"You should probably put me down. There are reporters everywhere." The way she brushes her fingers through my wet hair says she doesn't really care. "Between leaving your house,confirming our relationship, and my dad showing up, I think we've scandalized them enough for the next few months."
"We're not going to see them."
"Oh?"
I palm her ass, grinning at her. "We're going to make a few of my dreams come true."
She's a sweaty mess,still plastered to the conference room door. I'm still inside her, breathing hard. But I'm not ready to let her go yet. I don't think I'll ever be ready for that.
"Marry me," I whisper against her ear.
"W-what?" She pulls back, blinking wide eyes at me.
"Marry me," I repeat, slipping my hand into my pocket to grab the ring I bought days ago, when she was reading my messages but adamantly refusing to respond. "Walk out of here with my cum dripping down your perfect legs and my ring on your finger where it belongs, Evie."
She stares at me silently, her eyes so wide and bottomless I want to fuck her all over again. I'm a little afraid she might tell me no, not because she doesn't want it, but because her dad was right today. She needs time to enjoy what she's built. She hasn't worked as hard as she has just for me to sweep in and smother her dreams with my own plans.
That isn't what I want for her, either. I just want to be the man standing beside her while she chases them. I want to be the one backstage, scooping her up after her shows, and the one cheeringfor her as hard as she did for me tonight. I just want her, every goddamn way I can have her.
"You're a madman, you know that?" she says. It isn't a no.
"You made me this way," I remind her, grinning. "I saw you in that locker room, and I lost my mind. I haven't been the same since, princess."
"Me either," she whispers.
"You going to be mad with me and say yes?"
"Depends."
"On what? Name it, and it's yours," I growl. "Whatever you want."
"That's the thing, Kingston," she says, her eyes wet when she meets my gaze this time. "I don't want anything but you, either. You've spent all this time trying to convince me that I'm the only thingyouwant, but I haven't spent nearly enough convincing you that you're all I need." Her hand shakes as she takes her ring from me. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I know you've probably had a million women throw themselves at you. You've probably been treated like a bank account or a meal ticket or a way to the top, just like I have."
"None of that matters," I murmur.
"You deserve to know that you're more than that, too," she whispers. "You're perfect, even when you're stalking me online or falling on your face or sending me every ridiculous thought you have." Her bottom lip quivers. "You're perfect when you try to dance and when you sing off-key. You're just perfect, all the time."
"Jesus," I rasp, my hands anchored around her waist.
"Marry me," she says, holding the ring up between us. "Please be my husband and let me keep you forever."
I blink at her. And then I grin. "Did you just co-opt my proposal, baby?"
She holds her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. "A little bit. You going to say yes?"
"Fuck yeah," I growl, pressing my lips to hers.
She smiles against them, and I just want to eat her the fuck up. God, she's perfect. So fucking perfect.
I take the ring from her hand, slipping it onto her finger.
When I kiss her this time, I taste tears, and I'm not entirely sure if they're mine or hers. It doesn't matter, though. She's in my arms, on my cock, finally wearing my ring. And her dad didn't kill me today.
Best goddamn day ever.
Epilogue
Evie