The hesitation was back in her face. But I got the courage to close the space between us, and I held her by the tops of her arms. She looked up at me with an unsure expression. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, and felt her sigh and relax against me.
“I can promise with full confidence that this won’t be happening again. I’ve been serious about you since I met you, Jessica. Though it took me a decade to realize it. I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.”
She looked up at me with a suspicious look on her face, though I caught the amusement in her eyes.
“Are you sure about that?” she teased. “Because if it happens again, I’d have to hit you, Ross. I’ve given you way too many passes.”
I snorted, and teased back, “You’d have to get in line. My mom’s the only family that’s constantly around, but I have aunts, uncles, and cousins that live out of town. You’ll get to meet them if you spend the holidays with us, and if they ever found out how stupid I was about all of this, they would be lining up to hit me first. And my mom would be first in line.”
She laughed. “My mom would probably worm her way into being second. Though, yeah, when we didn’t talk for a week, she got a little antsy, even got my Aunt Hayley to come back. They’ve both been begging me to take you back because they’ve never seen me so happy as when I’m with you.”
I smiled and pulled her in for a hug. She held on fiercely, and I placed a kiss on her hair as I sighed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make you happy enough to stop both our moms playing their silly games,” I watched as she giggled at my statement. I knew that I had a chance, and all this tension would come to an end.
Jessica
I leaned into Ross’s hold, hiding my face in his chest so he wouldn’t see just how relieved I was.
After I broke down when I saw him with that woman—Natalia—and had a chat with my mom, I’d decided to trust him. But that hadn't made it easy for me. He didn’t try to contact me that day, or days after that, and I’d get worried.
I’d told myself I would hear him out, but a big part of me had feared he’d take her back. She was, after all, Sophia’s real mom, when I was just a substitute.
“I knew about her,” I murmured into his chest. I felt him go still, then force himself to relax.
“When?”
I sighed and pulled back to look up at his face. He looked a little pained, probably because I couldn’t entirely hide the hurt in my face or my voice.
“Probably the day she came here first. I saw you with her, the two of you were talking. Well, she was flirting with you, and you didn’t do anything about it, so…” I chuckled a little and gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ll admit, I thought the worst. So, you’re not the only one that should be asking for forgiveness here.”
“No,” he said firmly with a shake of his head. “I wouldn’t blame you for thinking the worst. I didn’t exactly give you a reason to believe in me. I pretty much forgot all about you the moment she was on my doorstep.”
I couldn’t help a wince, because that fucking hurt. Ross’s arms tightened around me as if he was worried I would pull away. I relaxed into his hold again, rubbing a palm down his chest to reassure him I wasn’t going anywhere.
“I don’t mean that in the way you’re probably thinking. I can't picture, or want, a future with Natalia like I can with you. I kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. I didn’t want her to meet Sophia, but she’s her mother…”
“And you can't exactly stop her if she insists,” I finished.
He nodded. “It was pointless worrying about it. She asked to see her a few times, but she didn’t exactly insist on seeing her. I mean, she knows Sophia has been staying with my mom while she’s in town, and she’s never gone there to try and see her.”
“You don’t think she cares about her?”
“Maybe, in her way,” he said, though he looked doubtful. “And then she started talking about us getting back together for Sophia’s sake. And fuck, Jessica, I talked about it.”
“It’s understandable,” I said with a nonchalant shrug, though I was upset.
“It’s not, though,” Ross said in protest. “I did something stupid, and I will be sorry for it for a while. I should have told her to go away the first day she came. I haven’t even told Sophia about her being in town because I was worried about it upsetting her, and even more worried about her wanting to see her mother. And I didn’t even contact you to explain things. I was worried the whole day today; I couldn’t even work because I wasn’t sure what I would say to you.”
I’d noticed he was anxious. I thought it was a little funny because I was the one that had to be anxious, if he had told me anything other than what I hoped to hear.
“I want you to know I wasn’t mad at you, though. I never left you, either. I was just trying to let you have time to think things through and make your decisions, to give you space.”
“That’s all?” he asked, frowning.
I was going to nod, but I hesitated. Then I sighed. “Well, not entirely. When I found out she was your ex, and you weren’t cheating on me...”
I gave him a look of apology for that, but he just shook his head.
“I felt stupid for jumping to conclusions, but then you didn’t contact me, and I was waiting for you to reach out to me… so I had plenty of time to think up other scenarios.”
“And what did you think up?”
I sniffled and glanced away because I couldn’t look at him right then. “I wondered what I would do if we finally talked and you told me you and she would be getting back together. I would have stepped aside, of course, for Sophia’s sake. The woman is her mother. There were others, I guess that would have been even more painful.”
Ross groaned, sounding like he was the one in pain, and when I looked up at him, he had his eyes closed, his face twisted in a tortured expression.
“Ross? What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed.
