Only a Millionaire (The Sinclairs #6.5)(37)

Time stood still for a moment as I tried to grasp what he was asking me.

He was willing to stay here for me?

He wanted me to be his wife?

“I love you, too,” I said quickly, feeling relieved that I could finally voice how I felt.

He suddenly grinned mischievously. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to hear that?”

“N-no,” I stammered, still too astonished to comprehend what was happening.

I knew Liam cared for me, but I hadn’t expected him to offer to leave Amesport to live with me in California.

“I bought this in Boston,” he explained. “That’s why I didn’t mind going there.”

He lifted the beautiful ring from its bed of velvet and stuffed the box back into his pocket.

“It’s gorgeous,” I managed to utter.

“Marry. Me,” Liam repeated, his tone demanding.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re asking,” I teased, but my hands were shaking, and my heart felt like it was ready to fly out of my chest.

Liam was always going to be demanding, but it didn’t bother me. I knew what was underneath all that bluster: The man who was always supposed to be mine.

“I guess I don’t want you to have a chance to say no,” he said in a raw, guttural voice.

“I’m not going to say no,” I advised him, my voice trembling as I answered. “I’m a definite yes.”

I threw myself into his arms, relishing the feel of them wrapping around me.

How was a woman supposed to react when she’d just gotten every single thing her heart desired?

I felt free, but protected.

Just like Liam, I’d always felt the way we connected.

He was the guy I’d been waiting for, but the circumstances just hadn’t been right for us in the beginning.

“I think I was always waiting for you,” I said with a happy sob.

He pulled back and kissed me, our mouths meeting and mingling with a surreal hunger that had always consumed me whenever we were together.

My body was instantly ready for him to rock my world, just like he did every time he touched me.

Releasing my lips, he took my shoulders and pushed me back. “I want this ring on your finger.”

I obliged by holding my shaky hand out, and I held my breath again as he fumbled to push the ring onto my finger.

“It fits,” I said as I released a pent-up breath.

“Of course it fits,” he said. “Did you think I was going to let you take it off? But measuring your finger with a string while you were sleeping wasn’t exactly easy.”

I laughed, able to visualize how frustrated he’d probably become with trying to handle a tiny string with his large hands. It was as endearing as it was funny.

“We can exchange it if you don’t like it,” he said, his voice revealing a little bit of uncharacteristic nervousness.

I held my hand to my chest. “I love it,” I said adamantly, knowing I’d never exchange it for something different, even if I hadn’t loved it so much. I could tell he’d put a lot of thought into the selection, and it brought tears to my eyes.

“I love you,” he said earnestly as he took my left hand from my chest and carried it to his lips.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I instantly replied, “I love you, too.”

The tall, handsome man in front of me had become my everything. I’d probably known that it was possible from the very beginning, but we’d both shied away from it.

In a way, the enormity of how I loved Liam was scary, but I was willing to take the risk.

He pulled me into his arms and held me like I was the most precious thing in the world to him. “Jesus, Brooke! I never planned on you.”

“Maybe that’s why it’s so special,” I said in a tearful voice near his ear.

We were silent for a few moments, both of us absorbing the fact that we’d never have to be separated again.

I didn’t let go of him as I murmured, “I want to move to Amesport.”

Liam pulled back just enough to see my face. “What?”

“I want to go back to the East Coast.” I’d come to love the small coastal town, and it wasn’t like I couldn’t get a job there.

Hell, I could have my own business there if I wanted it. My inheritance opened doors for me that had never been possible to look inside of before I’d become filthy rich.

“Why do you want to go back with me?” he said with an incredulous look.

“I like having the best lobster rolls in the country,” I joked. “And I’d miss the coffee and chocolate.”

“But your family—”

“They’ll be here every time I come home to see them, and they can come see us in Amesport. All of my siblings are going to want to meet and get to know the Maine Sinclairs.”

“Brooke, we need to talk about this—”

“We don’t,” I assured him. “I love my family, but it’s time for me to do what makes me happy. There’s no guarantee that we’ll all stay here permanently. We all need to live our own lives. It’s not like we can’t hop on a plane anytime we want to visit.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. “When we passed the bank earlier, I knew it was time for a new start.”