The Proposal by Adriana Locke

Author:Adriana Locke [Locke, Adriana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Umbrella Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2023-08-13T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Blakely

“Okay, okay,” I say, laughing. “I remember that. I remember carrying the llama down the aisle with me and insisting it was my maid of honor.”

“You had everyone in the place dying. It’s one of the few things I remember clearly. You and that damn llama.”

Water splashes against the tub's sides as I poke my toes through the bubbles. Renn sits behind me, my back to his chest, with his arms wrapped around me. It’s so strange how … easy this is. Physically. Emotionally. In every way.

Two empty wineglasses, a plate and fork stained with chocolate icing, and one eucalyptus-scented candle rest on the windowsill, the flame flickering in the breeze through the open window. The ocean air mixed with Renn’s cologne could be a bestseller if I could figure out how to bottle it.

“Do you think this is what marriage is really like?” he asks. “Or are we just in the honeymoon phase?”

I rest my head against him. “I’m sure the honeymoon phase is always like this—or it should be.”

“I think this is what the whole marriage should be like. If you’re going to spend your whole life with someone, shouldn’t it be sex on the table and chocolate cake in the bath?”

“Sounds great to me.” I lift my hand and let the water roll off my fingers. “When I get married for real someday, this is what I want. I want to feel like it’s me and him against the world.”

He kisses the top of my head.

I hold his arms against me and relax into him. A smile has permanently been on my face since we left the kitchen an hour ago. I know this isn’t real, but I can’t help but imagine if it was.

“Do you think you’d be into marriage if it were like this?” I ask. “Would it change your mind about it?”

He blows out a breath. The movement of his chest takes me with it.

I don’t know why I asked the question, and I regret letting it pass my lips.

“I’ve never said I’m not into marriage,” he says, his voice low and thoughtful. “I said I was keeping my options open.”

True. “But I got the impression you were just being polite.”

“Okay, I probably was just being polite. But I’m allowed to change my mind, aren’t I?” He shifts his weight around me. “I don’t know. Maybe I haven’t been against it. I’ve just never found myself in a situation where I thought—what if? You know?”

“And I’ve spent my whole life wondering about it. I watched my mother struggle with being a single mom and the loneliness that came with the title. I remember lying in bed as a child, hearing her up in the middle of the night sweeping the floors or making lunches for the next day because two in the morning was the only time she had to do it.”

Renn rests his chin on the top of my head. “That had to be hard.”

“It was hard for her, I’m sure. And the older I get, the more I fear being in that same boat.

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