The Last Eligible Billionaire(102)

“What I want, Begonia, is to marry my best friend, the woman I adore and cherish beyond reason, the only person on this earth who could make me believe in the honesty of love again. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me every single day. If you’ll have me.”

Her eyes are wide and shiny, her smile so bright it could be a star all on its own, and she’s squeezing my hand.

“Hayes Rutherford, you know you don’t have to marry me to keep me.”

“And yet I have an inexplicable urge to stand on a mountaintop and vow to love you for all eternity anyway. I want it all, bluebell. Babies and awkward holiday parties with our families and gray hair and adventure and life. I want to tie my life with yours forever.”

“Say yes, Ms. Begonia!” someone yells.

“Men are gross! Say no!” a very familiar voice yells back. It seems someone invited Keisha as well.

Begonia laughs, but the merry sound turns into a gasp as I pull the velvet box from my pocket and open it. “I don’t mind earning that yes,” I tell her softly. “And I don’t mind being told no, so long as you’ll still keep me.”

“I could never tell you no.” She swipes at her eyes again, laughing, as she drops to her knees too, then flings herself at me. “I love you, Hayes. I love you and adore you and cherish you and want to spend the rest of my life doing all the things I know to do to make you smile and laugh and also—” she drops her voice “—all those things we shouldn’t talk about in front of an audience of horny teenagers.”

“Is that a yes?” I ask as I cling to this woman who’s given me back everything I’ve been missing in my life.

“It’s a double-triple-quadruple with whipped cream and a cherry on top yes,” she replies.

And I suddenly realize the error in my plans to propose to her in her very favorite spot on earth.

We have an audience.

Easily solved, though.

I pluck the modest ruby ring out of the box and lift it to her finger. Could I have gotten her a larger ring?

Yes.

Would she have turned me down on principle if I had?

Entirely possible.

“It’s the color of my hair,” she whispers.

“Exactly right, my love.” I start to slide it over her knuckle while the campers cheer around us, when suddenly, a massive pile of fur woofs, leaps between us, knocking us both to our asses.

“Marshmallow!” Begonia shrieks.

I look down.

Then at her.

Then at her dog, who’s carrying something that looks very much like the first piece of wood I ever saw in his jaws.

But this—this is not a Maurice Bellitano original.

Oh, no.

“Is that from Great Grandma Eileen’s collection?” I inquire softly.

Begonia’s gaze connects with mine, and it’s so very identical to the first time Marshmallow stole something from me that I start laughing.

“Hayes. The children,” she hisses. “Tell the dog to take it home.”

I would.

And I should. He still only takes orders from me.

But I can’t seem to get myself under control.

“Marshmallow, go home,” Begonia orders.

He ignores her, naturally.

“Go give it to Grandma Giovanna,” I manage to push out.

“Hayes.”

Her voice is outraged, but her eyes—her eyes are shining in amusement.

And when Marshmallow takes off up the stairs to my mother, the dildo dangling from his jaws, I rise as well, lifting my love with me as I go. “Thank you for spending part of your summer at Camp Funshine,” I tell the campers. “Excuse us. I believe this lady is now mine. Jonas, come apologize for us properly, please.”

With my famous brother suddenly announced, no one notices as I carry Begonia off the stage.

No one except her, that is. And probably our families.

“Hayes. We have to make sure that’s the only piece of Great Grandma Eileen’s collection that he brought out here,” she whispers.

“I’m sure Hyacinth would be delighted to do it for us.”

She stares at me a beat longer before she, too, starts laughing. “Do you know how much I love you? Truly love you? Simply because you’re you?”

I settle her on the ground behind a copse of pine trees, link my arms around her waist. “I have an inkling. And now I’d very much like to show you how much I love you.”

And I do.

Just as I intend to show her how much I love her every day for the rest of our lives.





Hi, you amazing reader you! It’s Begonia, and I have two special bits of information for you! One, if you want to know about Hayes and me crashing that funeral, you can find that little scene by clicking this link HERE! You'll get a chance to subscribe to Pippa's newsletter, which  you should absolutely do if you loved our story because the Pipster Report is basically the most fun you can have outside the pages of a Pippa Grant book. And two, keep reading for a sneak peek at The One Who Loves You! It features a grumpy hero and a high society heroine who's turning his little town upside down, and I think it's Pippa's second-best book ever. (After her book about Hayes, of course.)





P.S. If you found a magical spelling error in this book, email Pippa at [email protected] for a special surprise!