Slow Play
Page 30
“You’ve changed my life.” Breathing deep, he shifts away from me, taking my hand in his and falling to his knee. “I’m a better man because of you.”
“Tristan,” I say shakily. I’m trembling and I swear my heart is in my throat. What is he doing?
Oh my God, I think I know what he’s doing.
“I never thought this would happen to me. I didn’t believe in relationships. I didn’t think I would ever find a woman I wanted to date exclusively, let alone spend the rest of my life with.”
I press my lips together so I don’t do something humiliating. Like start crying.
“I know we’ve been together for only a short amount of time, but I was told a long time ago that when you know, you know. And Alexandria, I know.” He pulls out a small black box from the front pocket of his jeans, pops it open and holds it out toward me. “I love you. Will you be my wife?”
The tears flow freely, raining down my cheeks, making me sniff unattractively. I’m sure I look a mess but how else could I react? This is totally unexpected. “Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I’ll be your wife Tristan.”
He waves the box at me. “Do you like the ring?”
It’s simple, a round diamond with a plain band. The diamond is—large. But this is Tristan after all, so I expect nothing less. “It’s beautiful.”
He rises to his feet, pulls the ring out of the box and takes my left hand, slipping the ring on my finger. “Perfect,” he says, his gaze lifting to meet mine.
“You’re crazy.” I wave my fingers, the ring sparkling in the light.
“Why?”
“We’ve only been going out for a few months. What are our friends going to say?”
“The majority of them know about my plans so they’ll say congratulations,” he says smugly.
“You.” I sock him gently in the shoulder when he tosses the empty box onto a nearby chair. “Seriously. Aren’t we moving a little too fast?”
“When it comes to you, angel, nothing is too fast. I’m not going to act like that asshole Mr. Big who wasted too much time when he should’ve just been with Carrie.”
Oh, he’s talking about SATC again. He knows just how to get to my heart. Except…
“You’re not a Big fan?”
“Hell, no.” He looks sheepish. “I prefer Aidan.”
“Eww!” I sock him on the shoulder again, harder this time, and he grabs hold of me, hauling me in close. “Aidan is yuck. Too boring. I prefer a guy with an edge.”
“You don’t say?” Tristan says, making me laugh. “Big is an asshole.”
I pluck at the front of his shirt, his intoxicating scent surrounding me. “I’m kind of partial to assholes.”
“Thank Christ,” he mutters. “Hey. Look at me.”
I do as he asks, my once again tear-filled gaze meeting his. This moment is—huge. I can’t believe he wants to marry me. I can’t believe how much my life has changed in such a short amount of time—all because of this man. “I love you. You love me. We belong together. It’s as simple as that.”
I’m full on grinning now as I blink away my tears. “Can that be our wedding vows?”
He leans in, his mouth close to mine. “Whatever you want, Ali, I’ll work my damn hardest to give it to you,” Tristan murmurs just before he kisses me.
I know without a doubt that he will.
Have you read THE RULES series?
Bad enough Jade Frost’s boyfriend drags her to a boring poker game. Even worse that he actually threw her into the betting pot during an intense round…and lost. Talk about the perfect excuse for Jade to make him her ex-boyfriend.
Now she supposedly belongs to the ultra rich, extremely gorgeous Shep Prescott. He could have anything he wants yet he seems to be in hot pursuit of her. No matter how rude, how snarky, how impossible she acts, it doesn’t stop him. More like her horrible behavior seems to make him want her more.
When she finds herself starting to fall for him, Jade’s confused. There’s more to Shep than the carefree rich charmer he portrays. No way could he want a serious relationship with her…or could he?
Read Fair Game, first book in THE RULES series now!
Stuck spending the summer with his screwed up family, Gabriel Walker is bored out of his mind and looking for an adventure. And he seems to find it with the hot girl who lives next door. The attraction between them is instant. Electric. Soon they’re spending every stolen minute together. Talk about the perfect summer fling…
Lucy isn’t what she seems. She doesn’t live next door—she’s the girl who’s been hired to house sit for the summer while the family goes on a worldwide vacation. If Gabe wants to believe she’s a spoiled rich girl looking for some fun, she can go along with that. After the summer, she’ll never see him again.
They don’t count on running into each other at college. Now Lucy must keep up the pretense of being a rich girl—and it’s exhausting. She knows she’s falling in love with Gabe and she’s scared he feels the same. Will he still care about her when he discovers the truth?
Read In The Dark, second book in THE RULES series now!
Want to keep up on my latest releases on Amazon? Hit the follow button below my photo here.
Read other books by Monica Murphy
NEVER TEAR US APART is the first novel in Monica Murphy’s new darkly sexy contemporary series that kicks off an emotionally powerful two-part tale of forbidden love, coming January 5th, 2016.
A long time ago, when I was fifteen and a completely different person, I saved a girl’s life. I spent only a handful of hours with her, but somehow, we connected—and I’ve never been the same. No one understands what we went through. No one knows what it’s like to be us. We survived, yet I don’t feel like I’m really living—until now. Eight years later, I find her. I want to make her mine. I need to make her mine. But she’ll hate me forever when she finds out who I really am.
Pre-order Never Tear Us Apart now!
Advance praise for Never Tear Us Apart
“A powerful story that left me raw, yet hopeful.”
—USA Today bestselling author K. A. Tucker
“All the best parts of romance and betrayal...I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jay Crownover
It takes a village is the old saying and boy, is it true. I don’t know where I’d be without my village. So a big thank you to the following: Sarah Hansen from Okay Creations for the gorgeous covers, Autumn Hull for handling all of my publicity and editing needs (and having to deal with my almost daily texts), to Dana Waganer for your thorough proofreading, Kati Rodriguez for creating the most beautiful quote graphics ever, for putting together my newsletter and for putting up with me, and to Katy Evans for being there when I need you (I can’t do this without you wifey!).
To the bloggers, reviewers, readers: I can’t do this writing thing without you. Thank you for your support, your sweet words, your criticisms, your everything. I mean it. This is my dream job and that you continue to buy my books means the world to me.
To the ladies from Sex and the City: Who would’ve thought all those years ago when I religiously watched you every Sunday night on HBO, that I would end up using one of my all time favorite shows almost as a secondary character in my book? Thanks to YouTube for having all those memorable clips so readily available.
To my husband and children: Thanks for putting up with me when I work all the damn time. I love you.
I never thought I could love the other boys as much as I loved Shep but Tristan did it. I love him most of all. I hope you do too.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet, without the publisher's pe
rmission and is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment.
Slow Play
Copyright 2015 by Monica Murphy
This ebook is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Published in the United States of America
First electronic publication: October 2015 by Monica Murphy.
www.monicamurphyauthor.com
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to the original vendor and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Interior designed and formatted by:
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Books by Monica Murphy
About Slow Play
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
THE RULES series
NEVER TEAR US APART
Acknowledgements
Copyright Notice