I Want You Back (Want You #1)(116)

I snickered.

“Anyway, my Canadian teammates cleared up the ‘Boxing Day’ confusion for me. Boxing Day is when you box up leftovers from your Christmas feast and share them with the less fortunate.” His eyes searched mine. “Did you know that’s what it meant?”

“Nope. I took it literally too.”

“Good. Because I have something in a box for you . . . but it’s not leftovers.”

I forgot how to breathe when Jax shifted and dropped to one knee in front of me.

Then a brown velvet box appeared in his palm. He studied my face with wonder and devotion. “Lucy Quade, I love you. I’ve always loved you. Getting a second chance with you is more than I deserve, and I’ll devote my days to making your life as full and happy as you’ve made mine. Every day with you is better than the day before. I want a lifetime of that, with you by my side as my wife. So will you marry me?” He lifted the lid on the box.

I leaned in to get a closer look, but my eyes were already swimming with tears.

Jax plucked the ring out and gently took my left hand. He kissed my ring finger before he slid the ring on.

The stone in the ring was so big I swear it threw prisms across Jax’s face as I lifted the ring up to look at it closer.

“Holy crap, Jax, it’s huge.”

“I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say that, my Lucy Q.” He laughed when I whapped him on the biceps.

I turned the ring, this way and that, absolutely mesmerized by the extreme sparkles coming from a singular stone. “I’ve never seen a diamond cut into this shape.”

“I dealt with a bunch of jewelers before the guy found this one. I wanted simple, and classy, a huge heart with the highest level of clarity so it perfectly matched how I see . . . you.”

“You’re gonna make me cry.”

“Baby, you’re gonna make me cry if you don’t say yes.”

“Yes, I’ll marry you, you crazy annoying man.” I gave him a skeptical look. “This was a damn good setup for a proposal. How long have you planned this?”

Jax grinned. “Remember when you said you wanted things to unfold ‘organically’ between us? I knew neither of us wanted a public proposal, so I’d intended on proposing to you on Christmas Eve after Mimi had gone to bed and it was just the two of us. But after that spill, I realized I could use that to my advantage. You’re a creature of habit; I knew you’d come here, so I called and rented the place for an hour.”

“You just rented it? You didn’t buy it?”

“Smartass. I don’t buy everything.”

I set my hand—left hand, of course, so I could admire my new sparkling heart-shaped engagement ring that had to be at least ten carats—on his chest. “I love that you thought of this and I love you, Jaxson Lund.” Then I kissed him with more passion than I usually did in public.

Jax groaned against my lips. “Let’s go home and celebrate. Naked.”

Guilt swamped me: I realized I hadn’t thought about Mimi at all. “Where’s—”

“Mimi is with my folks.”

“Did she know you were going to propose?”

“No one did. This belongs to us.” He grimaced. “Gotta move these creaky old hockey player knees.” He stood and sat next to me. “Can this be a super short engagement?”

“How short?”

“Are you busy this afternoon?”

My first reaction after laughing was to argue with him that we couldn’t possibly get married today . . . but I realized I never wanted the pomp and circumstance, I just wanted him. And that’s precisely what he’d offered. “I went on a date with you thirty minutes after we met. In keeping with tradition, getting married half an hour after you proposed is so—”

“Us,” he finished.

This man.

Then Jax kissed me in that cajoling way I couldn’t resist. I’d already made up my mind, but I let him “convince” me a little longer.

“So what do you say?”

“I say yes.”





Epilogue





JAX




A finger poked me in the side, startling me. I jolted awake and cast a bleary eye on my daughter.

“Daddy. Come on. Mommy said it’s time.”

I noticed Lucy’s side of the bed was empty. Whoa. I hadn’t heard her get up. It hadn’t been that long ago we’d gone to bed.

“Where is she?”

“Waiting for us.” Mimi bounced up and down. “Hurry up! This is so exciting!”

At least this wasn’t happening in the middle of the damn night. “I’m coming. Give me a minute.”

She harrumphed and skipped out of the room.

Yawning, I dressed in the sweats and T-shirt I’d only taken off an hour before. Maybe it was selfish to hope this didn’t last long, but damn, I was so freaking tired, I couldn’t wait to crawl back in bed and sleep.

I wandered down the hallway and paused in the doorway to the theater room.

The buttery scent of popcorn wafted out. Lucy had also lined up chips and dip, cans of energy drinks, cookies and red licorice. I grinned. She’d picked up on hockey players’ superstitions pretty damn fast; we’d had the same exact snacks every time the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team played. I loved that she’d become so invested in the sport and the players on her own—no prompting from me—but Mimi’s obsession had a lot to do with it.