss, and spring flowers that are sprouting at the base of the budding bushes and trees.
It’s beautiful.
Gray’s arms come around me and he envelopes me in his warmth and smell, I take a deep breath of him as I grasp his forearms. “Like it?” His deep voice is soft over my head.
In every direction is a beautiful, but different, view. The water is clear, and I can see all the different size rocks that line the pool, and because the air is still a little chilled in the evenings still, the steam rising from the water makes it magical.
“Oh, Gray! It’s beautiful!” I whisper. Each time I scan an area, I see something different that I didn’t see before.
“I thought you would like it.” He says as he kisses the top of my head.
My eyes stop on a picnic basket, a blanket, a bottle of champagne, and some folded up towels on one of the larger rocks. And tucked down into the side pocket of the basket is an EpiPen, a staple that Gray carries with him at all times. “What’s all that?”
“That is goodies packed by Sloane, nut and seed free, of course.” He chuckles over my head.
Pulling away from his arms, I step up onto one of the rocks and squat down sideways to slip the tips of my fingers in the water. “It’s so warm.” I let my whole hand drop into the water and swirl it around.
Gray walks around me to the other side next to the picnic basket and starts to unbutton his shirt. “Care to take a dip with me?”
“Would I?” I say as I stand back up. Walking toward him, I unbutton my silk blouse I put on for work this morning.
When he pushes his shirt off his shoulders and pulls the tail out of his pants, I stop and take in the beautiful, rugged strength in front of me.
The muscles and cords of his chest and arms move as he folds the shirt and drapes it over another rock.
My eyes travel to his perfect six-pack over the light dusting of hair that moves down the defined, mouthwatering V into the waistband of his jeans.
“You’re staring, Miss Royce.” His voice is deeper and when my eyes meet his, I’m rewarded with the heat of his desire looking back at me.
“I’ll always stare at you, Mr. Harlow.” I breathe and step up to him as I toss my blouse over his shirt on the rock, sliding my hands across his stomach to rest on his hips. The cool evening air makes my nipples peak under my lace bra and a shiver moves down my spine.
His eyebrows tug together, and he looks bothered about something. I stop and look over his face. “What? What’s wrong?”
He winces as he thinks about something. “We have to do something about that?”
“About what?” Confusion is written on my face, and I’m frozen in place.
“Royce. I don’t like it.” His lips tug a little at one side.
Excitement shoots through me as I realize what’s happening and I stop myself from clapping my hands and jumping up and down like a teenage girl. Instead, the smile I have no control of overtakes over my face. “Oh really? Do you have any suggestions?”
The smile I love to look at every day transforms his face and his mostly green eyes look at me with more love than I have ever got from another person. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
In true Grant fashion, he kneels and cups my hands in his. When he presses my palm to his lips, I have to fight the tears of happiness that are long overdue. He kisses my palm up to my wrist before cupping my hand between his two larger ones.
“Elly?”
“Yes, Gray?”
“You stormed into my stables over a year ago and turned my world upside down. On that day everything fell into place, I knew the moment I saw you that my life was complete. Since then, I have been the happiest version of myself because of you. Will you stand with me and spend the rest of your life with me as my wife? Take my name, finally move in with me, build a family with me, and be a mother to my daughter, who made me promise to ask for her, too?”
A laugh bubbles from my chest. He’s been asking me to move to the ranch for months, but some weird old-fashioned part of me wants to set a good example for Lainey Rai, and tears have started to stream down my cheeks.
I already love that little girl like she’s my own.
Lifting my fingers to cover my lips, I look into the eyes that have given me everything I’ve ever wanted since I met him.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a beautiful solitaire diamond on a thick platinum band. It’s the ring I was looking at in one of Sloane’s bridal magazines I found over six months ago. The wedding band that goes with it is a thin cradle of diamonds on each side of the engagement band.
My eyes go wide as I look at it and then him.
He smiles. “I pay attention.”
He does. To everything.
“Oh Gray. It’s perfect.” I straighten my fingers, and he slides it up my ring finger. Of course, it’s a perfect fit.
“Well?”
My eyes snap to his. “Oh! Yes!” I laugh. “Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!”
As he stands, he pulls me against him and my legs automatically go around his waist as he picks me up. He kisses me deeply, the warm skin of his stomach pressed against mine.
I’m nearly breathless when we finish the kiss, and I press my forehead to his. “Does everyone at the house know why we drove away in the UTV?”
That explains Sloane’s grin as we cut through the kitchen to the back door. It wasn’t her usual ‘see you later’ smile, it was more like a shit-eating ‘I know something you don’t know’ grin.
Even Mr. Harlow tipped his head with a sparkle in his eye as we passed him in the hall.
“Yep.”
My own shit-eating grin spreads across my face as I realize this couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. “I was starting to worry I was going to have to force your hand.” I say, my arms tight around his neck.
His eyebrows twitch, and he looks over my face. “Why would you have to force my hand?”
I shrug my shoulder casually and say, “Well, I would like for us to be married when our baby is born.”
His entire face goes slack, and he stares at me. “What? How? You’re on the pill.”
“Remember, I had that allergy sinus infection a couple of months ago? Well, the medicine they gave me messed with my birth control, I found out this morning when I went to the doctor.” I give a chuckle. “Well, I’ve suspected for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to make it official.”
His face is still slack. “We’re gonna have a baby?”
“Yes. There’s going to be another little Harlow running around soon.”
“When?”
“About seven months from now, around Thanksgiving.”
“Hot-fuckin’-damn, we’re gonna have a baby.” The smile on his face matches the light in his eyes as he kisses me. “Fuck, I love you.”
Finding Gray and his family have made up for every lonely moment of the first twenty-four years of my life, and the smile on my face is genuine now. No more fake smiles to get through the day.
I kiss his cheeks and then his lips. “I’ve never been as happy as I’ve been since I met you. I love you, too.”
****
Thank you for reading Gray & Elly’s story!