Her Prince Charming: An Inspirational Romance

by Faith Austen

  We’d had our only real fight the first time he left Atlanta for a family trip. He’d wanted me to join them. I said no. If I hadn’t had my job, I would have loved to fly East to meet his brother and cousin. But I had clients and responsibilities. I couldn’t just leave town in the middle of the week.

  James had given in eventually. I think it helped that things were better at work. I suspected either James had gone behind my back and spoken to my slimy boss, or my boss had found out who I was living with. Either way, he’d been keeping his distance and treating me with cautious respect. He also sucked at his job and the higher-ups had noticed. I guessed he’d be replaced any day now.

  I felt James at my back before I saw him. His arms came around me from behind, pulling me back into his chest as his head dropped beside mine. He kissed the shell of my ear and whispered,

  “Sorry I’m late.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, turning my head so I could press my lips to his. “I haven’t been here long. Just sitting here thinking.”

  “Hmm? Remembering the night we met? How I talked you into dating me so you could save my reputation?”

  He winked at me, giving me an exaggerated lear so unlike his normal, charming smile that I burst out laughing.

  “If your game had been that bad,” I said, “You never would have gotten me off this stool.”

  “It’s a good thing I knew exactly what to say to get you agree to my plan.”

  That was the understatement of the century. What if I had said no to him then? I would have missed so much. Watching him as he took the stool beside me, wearing a well cut gray suit, his dark hair mussed from the long day, I knew there was no way I would have told him no.

  I’d had my stupid moments. The whole debacle with Greg case in point. But even at my worst, I never would have been foolish enough to turn James down. And that was without knowing what a good man he was. How sweet. And how loyal. How loving.

  I waited for James to order something, but gave a dismissive signal to the bartender standing at alert a few feet away. The bartender left to polish glass on the far side of the room and I looked at James in confusion. We didn’t usually hang out at the bar of the restaurant unless it was part of an event for James’s work.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “You’re probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here instead of my office.”

  He sounded nervous, completely unlike himself. I realized with a jolt that I’d never seen James nervous. I straightened on my stool, alert to what might be going on. I had no clue. Trying to hide my confusion, I said,

  “The thought crossed my mind.”

  He reached out and took my hand in his, his green eyes locking on mine. “I saw you that night sitting here, and I knew you were someone special. I only talked to you for a few minutes before I knew I had to get to know you better. What I didn’t know was how quickly I’d fall in love with you. And how certain I’d be that you’re the only woman I’ll ever want.”

  Releasing my hand, he drew something from his pocket. My heart stuttered in my chest, and my brain froze. My eyes must have widened comically when I saw the black velvet box in his hand because he smiled and said,

  “Will you?”

  “Ask me the right way,” I said through a tight throat, too nervous to assume he was asking what I hoped he was asking.

  Standing, he tugged me off the stool, then dropped to one knee before me. Taking my left hand in his, he said,

  “Sara Cunningham, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. I want to make a life with you, have children with you, and grow old with you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Will you be my wife?”

  I managed to squeak out a ‘Yes’ as tears welled in my eyes. James slid the ring on my finger as he stood, pulling me into his arms. I lifted my head, meeting his lips with mine. His kiss was fierce, possessive, and filled with love. On the other side of the bar, I heard the pop of a champagne bottle opening. Two glasses clinked beside us.

  James let me go just long enough to pick up my champagne and hand it to me. I discretely wiped lipgloss from my lower lip, but ignored the champagne in favor of checking out my ring.

  It was huge. I didn’t know enough about jewelry to guess at the carat weight, but I knew big from small. This was bigger than big, just on the elegant side of too much. Set in platinum - I was sure James would have chosen the more expensive platinum over white gold - the ring had a large, round, brilliantly clear center diamond surrounded by a geometric bezel frame decorated with small diamonds, set in a pave band with yet more small diamonds. It was almost blinding as it sparkled on my hand.

  I had a habit of complaining to James when he spent too much money on me. Two months hadn’t been enough to break lifelong habits of sensible economy. But I wasn’t going to say a word about what this ring must have cost. I knew James too well to think he’d get anything less than the absolute best for my engagement ring.

  Raising my eyes to his, I said, “It’s beautiful. I love it. And I love you.”

  “Maybe this wasn’t the most romantic place to propose,” he said, again sounding a little uncertain. Was it possible even the mighty James Drake got a little off balance where marriage was concerned? To stop him from worrying I raised a finger and pressed it to his lips.

  “No,” I said. “This is the perfect place. Who would have thought when I was crying into my drink that I’d end up here, in love with the most wonderful man in the world, ready to spend the rest of my life with him.”

  That must have been the right thing to say because James’s uncertainty vanished. He scooped me up into his arms and turned for the exit, saying over his shoulder,

  “Have the champagne sent to the cottage along with dinner.”

  “We’re eating at your cottage?” I asked, holding on to his shoulders for balance.

  “I had them set it up on the porch. Though soon enough, we’ll be eating inside. Alone.”

  I shivered in his arms. So far we’d taken things slowly, stopping at kisses. James never pushed me for more. But now that we were engaged, the clock had started ticking. I tried not to want to rush to what would happen after our wedding. We’d waited this long, it would be foolish not to wait just a little bit longer. So we would.

  When we were finally together as a man and woman, it would be with God’s blessing. It would be all a marriage was meant to be. And tonight we had all the time in the world to be together. We had the rest of our lives.

  The Perfect Change

  An Inspirational Romance by Faith Austen

  Excerpt:

  They'd continued these talks during their drives to and from Tammy’s farm, with Janie relating to him her whole sad story. The sting of rejection and abuse from her parents, the siblings she never saw, the cruelty she witnessed, the vindication of her scholarship to Sterling, and the various triumphs that buoyed her lonely student life. They would talk long after they’d arrive at her door, just sitting in his truck and chatting. She realized in talking to him that she had many sources of pride in her life, and she took brief moments during their chats — just to stay silent and be thankful for them. She didn’t pray aloud, not knowing how Bradley would react, but pray she did nonetheless. Quietly, in her mind, on the ride home, then saying the words with Cookie next to her, when she was at home, alone. After a time, however, Bradley joined her, bowing his head solemnly and screwing his eyes shut like her Sunday-schoolers did.

  Janie also realized during this time that her life was marked by achievements but bereft of love — apart from the higher Love, of course. Aside from the wonderful West family and the respect and admiration of her crew with Habitats, she seldom allowed anyone close to her very core.

  Bradley had somehow broken through so many barriers in her heart, and she wilted a little inside to think of how soon they would be parted. Each plane of siding and stretch of cladding attached to Mrs. Welch's house took Janie further away from the life she’d come to love in Greenview.

 
And here he was, the man she'd come to admire and had opened up to so much, the man who rescued her from literal peril and emotional isolation — she would deny him the right to try and discover God for himself? Maybe, in thinking that Bradley want to discover the Light just to be with her, she failed to see the bigger, grander plan behind it all? Maybe, she was the conduit for him to find God…

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  Other Books By Faith Austen

  The Perfect Change

  Martha, Born to Serve

  Taming a Rebel Heart

  Her Prince Charming: An Inspirational Romance

  Copyright © 2015 by Faith Austen

  All rights reserved.

  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 permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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