All They Need(13)

THEY WERE BOTH QUIET on the way back to the cottage. Flynn was lost in his own thoughts, shuffling things around in his mental diary, formulating scenarios for himself and his parents that would allow him to have his cake and eat it, too.

Not that any of that was going to change the outcome of today’s inspection. At a certain point in the tour he’d given in to the inevitable and admitted to himself that he was going to put in an offer for the estate. It was too rare and precious an opportunity for him to pass up. He had no idea how he was going to make it fit with everything else, but he would work it out.

Somehow.

He turned off the engine when they returned to their accommodation but made no attempt to get out of the car. Instead, he looked at Hayley, who was staring pensively out the windshield.

“What do you think?”

“I think that it’s terrifying, frankly. That house needs new everything. And the garden… I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“I would.” He could hear the relish in his own voice.

She looked at him, a small, curious smile on her face. “Which is why you’re going to buy it, of course.”

She knew him so well.

“Yes. I am.” Anticipation spiked through him as he finally said it out loud.

She opened the car door. “Come on, then. There’s a bottle of French bubbly in the fridge thanks to our efficient hostess. I think this calls for a celebration.”

He followed her into the cottage. She opened kitchen cupboards until she found long-stemmed flutes and he tore the foil and the wire cage off the top of the champagne bottle. The pop of the cork sounded loud in the small space and Hayley laughed and pulled a comic face when the sparkling wine foamed up over the neck.

“Don’t waste it!”

He poured them both a glass and Hayley raised hers in a toast.

“To finally getting something you’ve always wanted,” she said.

They clinked glasses and drank, and Flynn kissed her. She surprised him by deepening the kiss, one hand sliding behind his neck. She wasn’t usually aggressive sexually but she pressed herself against him and kissed him deeply, her fingers digging into the muscles of his shoulder. When she finally broke the kiss she looked at him for a long moment, her gaze very intent and serious.

Then she took his hand and tugged on it. “Come into the living room. There’s something I want to say to you.”

Flynn smiled. “This is all very mysterious.”



“It won’t be for long, trust me.”

She led him to one of the cream couches and pushed him onto the cushion. Then she sat beside him and took his hand in hers. She looked into his eyes, then she squeezed her own shut for a long beat.

“Wow. This is harder than I thought it would be.” Her hand was trembling.

Flynn frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. At least, I hope it is.” Hayley opened her eyes and gave him a small, nervous smile. “Remember what you said this morning about not knowing what you’d do without me and how I told you to hold that thought?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately, about us. And the future. I’ve been thinking about what I want, how I’d like things to be.”

Flynn tensed. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Look, Hales, I know that things haven’t been great lately. I know that I’ve been working all hours and the situation with Mom and Dad has been chewing up my spare time, but—”

Hayley smiled and pressed her fingers to his lips. “Relax, Flynn. I’m not breaking up with you.”

Flynn’s shoulders dropped a notch. “Good.”

“I’m asking you to marry me.” She slipped onto one knee on the floor and opened her hand, palm up, in front of him. A simple gold wedding band rested against her pale skin. “So, will you, Flynn? Will you marry me?”

It literally took Flynn a full ten seconds to comprehend what she was saying. She knelt before him, her brown eyes fixed intently on his face, a faint, hopeful smile on her lips, and his brain simply refused to work.

Probably because this was the last thing he’d been expecting. They’d been seeing each other a little under a year, living together for six months. Things were good between them. Comfortable. But he simply hadn’t gotten around to thinking about marriage. He simply…hadn’t.

The silence stretched. He needed to say something. Now.