Connected (Connections, #1)(102)

“You sure that’s safe?” I ask because I’ve never heard of anyone actually climbing up the letters.

She sees the worry on my face. “Hey, sure it is.” She points to the letter and says, “It’s not that high.”

“Beautiful, first of all, it is that high but I’m not thinking of up,” I say as I point down into the valley. “I’m thinking of down.”

Taking a sip of water, she nods and kisses me. “I’ll be right back,” she says as she hands me her water bottle.

“Hey,” I yell as she climbs the fence to get closer to the letters, leaving me holding all of her shit, “What do I look like? A pack mule?”

She looks over and winks at me. “Never thought of you that way. A jackass maybe on occasion, but not a mule.”

I take a gulp from her water bottle, set everything on the ground, and follow her. Does she really think I’m going to let her climb up there alone?

Standing below the H, the letters are enormous. “Umm . . . Dahlia, I’m not sure you can do this. There is nothing for you to grip onto. You’d have to pull all of your body weight up the pole.”

“Are you saying I can’t?”

“I’m saying, you more than likely won’t be able too.”

“Care to make a bet?”

Shaking my head at her, all I can do is laugh. “Baby girl, I’m not even going to bet you on that because it would just be plain wrong.”

With her camera hanging from her neck, she pouts her lips and folds her arms over each other, surveying the letter.

“Dahlia, just give me your camera, I’ll take the picture.”

She stands there, still pouting. Removing the camera from her neck, she hands it to me.

Walking up to her, I take it and whisper in her ear, “Watch out, you know what your bitchy mood does to me. That look was so hot.”

True to form, she rolls her eyes and then takes a seat on the ground.

Somehow I manage to pull myself up to the first rafter and balance against the cross beams to take the picture my girl really wants.

Getting down, I give her the camera and she hands me the water. I finish the bottle and toss it next to our stuff.

She comes to stand between my legs and presses up against me, chest on chest, cupping my cheek with one hand and slipping her other hand into the waistband of my track pants. “Thank you.”

My pulse jumps and my whole body responds, but I have a question to ask her and even though her sudden movement and closeness have me standing straight up, I have a plan that I have to stick to right now.

My voice takes on a husky tone all on its own. “Unless you want to be naked very soon, I think it’s for the best if you don’t touch me like that up here.”

Pulling up my t-shirt I wipe the sweat from my face as her hands instantly find the bare skin of my abs. I do my best to ignore the overwhelming need I have for her by chanting, ‘Stick to the task at hand, stick to the task at hand,’ to myself, and I walk over to the back pack and unzip one of the compartments and discreetly tuck the box in the waistband of my pants, careful for her not to see.

“What are you looking for?” she asks.

“My phone, I wanted to see what time it was,” I tell her as I quickly pull out my phone.

I know she’s watching me from behind, so I twist my head. Her smile, her eyes, her amazing beauty stops me in my tracks. I don’t even wink or make a comment. I just know by the way she’s looking at me right now, that this is the right time.

Walking back over to her, I lean in, clutch her face with both hands, and start to kiss her. I trace the seam of her lips with my tongue and she opens her mouth. Pressing my lips harder against hers, our tongues meet and I feel our souls connect, in the exact same way she described it to me on her birthday. The moment couldn’t be any more perfect. The sun is starting to set over the horizon; the city we live in together is below us; and the sign she loves so much envelops us.

Dropping down on one knee, I look up at her beautiful face. I can already see tears starting to form in her eyes as I begin to speak. “I never imagined I could feel so connected to anyone as much as I feel connected to you. I knew I loved you from the moment I saw you. How could I not? Loving you is as easy as breathing.”

I open the box where the custom-made diamond encrusted pearl ring sits. Like her necklace the pearl sits inside a flower, a dahlia, but unlike her necklace the flower sits on top of a thread of eternity diamonds, representing my love everlasting. Taking the ring out of the box, my hands are shaking so badly as I set it on the ground and stand. I want to look directly into her beautiful eyes when I ask her the most important question I will ever ask anyone in my life.

“Dahlia London, you know I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman. My love for you runs deeper than any words can convey. My heart is yours forever. Will you marry me?”

I’m still shaking, I’m so f*cking nervous, this girl owns me and the fact that I want it that way scares the living shit out me and makes me the happiest man alive.

Her words are the words I’ve been waiting to hear since the minute I laid eyes on her. “Yes, yes, yes, yes . . .” Her yes’s continue until I pull her to me and kiss her like I’ve never kissed her before. All the love I have for her is pouring out of my heart and into hers. She wraps her arms around my neck as tightly as she can and I swing her around in circles. Once I set her back down, I take her hand and slide the ring on her finger. It’s the perfect ring for the perfect girl.