Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Ha, ha,” she says, rolling her eyes. Then she gets serious, cuddling closer to me. “I don’t ever want to get rid of you. You know, Luca, the first time I saw you, I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life.”
“I felt the same,” I tell her passionately.
“Which means we’re as crazy as each other…”
“Which means we belong together…”
“Like Bonnie and Clyde?” she says.
“Or…” I think for a moment. “Cleopatra and Anthony… no, what was his name? Jerry?”
She giggles. “Jerry Anthony?”
I playfully tickle her on the side. “Don’t make me maul you, Ruby.”
“Mark Anthony,” she says. “I’m not sure we’ve picked the best examples. What about Napoleon and Josephine? But that didn’t end well either, though there was an age gap.”
I smirk. “I’ve got an idea, beautiful,” I tell her. “Luca and Ruby. How does that sound?”
She beams. “It sounds perfect.”
When we kiss, sinking deeply into the passion, I know I’ll never be the same again. There have been three distinct eras in my life. The party boy. The workaholic. Now, it’s time to start my life for real. It’s time to be the man I was meant to be: a husband, father, lover, and provider.
She strokes her hands over my back, pulling her body close, rubbing her heat against me.
“Is it too soon to do it again?” she whispers.
My body responds right away, my balls flooding and my dick getting solid.
CHAPTER 30
Ruby
“Thank you for having me, sir,” Luca says, seeming very formal tonight.
I smile across the dinner table at him, my heart filled with so much love. It’s been two weeks since our first time, and everything has been so magical and perfect since then. I was able to transfer to a college closer to home, which means I don’t have to leave the city, though Luca told me he would follow me anywhere.
“I don’t want to go back to that college,” I told him. “Too many memories.”
After it all came out about Nate, Mom and Dad instantly liked Luca. How couldn’t they? He defended my honor more definitively than any other man ever would.
Holding hands and still going strong, Mom and Dad exchange a look. Then Dad smiles at Luca and says, “You don’t have to call me sir.”
Luca swallows, seeming slightly on edge this evening. He’s been awkward all night, especially when he asked Dad for a private conversation. My thoughts swirl as I try to figure out what that could possibly be about. I’ve got an idea, but I won’t dare let myself think it.
“I think I do,” Luca says. “Since I’m going to ask you if I can steal your daughter for the night.”
Mom laughs. Dad chuckles. It would’ve been unthinkable just a month ago.
“That’s not our choice,” Dad says.
I smile, relieved we can all be in the same room together. I’ve got the feeling they all know something I don’t. Even Lexi, who’s been grumpy over the past couple of weeks, has a slight smile on her face.
“I choose yes,” I say.
“Another museum date?” I say when he pulls up outside The Museum of Time and Terra.
Luca pulls the car to a stop, running a hand through his hair. I have to resist the urge to pounce on him. After the nerves faded away, I discovered I really, really like having sex with my man. I love it. It feels like melting into him, bonding on a level I never envisioned.
“Something like that,” he says.
Reaching over, I touch his arm. “Why do you seem nervous, Luca?”
He smirks. “Nervous? Me? I just want to show you the new exhibit.”
“There’s a new one? I had no idea!”
He nods, an enigmatic glint in his intense eyes.
Taking my hand, he leads me into the museum, into the big central area. Usually, there’s a dinosaur taking center stage, but now there’s something covered in a big black sheet. All over the floor—I gasp when I see them—tens of thousands of rose petals cover the vast area.
As I turn in a small circle, taking it all in, I realize Luca is on one knee. I gasp and cover my hand with my mouth, tears welling in my eyes.
“Don’t look so surprised,” he says. “I love you, Ruby. I love you so, so much.”
“I love you too,” I whisper, the world blurring as tears flood my vision.
He smiles, reaching up and taking my hands. Heat burns up my arms, into my soul. He reaches down and presses something on the floor, a button buried beneath a layer of rose petals.
The sheet suddenly whooshes off the display. Where the dinosaur once was, glittering silver letters now stand, looking like they’re floating, spelling out a phrase that has my soul soaring like it never wants to land.
Will you marry me?
“Yes,” I whisper, or I think I do, but all that comes out is a tangled sob.