End of Story(81)

“Okay.”

“Come here, Susie.”

I set aside the coffee cup and walked across the grass to him. His warm hand curled around one of my bare thighs as I leaned down to kiss him. The sweet press of our lips like a promise. In all honesty, I could see me happily kissing this man for a good long time to come. The rest of my life even. And what a beautiful life that would be.

For some reason, Kat the cat was watching us and purring. Guess she was a fan of love.

“You still going to burn the divorce certificate?” he asked.

“I think so.”

“Okay,” he murmured. “Say it again.”

“I love you.”

“Good,” he said, and smacked me on the ass. “Go make me breakfast. Please.”

“You got it. Though there was one thing I was going to ask you.”

“Hmm?”

“Will you marry me?”

His whole body seemed to stop with a jolt. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

“Susie...” Lars got to his feet. He stood staring down at me with a serious face. “Is this about the talk last night about playing those games when I was little? Because I can live without getting to be the groom in real life.”

“I think it’s about a variety of things, actually.”

“Such as?” he asked. “Because you were pretty adamant about not getting married.”

“I was. That’s true. But then it occurred to me that maybe life isn’t about always playing it safe.”

His rough fingers rubbed comforting circles on the outside of my thigh.

“Marriage is important to you, Lars.” He opened his mouth to speak but I put a finger to his lips. “Let me finish. You’ve always seen it as part of your great journey through life. And I want to give that to you. Because I trust you enough to take the risk.”

His gaze remained worried.

“Listen to me. The truth is, I want to give this to you much more than I distrust the institution. Thus proving forever more that my love for you is greater than your love for me. Please say yes.”

“This is a competition?”

“Absolutely.”

“It saddens me how full of crap you are, Princess. Since it’s obvious that I love you more.”

“You’re just saying that to make conversation. It doesn’t mean a thing.” I gave him a haughty look. “Why, your love is a grain of sand while mine is all of the beaches in all of the world.”

Which was about when Lars ever so carefully and skillfully tackled me into the grass. I found myself subdued and on my back in no time. Clear blue sky overhead, and the weight of his body on me felt heavenly.

“What about the divorce certificate?” he asked.

“We prove it wrong.”

“Is that why you want to do this?”

“Like I said, there are a lot of reasons why I want to do this. But my main priority is your happiness. And while I know you said you’d be fine without it, I want to give it to you. It’s important to me.” I smoothed the line between his brows with my fingers. “Make me an honest woman. Say yes, Lars.”

“Wait a minute.” He picked something out of my hair and carefully placed it on a nearby leaf. “You have a ladybug on you.”

“Huh. Though I’m not wearing a white dress for the ceremony. You need to know and embrace that fact right now. But there’s this black strapless Christian Siriano gown that would work a treat.”

“You’re serious about this.”

“I have to mention fashion for you to believe me?”

“Just making sure you’re all onboard and have thought this through.”

I smiled. “I am and I have. You know, I keep thinking about what the divorce lawyer said that day. How we have to keep choosing each other. How building a relationship and keeping it intact is just that hard, and that simple. This is me choosing you.”

“Are you in this for keeps?” he asked in a deep serious tone.

“Wouldn’t have asked you to marry me if I wasn’t. What about you?”

“I promise you, married or not, I’m not going anywhere.”

I nodded.

“Thank you for asking me to marry you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Okay,” he said, rising back onto his knees. Kat the cat appeared beside him and he picked her up and gave her a pat. “Good talk, Princess. Let me give it some thought and I’ll get back to you. You want a hand with the pancakes?”

I sat up with a frown. “Wait. That’s it?”

But the man was already gone. Back inside the house carrying his damn cat and his empty coffee cup. Despite all of my deep thinking and rehearsing my lines, I’d seriously lost control of the conversation. Though to be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ever been in control.

“The man likes screwing with you,” said Cleo.

“Oh, yeah,” I agreed. “While it’s good that he’s taking his time and thinking it through. I wouldn’t have minded if he said yes right away.”

A light rain had started falling, filling the air with petrichor. Wet pine needles and mulch and rain was the scent of Seattle. Along with barley from the microbreweries, fresh bread from the bakeries, and a dash of mildew for good measure. The scent of home sweet home.