by J. H. Croix
"You do?" I teased, wrapping my arm around her waist as we walked. "I can't even remember the last time I was here."
"Stop." She giggled, swatting my arm. Her emerald eyes were wide and happy as she turned her head to look up at me. "I don't believe for a second you don't remember bringing me here for our first date."
I snapped my fingers as though I was just placing it. "Oh yeah, that's right."
Marie laughed, shaking her head as a waitress welcomed us. I'd booked in advance, making sure to request our same table.
Pressing my palm to the small of Marie's back, I followed as the waitress guided us to our table. Her skin was warm beneath my hand, causing heat to snake up my arm and curl around my heart.
I loved this woman with every fiber of my being. If tonight went the way I was hoping it would, she would finally really be mine. With every step that I took, I could feel the small box in the pocket of my slacks against my thigh. It felt heavier than it had a right to. I suppose that might have been because what was in that box would hopefully come to mean the realization of the most important dream I’d ever had.
Marie marrying me, Austin and her becoming my family for real—that was the dream. Nerves ran through me as we approached our table, but then I'd been on edge all day. I'd picked up the ring this morning from the same jeweler who had designed my mother's all those years ago.
I wasn't nervous because I wasn't one hundred percent convinced that this was the right thing to do. I was nervous because I was worried Marie would think that it was too soon. I couldn't imagine my life without her and Austin in it, and I wanted to make it official.
It had been a few months since she'd moved back to Cypress, and they'd been the best months of my life. I spent every spare second I could with her and Austin. They already felt like my family in all the ways that mattered, but for this one.
"What can I get for you?" the waitress asked once we were seated.
"I'll have a glass of red wine please," Marie said and reached for my hand across the table.
Lacing our fingers together, I asked for the same, then ordered our food. Marie oohed and aahed when the food came. I hadn’t forgotten how much she’d loved the food here before. When we were done eating, she sat back in her seat and smiled, her eyes shining with lazy satisfaction. "Wow. That was delicious. The only thing that could possibly make this date better is a walk down by the river. I need to walk off that food.”
I cocked my head, sliding my hand into my pocket until my fingers closed around the little box inside it. "Is that the only thing?"
Marie shook her head from side to side, considering. "Maybe not, depends on what else you had in mind."
My heart jumped to my throat, my nerves kicking into overdrive. This was it. This was the moment.
God, please don't let me fuck this up. I swallowed past the knot of emotion thickening my throat and tried to remember all the things I'd wanted to say when I asked her.
I hadn't prepared a speech. That wasn't me. I’d had in mind all the reasons she meant so much to me, but just now, I was coming up blank, as if the lights had been shut off in my brain.
"I might have one more thing in mind." I pulled the ring from my pocket and pushed back on my chair so I could kneel in front of her on one knee. The restaurant was fairly empty, but even if it had been packed, I don't think I would have been able to see anything else than the way Marie's eyes widened and her lips parted before her hands flew to them.
"Marie Nix, our lives together have been a whirlwind of chaos and challenges. We haven't had it easy, but there was never a doubt in my mind that you were the girl for me. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for you, nowhere I wouldn't go and no one I wouldn't fight. You and Austin, you're my life. You're more than that, actually. You're my everything. The only way I can think of to make this date better is to have it end by you saying you'll be my wife. What do you say, will you marry me?"
Marie gaped at me, her eyes filling with tears as first disbelief and then elation crept into her eyes. "Of course. Yes, of course I will.
The next thing I knew, she was on the floor with me, throwing her arms around me and kissing me. I returned her kiss, tears of my own mingling with hers on our lips—though I'd never admit that to any of my brothers.
I drew back, keeping my arms around her as I flipped the lid on the ring box. The design I'd chosen was a white gold band with a beautiful, brilliant cut diamond I'd inherited from my mother with an emerald on either side.
Fresh tears jumped to Marie's eyes as I took the ring from its box and slid it onto her finger. It looked perfect on her, the emeralds the exact color of her eyes and the center stone sparkling as she moved her hand around, staring at the ring like she thought it might disappear into thin air.
There was one more hurdle. "I just have one more person to ask."
Confusion furrowed her brow as she looked up at me. "You don't have to ask my dad, he's not going to be in town for another few months."
"I meant Austin," I told her, taking her hand in mine and brushing my thumb over the ring. It was already getting warm from her skin. "I need to make sure he's okay with it."
Austin was staying the night with Sarah, but just like I’d planned my proposal to Marie, I’d planned how I was going to ask the little man too. Marie wound her hands into my hair, her smile radiant as she pulled me close. “I should’ve known you’d want to make sure he was happy too.”
“Always,” I whispered against her lips. “I love both of you so damn much.”
“And both of us love you right back.” The restaurant staff and the few other patrons started clapping as Marie and I kissed, perhaps a little too passionately for being in front of people, but I couldn’t stop myself. I couldn’t hold back. Not completely.
Marie loved me. She was going to be my wife.
“Best date ever,” Marie said with a sigh as I broke the kiss.