“Ah, nothing, just,” he opened his eyes, “I can't believe I pushed you to thoughts like that. I made a real mess of things, didn’t I?”
I shook my head, smiling. “Not really. I mean, yeah, I was worried. But at least I know you thought things through. I wanted you to be sure of yourself, and now I know that I’m the one you want to be with, I’m happy.”
He looked stunned for a moment, then he just looked relieved. He pressed a line of kisses along my forehead. Then he pulled away, releasing all of me, to take only my arm. He tugged me behind him to the couch and sat down, pulling me down to lie against him. I went gladly, sighing once I had his arms around me again, and curled my legs up on the couch.
“Would you stay the night?” he asked, hesitance in his voice.
“Of course, Ross.”
I felt his chest move as he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good. My mom is going to be bringing Sophia over tonight. I wanted to tell her about Natalia, and… I want you to be there with me when I tell her.”
I was surprised he would ask, because I knew it meant how much he trusted me.
“Sure, Ross,” I murmured, snuggling closer and smiling happily to myself.
Jessica
I walked slowly down the stairs of my house, my mom and my aunt standing at the bottom and clapping their hands wildly.
I laughed.
“You two! You’d think I was going to my wedding or something. Ross hasn’t even told me what we’re doing tonight.”
It was a surprise for me, and I trusted Ross. Mom and Aunt Hayley shared a look between them that immediately made me suspicious. I wondered if Ross had told them, and why they were keeping it from me.
“You look beautiful, honey,” Mom said, rushing forward to hug me, being careful of my makeup and hair, that she and my aunt had helped me with.
“You do,” Aunt Hayley said with a nod of her head. “If he weren’t in love with you already, he would have fallen for you tonight.”
I knew she was just teasing, but I couldn’t hel
p flushing in pleasure. Ross had picked out the dress and insisted I wear it, apparently with help from both our moms, who provided the accessories. It was a strapless maxi dress in a pale blue they all said complemented my eyes. I was pretty sure both of them were in on the big secret that I felt everyone had been keeping from me for a couple of weeks.
At least I knew it wasn’t anything bad. It had been six months since the whole thing with Natalia was sorted out and I felt better about us acting like a family unit as far as Sophia was concerned, rather than always fighting. That was, until she met Sophia and they spent the day together. Then, the next day she was gone. She disappeared without a word. I just didn’t understand it. Yet, I was alone, everyone else had expected her to leave even sooner.
“Can't you two at least give me a hint?” I begged. Just because I knew it wasn’t anything bad, didn’t mean I wasn’t anxious about it.
“What is he planning? Just a little bit?”
They both just laughed at me and came at me to give me some more hugs. Then there was the sound of a horn outside.
“That’ll be your young man,” Mom said, planting a hand on my back and urging me forward. “Don’t you dare keep him waiting.”
I rolled my eyes at her antics, but I did leave. When I saw Ross’s car outside, I felt a bit giddy. I had the feeling like it had all happened before, but I didn’t think too much about it as I ran down the porch steps and across the drive to get to the car. I jumped inside and turned to Ross with a huge smile. It melted into shock when I saw he was wearing a full tux. Again, there was that niggling familiarity.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
Over my shock, I smiled. “Definitely.”
We drove around, and I was growing more confused by the moment. When we stopped outside his house less than half an hour later, I turned to Ross.
“What’s going on?”
He just smiled. “Wait there. I’ll explain in a moment.”
He got out of the car and rushed around the front to open my door for me. He held his hand out, and I let him help me out of the car. Then he curled my arm around his and walked me to the door.
“I didn’t want to make it too big a production, but I did do my best.”
He opened the door and let us in, and I got the shock of my life. Because that niggling familiarity wasn’t just back, I recognized everything. Even in his small living room, with all the furniture pushed aside. It would be difficult to mistake the terrible decorations and the low lighting.
“Prom?” I said quietly, glancing up at him.
He nodded, looking a little anxious. He pulled me further into the room. There was slow music playing already, and it was exactly the song they’d played that night. I wondered how he remembered it that well. It was after we’d danced to the song that everything had gone wrong.
“I looked around for some photos and videos, so I’d get everything just right. I’m reenacting the whole thing, trying to fix what I ruined back then. My mom even played her part and took photos of me when I left the house to pick you up.”
“When did you? How did you? Why did you?”
I couldn’t find words. Maybe because the setting was bringing back memories, and not necessarily good ones. I looked up to meet his eyes. I still thought he seemed nervous, but he smiled at me with confidence.
“Trust me, Jessica. This isn’t going to be a complete replay. And I know you forgave me, but I wanted to give you the good memory I should have back then.” His smile looked nervous for a moment. “Or something along those lines. I do hope you like this.”
