“I have a question for you,” I tell her, as she brings her bag to the edge of the island and starts to search through it.
“What’s that?” she asks, stopping her search long enough to look up at me. I set down my coffee and lean forward, grabbing her hand. I pull her toward me to stand between my legs then I lift her left hand to rest over my heart, and covering it with my own before reaching into my pocket. “What are you doing?” she whispers, studying me.
“First, you are going to do great today, so stop worrying. You love kids. That will shine through with them, and you’re you, so they’re going to love you,” I tell her, and then I lift her left hand away from my chest. “Second, do you mind wearing this for me?” I slide the simple four-carat diamond solitaire Tiffany ring I bought for her onto her ring finger. A ring I started looking for after our first kiss. A ring I didn’t find until a week ago, after searching every jewelry store from here to Georgia. I wanted the ring to be perfect, and looking at it on her hand, I know it is. Now I just hope she says yes.
I didn’t know I would propose to her this morning, but seeing her get ready for work and feeling her excitement about starting a new job, I knew the time was right. This moment is right. I want her to go to work with a ring on her finger that lets everyone know she belongs to someone, that she has a family who loves her.
Hearing her breath catch, I come out of my head and watch her study the diamond now sitting at the base of her ring finger on her left hand. “I… you… I….” She looks from me to the ring then back again.
“I want you to start your new job as my fiancée. I want today to be the start of our life together.” I lift her hand and kiss her finger over her ring. “Will you marry me, Gia?”
“Yes,” she answers immediately, and I rest my forehead to hers. I knew it’d feel good if she said yes, but I had no idea just how relieved I’d be.
“Best thing that ever happened to me is you. You’re the best part of my day, the best part of my life, and I’m really looking forward to spending my life with you.”
“You’re going to make me cry,” she whispers, and I see tears pooling in her green eyes.
“You can’t cry. You need to get to work,” I tell her, and she laughs, closing her eyes.
“I can’t even show you properly how happy I am.” She opens her eyes as she slides her hand up my chest to wrap around the back of my neck, which means I feel all of her pressed against me, and all of that is good.
“Tonight.” I slide my hands down her back then over her ass, pulling her tightly against me.
“Tonight,” she agrees against my mouth.
“Something to look forward to.” I slant my head, and when her lips part, I slip my tongue into her mouth, tasting her and the coffee she was drinking earlier. Knowing if I don’t stop this now I won’t stop and she’ll be late to her first day at work, I slow the kiss and pull back. “I love you, Gia.” I open my eyes, finding hers still closed.
“I love you, Colton.” She runs her fingers down my jaw then her eyes meet mine. “Best thing that ever happened to me in my life is you, and I’m really looking forward to being your wife. I promise I will try to make you as happy as you make me.” She whispers as one single tear slides down her cheek.
“You just breathing my air makes me happy, baby,” I promise, and her face softens. “I hate that you gotta go, but you need to get to work.”
She glances to the side where the clock is before she looks at me once more. “You so owe me tonight,” she grumbles, seeing the time, and I grin.
“I’ll gladly pay up.” I kiss her once more then let her go, and I watch her gather her stuff up. Once she’s ready, I walk her out to her Jeep, help her in, and kiss her once more before slamming her door and watching her back out and drive away.
Heading back to the house with Loki following behind me, I do it smiling. I had big dreams my whole life, but the life I’m living is better than any dream I ever had, and I know with Gia by my side through the good times and bad that will always be the case.
EPILOGUE
Colton
Three years later
“COME ON. YOU CAN do it,” Gia says, and our eleven-month-old son Gino smiles a toothless smile at his mom and takes another step, wobbling when his feet find purchase. “There you go. You got this,” she urges excitedly, getting up on her knees, and he takes another step then falls forward into her chest, giggling.
Seeing that, I smile and make my way toward them, with Loki following behind me, and Reggie, our newest pup, following behind him. I reach the edge of the blanket Gia laid out on the ground in the grass under one of the trees in the yard, and sit down behind her. I drag her back between my spread legs, resting my hands on her round stomach where our daughter is growing.
“Hey.” She smiles, looking over her shoulder at me, and I kiss the side of her neck then listen to her laugh as Gino crawls over her to get to me.
Once he’s in my arms, his tiny hands come to my cheeks and he studies me like he always does. Looking into his eyes, which are the same color as his mom’s, I smile, and he returns it then pats my cheek, dropping his head down to my shoulder. “How are you feeling?” I ask studying my wife who seems to get more beautiful every day.
“Tired but okay.” She sighs. “How much longer until her room’s done?” she asks, rubbing her belly.
I rest my hand over hers there. “Not much longer. It will be done before she gets here.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” she says, and I grin.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen you sneaking in there at night.”
“I don’t do that.”
“Babe, I’ve seen you.”
“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes then settles herself sideways against me so as not to disturb Gino. “You know, if we have another baby after this one, we’re going to have to build again.”
At her words, I look back at the house. We added onto it just about two years ago, when we were just talking about having a child and starting a family. At the time, we added on another room with a Jack and Jill bath downstairs, along with a master bedroom, leaving the loft and turning that into a family room. We also expanded the living room and the kitchen and added a dining room, but even with all of that extra square footage, she’s right. If we have another baby, we’re going to have to add another room.
“When the time comes, we’ll deal with that,” I mutter, not wanting to think about it right now. Construction the first time around had been a pain in the ass, and I can’t imagine it would be any different the second. Actually, it would probably be worse, seeing as we will have two kids.
