“No,” we all said in unison. Since bringing Hades home, Reid had moved into the area, and the two had become inseparable. Reid actually ignored us to hang with the goat whenever he visited.
“Why didn’t they announce anything?” Becca asked, crossing her arms.
I pulled her tight against my chest. “I think you have an unhealthy obsession with this show . . . we should turn it off.”
“No!” She reached for the remote. I wasn’t actually going to turn it off, plus I had a surprise, or Oompa Loompa did.
“Do you ever wonder,” Rex said from his spot on the beach on TV, “what happens to our couples afterwards? Well, I have it on good authority that our last Bachelor’s getting hitched! Congrats from all of us to Max and Becca!”
Becca stilled on my lap.
I grinned and waited for her to yell or say something.
“Um?” Becca turned and glared. “Is that how you’re proposing?”
“No.” I shook my head. “That was me preparing you for the most epic of proposals ever in the history of the universe. I figure it’s only fair.”
Milo rolled her eyes in my direction.
“What?” Becca asked.
“Fair,” I repeated. “I didn’t want you to have a heart attack or blame me because your makeup starts watering all over the place from the tears.”
“Tears?” She squinted. “Do you see tears?”
“Oh.” I nodded. “There will be tears, lots and lots of tears.”
“I’m waiting.”
“Impatient . . .” I sighed. “When will she learn, guys? Max’s way is the best way, the only way, the—”
Becca clapped her hand over my mouth. “Are you seriously going to ruin the proposal before it even starts?”
I shrugged.
And that’s when the music started . . . the commercial break had taken longer than I’d thought.
The music was soft—classical—and on the TV screen were pictures and images of Becca and me on the show together. Each image brought up a different memory . . . I wanted to remind her how we’d fallen in love.
When the screen went to black words popped up that said, “Will you marry me, Becca?”
“So here’s the thing.” I gently pushed her from my lap, set her on the couch, and got down on both knees. “It’s important that we always revisit our past . . . revisit how we fell in love, why we fell in love . . . so that when we’re looking towards our future, we realize what we have is based on something solid, something real, not just a TV show, but lots of amazing moments that, well, most of the known world witnessed.” I smiled as a few tears streamed down Becca’s cheeks. “I love you, I want to make you my wife. I want to have children with you, spend eternity with you, possibly start a goat farm if you’re cool with it, and totally get a girl gecko for G . . .”
Becca burst out laughing, then covered her mouth with her hands.
“But most of all?” I pulled the three-karat princess-cut engagement ring from my pocket. “I just want you. Every day. Every night. Every moment. I want you.”
Her breath hitched as I held the ring out in front of me.
“I was going to put it on the goat but we were afraid he’d eat it.” I sighed.
Becca grabbed the ring and shoved it on her finger, then jumped off the couch and tackled me to the ground, nearly taking Little G with us. “Yes! Yes! I’ll marry you!”
“Good.” I sighed against her mouth. “Because you would have broken Little G’s heart had you said no.”
She raised her eyebrows. “His heart?”
“And mine,” I admitted. “I love you . . .”
“I love you too.”
“Can someone thank me now?” Jason interrupted.
Becca moved away from me and held out her hand, helping me up. “What?”
“For putting Max on the show.” Jason puffed out his chest. “That was all my idea.”
“Oh, I’ll be thanking you . . .” I smirked. “But not until after I’m done thanking my brother . . . my dear sweet brother.”
Reid’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t like the sound of your voice.”
“I’d be afraid, man,” Colt said from his spot on the couch. “Revenge is a bitch.”
“Please,” Reid snorted. “I hardly think I’m in danger of being Max’s next target.”
The room fell silent.
Reid shifted in his seat.
“Thank you.” Becca broke the silence. “For forcing Max on the show . . .” She turned in my arms and kissed my mouth. “And thanks for not jumping out of the plane.”
“Shark-infested waters,” I said honestly. “I would have died.”
“Aren’t you so glad you didn’t?”
“Very.” I growled against her mouth, “Wanna see how much?”
“I think we can all . . . see.” Colt choked while Milo giggled next to him.
“Stay out of this,” I barked. “Open the champagne, turn the TV on as loud as possible, and we’ll possibly be back in two hours.”
“Two hours?” Jason laughed. “Please . . .”
“Last night it was three.” Becca winked.
More popcorn fell out of Jason’s mouth.
“She’s lying.” Reid rolled his eyes, “No way can a man—”
“He can.” She whispered into my ear, “He does.”
“Damn straight.” I picked her up into my arms and charged down the hall. I was going to spend the next two hours showing her just how much I loved her . . . and how thankful I was that Jason had decided to give me the push I needed.
Even if it did make me want to kill him.
I’d get him back.
But first . . . I was going to make love to my woman.
Later . . . I’d get even with both Jason and Reid.
They wouldn’t see it coming.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2014 Lauren Murray
Rachel Van Dyken is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author of Regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing, you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her husband and their snoring boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com.
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