Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
I gasp and stare at the most beautiful diamond ring I’ve ever seen. “Yes,” I answer him softly.
His eyebrows rise in surprise. “Yes?”
I laugh and nod before wrapping my arms around him. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you. I love you, Elias. I love you more than anything in this world.”
He holds on to me as if he doesn’t want to let me go. I’m struggling to breathe, but there’s no way I’m going to ask him to loosen up. The way he kisses me tells me how he feels, but when he pulls back, breathless, he looks into my eyes. “I love you, Chloe, and I promise I’ll spend every day showing you just how much.”
He picks up my hand and slides the ring on my finger before lifting it to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “You’re going to be mine officially now.”
I put my hand to his cheek. “Oh, Elias, for the last five years, I’ve been yours. You just had to come and claim me, that’s all.”
He kisses me again as he moves to sit on the couch and then pulls me to his lap. Straddling him, I feel his hard manhood at my very core. I press into him, holding him close. “You’re going to be a dad.”
He nods as the realization hits him. “I am. And you’re going to be a mom.”
I lace our fingers together. “We’re going to be a family.”
He’s so choked up with emotion, he can’t speak, but he nods his head as he blinks to hold back the tears. “I love you, Chloe.”
“I love you, too, Elias.”
EPILOGUE
ELIAS
7 Months Later
I’m carrying bags up the front porch and trying to get my keys out when the door swings open. “You’re home!”
I lift the bags in my arms. “I am, and I brought food. Your favorites.”
As I set everything on the kitchen counter, I grab one Styrofoam container. “Here you go, Violet sent this for you. She said she craved it when she was pregnant, so she thought you’d enjoy it.”
“Oh my God. It’s the Blaze cinnamon cake, isn’t it?” She opens the container, and her eyes go round as we both inhale the sweet addictive smell. “Oh, God bless her.”
As she grabs a fork and digs into the cake, I grunt and continue unpacking everything.
“What’s that grunt about?”
“Nothing,” I tell her, shaking my head.
She laughs. “Nope, spill it. What happened this time? Violet rope you into teaching the church ladies some self-defense moves?”
I turn on my heel and stare at her with her mouth wide open. “How—”
She’s laughing. “Yeah, Violet called and told me about how I have some competition because five little ol’ ladies are singing your praises right now.”
I shake my head as I stuff the empty bag in the trash. “She got me good. I was just trying to pick up dinner, minding my own business when she asked me if I’d talk to the ladies. I couldn’t say no, and before I knew it, I was teaching self-defense moves right there in the middle of Red’s Diner.”
Chloe is quiet now, her cake forgotten on the counter as she’s smiling up at me.
“What?” I ask her, unable to keep the smile off my face.
She points her fork at me. “You liked it. You like that everywhere we go, people love you.”
I roll my eyes. “They don’t love me.”
She drops the fork next to the cake and walks over to me. “They do love you. I teach class, and the ladies there are wondering if you’re going to come or not. When I walk the trail at the park, the men at the basketball court ask where you’re at. The people at Red’s, the old man that sits outside the barber shop will talk to you for hours.”
“Teddy. Yeah, me and Teddy have become friends.”
“Everyone loves you, Elias. I’ve seen the switch in you. Eight months ago, you wouldn’t have walked around town without a hood over your head. Look at you now.”
I reach over and pull her against me. “This is where we’re going to live and raise our kids. I figure if I’m going to look like this, I need to try and fit in and build a community for you and our kids.”
“First of all, you’re sexy and you know it. And secondly, kids? As in plural?”
I cup her cheek. “As many babies as you want to give me.”
“You are crazy, you know that right?” Chloe asks for what seems like the hundredth time.
I wrap my arms around her, cupping her ass. Her pregnant belly presses against me, and I smile as she leans into me with her full weight. “Crazy about you.”
She leans her forehead against my chest. “You’re marrying a beached whale.”
I brush her hair off her shoulders and kiss her neck. “You’re beautiful.”
She tilts her head and looks up at me. “This is not how I pictured my wedding day, Elias.”