“Are you two gonna stay out here a while?” I ask after a few minutes, and she nods. “All right, take him, baby. I’m going to go back in and finish up what I was doing.” I hand her over Gino, who had fallen asleep, then give her a quick kiss and stand, watching her lie down with our boy, his tiny body tucked close to hers. Seeing they are good, I head back inside and get back to work finishing up my daughter’s room.
Which is a good thing, since later that night, Gia goes into labor and our daughter Gracie is born.
~**~
With Gia next to me in her rocker, Gracie in one arm, and Gino in the other, I rock both my babies, watching the sun start to set.
“I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing you with our babies,” Gia whispers, and I look at her warm eyes and feel my chest get tight. “I love you, Colton.”
Fuck.
I got lucky the day she moved to town. Luckier still the day she agreed to be my wife. And even luckier the days she gave me my son and then our daughter. I keep waiting for my luck to run out, but with her, I doubt it ever will.
“Love you too, baby,” I say, and she leans over, kissing my jaw then mouth. Yes, I’m goddamn lucky.
Gia
One year later
Hearing Colton shut the door to our room, I watch him set the baby monitor on the bedside table then take off his shirt and jeans.
He pulls back the covers and gets into bed. Tugging me against his chest, I rest my arm over his abs then tip my head back. “Are they asleep?”
“Yep,” he replies, turning off the lamp on his side of the bed.
“Good.” I rest my head back down against his chest and start to close my eyes.
“Are you happy, baby?”
Squeezing his middle, I lift my head to look at him through the dark. “How could I not be happy? You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted, even the things I didn’t know I wanted,” I tell him, and his muscles under my arm tense. “Are you happy?”
“Fuck yeah.” His answer is immediate and firm, and my forehead drops to his chest. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper against his skin before he drags me up his body using his hands under my arms. Once he has me where he wants me, he kisses me then shows me with his hands, mouth, and body just how much he loves me. And when he’s done, I know it’s a lot.
~**~
“No, no, no, no!” Gino shouts, and I look at my husband, who is grinning at our boy and watching him with his finger out shaking his hand at me.
“Who in the world taught him that word?” I ask, and Colton turns to look at me and grins even bigger.
“My guess is he learned it from you, since you tell him no all the time.”
“Uh, yeah, when he’s trying to do something he shouldn’t be doing, like jump off the arm of the couch, shove anything he can find into the electrical sockets, pulling the air vents out of the floor, or drop whatever he can get his hands on down said air vents. Or when he takes a mouthful of water and spits it out on the floor then tries to lick it up saying ‘puppy.’”
“See? You tell him no a lot,” he laughs, and I look at my son and sigh, and then look at my daughter and watch her studying her brother in utter fascination. Colton’s mom calls the kids Irish twins, since they are so close in age. We didn’t plan it like that. Gracie was a complete surprise to us. A good one, but still, we were not expecting to get pregnant right after Gino was born. Not that I would change a thing, but really, with the kids so close together, they are a handful, especially since Gracie wants to do everything her brother does. Which is exactly the thing she shouldn’t be doing.
Pulling my eyes from my daughter, I look at my husband then our son and close my eyes briefly, saying a silent thank you to whoever is up there watching over me. I really do have it all. I might have fallen fast, but I fell right into the perfect life.
The End
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First I have to give thanks to God, because without him none of this would be possible. Second I want to thank my husband. I love you now and always—thank you for believing in me even when I don’t believe in myself. To my beautiful son, you bringing such joy into my life, and I’m so honored to be your mom.
To every blog and reader, thank you for taking the time to read and share my books. There would never be enough ink in the world to acknowledge you all, but I will forever be grateful to each and every one of you.
I started this writing journey after I fell in love with reading, like thousands of authors before me. I wanted to give people a place to escape where the stories were funny, sweet, and hot and left you feeling good. I have loved sharing my stories with you all, loved that I have helped people escape the real world, even for a moment.
I started writing for me and will continue writing for you. XOXO Aurora
OTHER BOOKS BY
AURORA ROSE REYNOLDS
The Until Series
Until November Until Trevor Until Lilly
Until Nico Second Chance Holiday
Underground Kings Series
Assumption Obligation Distraction
Until Her Series
Until July Until June Until Ashlyn Until Harmony (Coming Soon)
Until Him Series
Until Jax Until Sage
Shooting Stars Series
Fighting to Breathe Wide-Open Spaces One last Wish (Coming soon)
Fluke my life series
Running into love
Stumbling into love (Coming soon)
Tossed Into Love (Coming soon)
Stepping Into Love (coming Soon)
Ruby Falls Series
Falling Fast
One more time (Coming Soon) Tide’s book
Alpha Law CA ROSE
Justified
Liability
Verdict (Coming Soon)
Standalone
Finders Keepers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aurora Rose Reynolds is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose wildly popular series include Until, Until Him, Until Her, and Underground Kings.
Her writing career started in an attempt to get the outrageously alpha men who resided in her head to leave her alone and has blossomed into an opportunity to share her stories with readers all over the world.
For more information on Reynolds’s latest books or to connect with her, contact her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ AuthorAuroraRoseReynolds, on Twitter @Auroraroser, or via e-mail at
[email protected]. To order signed books and find out the latest news, visit her at www.AuroraRoseReynolds.com or www.goodreads. com/author/show/7215619.Aurora_Rose_Reynolds.
Aurora Rose Reynolds, Falling Fast
(Series: # )
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