We danced, and I held back my worries. We’d been together for over six months, we were happy together. There was a long line of family and relatives and friends from both our sides that would be lining up to hit him if he ever made a wrong move. I was fine.
After a few minutes, the song drew to a close. My heart was beating fast as I remembered that night. Ross had looked as nervous back then as he did at this moment at the end of the song, when they were supposed to announce the prom king and queen and, instead, I got the shock of my life. I’d wanted Ross to kiss me at the end of the song, and I was hurt when he didn’t, and all my visions of the rejection of my first prom were replaying in my mind.
Ross pressed his lips to mine. It calmed my heart a little, as there was a break from the old script. I went to wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss, but he pulled away from me. Then he did the last thing I expected.
Ross dropped to one knee, one of his hands reaching inside his coat pocket. My mind knew what he would pull out, and I still gasped when he held the small white box up to me.
“Ross?” I said, my voice shaky. “What are you…?”
He smiled nervously, opening the box to show me the silver ring with three diamonds shaped in a crown. I didn’t even realize I was crying until the tears blurred my vision.
“I never got to do this before, and I’m pretty sure I’m not good at it,” he started.
I let out a sob. He reached for my hand with his free one, and I gave it freely, squeezing back when he squeezed my fingers gently.
“I love you, Jessica. More than anything, other than my daughter.” He paused, and we both laughed because we both loved her the most. Then another gentle squeeze. “The past several months, I won’t say they were the happiest. I was happy before I met you with my little family that was just my daughter and me. But ever since you joined us, we’ve both come to love you, and want you to join our family, officially. We’ve talked about you adopting Sophia, but this comes first.”
He paused again and took a deep breath. I had my other hand pressed against my mouth to hold back the sobs wanting to come out.
“Jessica,” he said, his voice low but clear, dark eyes watching me intently. “Will you please marry me?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I’d expected the question, but it brought back another wash of tears. Ross waited me out patiently, and I tried to get hold of myself, so I could give him an answer. When I did, it was in a low whisper, but very strong:
“Yes.”
I couldn’t get more out without breaking down again. Ross grinned up at me. Using one hand, he pulled the ring out of the box, snapping it shut. Then he adjusted the hand he held, so it lay flat on his palm, and I watched through blurry vision as he put the ring on my finger.
Then he rose up, his arms wrapping tightly around me as he lifted me to spin me around. I realized he was laughing, and joined in a second later. He set me down and pressed a hard kiss to my lips.
“There’s still one more thing,” he said excitedly.
Ross held my hand and pulled me behind him. I kept my eyes on his back as he led us out to the back porch, and I got a second surprise when I saw our families there. There were more decorations put up, this time more tasteful, and everyone was dressed up. Even Sophia was there, between our moms, wearing a pale pink princess dress.
“She said yes!” Ross yelled, throwing up both our hands.
There were shouts and whoops and calls of congratulations as they caught sight of the engagement ring on my finger. Sophia squealed and jumped up and down before rushing us. Ross let go of my hand to pick her up and throw her up in the air as they both laughed in delight. Our moms came forward for hugs and kisses, followed by our other relatives that had come into town, likely for just this occasion.
Then Ross was there, holding Sophia. They were both smiling at me, Ross holding out a hand for me to join them. They both pulled me into a hug that lasted a few minutes, until my mom started complaining, to shouts and laughter, about sharing the soon-to-be-bride and we broke up to join everybody else.
I looked around at my family, and I thought I couldn’t be happier.
Check out the rest of the One More series!
Book 1 - One More Kiss
Book 2 - One More Turn
Book 3 - One More Chance
Book 4-One More Night
About Roxy Sinclaire
Roxy S
inclaire writes steamy, suspenseful romantic stories as the main genre, and this includes a variety of different topics. Some of these include dark romances, action packed romances, mafia romances, and many more. She currently works in customer relations in New York City, but is trying to fulfill her passion in writing and eventually have her dream job become a reality.
Please see her Author Central Account on Amazon for a full list of her titles.
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For more information, be sure to check out the links below!
roxysinclaire.com
[email protected]
Also by Roxy Sinclaire
Bundles:
Book Boyfriends
Omerta Series Box Set Books 1-3 (Volume 1)
Pass To Win Series:
Touchdown: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 1)
Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Book 2)
Between The Tackles: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 3)
Fourth and Goal: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 4)
Game Winning Catch: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Book 5)
Second Chance Draft: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Book 6)
Mafia Romance Series:
Dirty Indiscretions: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 1)
Her Protection: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Book 2)
Deadly Ink: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 3)
His Revenge: A Mafia Revenge Romance (Book 4)
His Betrayal: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Book 5)
Dangerous Indulgence: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 6)
Romantic Secret Agents Series:
Lethal Seduction (Book 1)
Deadly Seduction (Book 2)
Toxic Seduction (Book 3)
Second Chance Draft: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 6) Page 48