“Absolutely,” I agreed. Since I’d also arranged for the check to be taken care of beforehand, I pushed to my feet and held out my hand to help Marie up. “Ready to get out of here, future Mrs. Lovett?”
“Absolutely,” she repeated, a smile spreading on her lips.
The next morning, I picked Austin up from Sarah’s. Our fishing rods were in the back of my truck, and Marie had packed a bag with what seemed like half of what Austin owned and a lunch for both of us. He smiled when he saw me, running out of Sarah’s house. “Jeremy! Are we going fishing again?”
“We are, buddy. You and me, how’s that sound?”
“Awesome,” Austin cheered, dashing back to say goodbye to Sarah before he ran to my truck and started buckling himself in.
“Thanks for watching him,” I called to her.
She waved me off, blowing him a kiss. “Anytime. He’s just the sweetest thing.”
“You have fun?” I asked him when I got in the driver’s seat and headed off to the river.
“So much,” he told me, bubbling with excitement. “We played a really neat game, and Sarah bought a new puzzle I helped her build.”
“Sounds great.”
Sarah was a rock star to Austin. He chatted about his night all the way to the fishing spot. We unloaded the gear together and spent the morning fishing. He was getting more confident with every trip we took and proudly showed off his skills when he pulled out the first fish of the day.
“Well done.” I clapped my hands, applauding him as he explained to me exactly how he’d caught the fish. I was right there next to him, but he gave me a blow by blow anyway. I was used to it by now.
I helped him bait his line again when he was done. We cast it in and settled in for the wait. A familiar wave of nerves surged through me as a voice in the back of my mind whispered that it was time. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, so I went with the direct route.
“Hey, buddy, how would you feel if I married your mom?” Austin’s eyes, intently focused on the water, lifted to mine.
“For real?”
“For real.”
He jumped up, running toward me and swinging his thin arms around me. “Yay!”
“Is that a yes?” I asked, a grin spreading across my face.
“Yes!” he yelled, excited and happy as he jumped around doing a funny little dance.
The last few months had been challenging for him. Oh, he was more than happy to be back in Cypress Creek, but I’d watched some bumpy days when he got emotional over what happened to his father.
I swung him up for a tight hug before setting him down and ruffling my hand through his hair. “Can’t tell you how relieved I am.”
His gaze turned curious. “How come?”
“Well, buddy, you and your mom are a packaged deal. It’s important you feel good about me becoming part of your family.”
Austin was quiet and then nodded. “Right. Well, I think it’s awesome.”
He gave me a high-five and then spun back to his fishing rod, declaring he wanted to catch another fish before the day was done.
“How’d he take it?” Marie asked me in bed hours later.
I smiled fondly, already wishing I’d recorded Austin’s dance. “You saw him earlier, he was still bouncy.”
“But when you told him, he was fine?”
“Absolutely.”
It felt as if all the pieces in the puzzle were finally fitting together. Marie, Austin and I, after everything we’d been through together and all the near misses that’d just about torn us apart, we were finally going to be able to start building and living our lives together.
I, for one, could hardly fucking wait.
“That becoming one of my favorite words,” Marie sighed, leaning in to kiss me.
“Want to hear a few of mine?” My lips brushed hers, seeking out her neck as I planted kisses on it, planting one on her after every word. “Wife. Son. Forever.”
“I absolutely love the sound of those too,” she said.
I planned on spending the rest of my life showing her just how much I loved them.
Forever.
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The next title in the Shameless Southern Night Collection is coming soon! Sonny & Niki’s story, Slow & Steady, is due for release in July 2018.
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Click here to pre-order: Slow & Steady
Did you enjoy Jeremy and Marie’s story?
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The next trilogy features
Sonny and Niki!
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Releasing June 14, 2018
Acknowledgments
To our readers - because that’s why we write. JH always thanks her dogs & her hubs because they are her best cheerleaders. Well, that and coffee. Ali is a force of nature & thanks the army behind her with her hubs & three kids.
We decided to create a series together, and it’s been nothing but fun. A shout out to Yoly Cortez for making magic with the covers for this series and to our editor for holding our feet to the fire. A bow of thanks to our invaluable advance readers. Many, many thanks to Mary W., Charlotte B., Katelyn W. and Ashley B. They keep us in line and clean up the details. There were twice as many this time, but who’s counting?
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xoxo
Ali & JH
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in the historical farmlands of Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. Croix writes steamy contemporary romance with sassy independent women and rugged alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. Take a walk on the wild side of romance with her bestselling novels!
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Ali Parker is a USA Today Best Selling contemporary and new adult romance writer with more than a hundred and thirty books behind her. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and hanging out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.
She’s an entrepreneur at heart and loves coming up with more ideas than any one person should be allowed to access. She lives in Texas with her hubs and three kiddos and looks forward to traveling the world in a few years. Writing under eleven pen names keeps her busy and allows her to explore all genres and types of writing.
If you enjoyed her writing style, please check out her other pen names at the pen names link below!
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2018 J.H. Croix & Ali Parker
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Cormar Covers
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.