“I never got to thank you properly,” she said.
I cocked my head to the side. “For what?”
“For saving my life. You put your own life and your career at risk—for me.”
“Haven’t you realized by now? I would risk anything to be with you, and I will always catch you.”
“Did you just try to use a sports metaphor to tell me how much you love me?”
“Look at you picking up on my sports metaphors.” I grinned. “Come next season, I bet you’ll be trash talking with the best of them.”
“But—won’t you regret it? Won’t you miss playing football?” The fact that she’d asked told me she was the right woman for me. She knew how much the sport meant to me.
“I could never regret time spent with you. But more than that, I accomplished everything I set out to. I had an incredible career, and there’s nothing better than going out on a high note.”
“Wait—” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “Did you say team owner?”
I smirked. I’d wondered when she’d pick up on that. “I did. I’m tired of playing by somebody else’s rules. I want to make the rules.”
“So what does a team owner do in the off-season?” she asked.
I grinned, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her into my side. “Whatever he and his amazing girlfriend want. But…I was hoping you’d come visit Montana with me for the summer. And then…” He shrugged, though there was a twinkle in his eye. “Who knows.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Staci
“Just a little further,” Brandon called from higher up the trail.
“You keep saying that,” I grumbled. My legs ached, I was tired, and my feet kept slipping on the small rocks that lined the narrow dirt trail. I kept expecting to faceplant.
“Come on, pookie,” he teased. “You can do it.”
“Call me pookie again, and—” The words died on my lips as I crested the hill and caught sight of the view. It was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen, and that was saying something considering the past few months had been spent exploring Montana and all its stunning scenery.
“What do you think?” Brandon grinned, offering me a protein bar. “Worth the climb?”
I nodded, eagerly accepting the proffered treat. “Absolutely.”
“Good. I have another question for you.”
“Okay,” I said around a bite of protein bar. They were growing on me, especially the ones that tasted like a candy bar—chocolate and caramel gooiness. “Mmm.”
“Do I need to give you a moment alone with your bar?” he teased.
I smacked his arm, immediately regretting it as I shook out my hand. Would I never learn that his bicep was as hard as the boulders dotting the landscape?
“I want you to be my wife.”
I nearly choked on my bar. That night at the concert, he’d told me that one day he’d ask me to be his wife. I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. We’d only been dating—well dating for real—for a few months. But as Charlotte had once told me, sometimes you just knew. And with Brandon, I just knew I was meant to spend my life with him. That didn’t mean I was going to make it easy on him.
“Was there a question in there?” I teased once I’d finally caught my breath. My heart was still racing, and it wasn’t from the strenuous three-mile hike we’d just completed.
“I’ve been happier these past few months than I’ve been in years. You bring joy to my life, laughter and song. I want to hear your voice every day. I want to scale mountains and tackle parenthood with you. Whatever life throws our way, I want you at my side. And I want to be at yours.” With every word of his speech, my heart swelled.
He knelt to the ground, and pulled a small box out of his pocket.
“Staci Wildwood, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He peered up at me with such pure adoration, such love, and I knew he was my forever.
Before he could even open the box to reveal the ring, I said, “Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
He slipped the ring on my finger, the large diamond sparkling in the brilliant sunlight. My grin was so huge, it split my face. And I stretched up on my toes, fusing our lips together as if to seal the sacred promise we’d just made.
“That was worth the wait,” he finally said, though he was panting. Our foreheads were kissing, and his hands were on my back. My brain was fuzzy, but I could feel him everywhere he touched me.
We were partners, and I couldn’t wait for this next step in our adventure. Although our relationship had begun as something fake, it had turned into something real and enduring. And I knew that no matter what, we’d continue to learn and love each other for the rest of our lives.
As we kissed on the top of the mountain, it was so much better than our first kiss or even many of the kisses we shared since then. Because it conveyed all our hopes our dreams, washing away all the mistakes of our past. With his mouth slanted over mine, his fingers tangling in my hair, I knew that Brandon was my forever.
Thank you
Thank you so much for reading Catching the Billionaire. I hope you enjoyed Staci and Brandon’s story, and I’d so appreciate it if you took the time to write a review. Short or long, they mean the world to me.
About the Author
Elizabeth Blakely writes clean, swoon-worthy romance. She loves the magic of a well-told story, and her mom is forever grumbling at her ability to predict what will happen in movies.
Elizabeth spends her days chasing after her independent—and alarmingly clever—daughter, as well as hunting down new allergy-friendly recipes for them to cook together. Her husband heartily supports this endeavor by volunteering to sample any desserts. When she’s not cooking up something delicious, she can be found daydreaming about happily ever afters.
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