Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“Good evening, Ms. Holland.” He nodded and passed me a glass. “Mr. Langston.”
A breeze blew the bottom of the white tablecloth around and brought with it the smell of something delicious. I looked around as music started to play in the distance. “Wow. This is amazing. When did you plan all this?”
He smiled. “The music wasn’t me. I’m not even sure where it’s coming from.”
The waiter pulled out a chair for me, but Jagger waved him away. “Give us a few minutes, please.”
He bowed. “Of course, sir.”
Jagger took both my hands. When I felt his shaking, I jumped to the only logical conclusion. “Are you cold?”
He shook his head.
“But you’re shivering.”
He smiled. “I guess I’m a little more nervous than I thought I’d be.”
“Nervous about…”
Jagger bent down on one knee.
Oh. My. God. I’m a total idiot! Romantic setting, hands trembling… I’d never seen this man nervous before, so it hadn’t dawned on me that could be an option. I pulled a hand away and covered my mouth.
Jagger took a box out of his pocket. “If someone would’ve told me fifteen months ago that I was going to meet the love of my life—a twenty-four-year-old virgin about to start an internship at my company, oh and her stepfather was one of my executives—I would’ve told them they were out of their minds. We were never supposed to work. I was all business, including in my personal life. I was pessimistic, controlling, and didn’t believe in love. And you—you had been through hell and back, yet you were still optimistic, still open to new things, and held out hope that your Prince Charming was out there.”
Jagger smiled. “I’m no Prince Charming. But somehow you got me to start thinking the unthinkable—that maybe the world wasn’t such a bad place, that maybe some things were worth the risk, even if I couldn’t control the outcome, and maybe—maybe the reason I’d never wanted more from a woman was because I hadn’t met you yet.”
I felt tears in my eyes.
“Sutton, I love you because despite how different we are, you never try to change me. You don’t run away when I push. You stay and fight for what you believe in, and you have believed in us from the start.”
Jagger took a deep breath. “I still like rules and order. But a wise woman once told me that every rule needs an exception. Because while rules keep your life organized, it’s the exceptions that make it interesting.” He opened the little black box, and inside was a gorgeous, princess-cut diamond set in white gold. The entire band was encrusted with teeny-tiny pearls. He took it from the box and held it out to me.
“Sutton Holland, you are my pearl. You are my forever exception. You are my world. You brought me back to life, and there is nothing I want to do but live every day of that life trying to be the man you deserve. So, please tell me you’ll marry me, because there is nothing I want more than to be your husband.”
I practically knocked him over, rushing into his arms. “Yes! Yes! I can’t wait to marry you.”
Jagger slipped the ring on my finger while tears streamed down my face.
“My God, Jagger. That was the most beautiful and romantic proposal. I can’t believe you had that in you.”
Jagger tugged me against him, wrapped the back of my hair in his hand, and pulled me in for a kiss. “I had it in me, and now you’re about to have me in you.”
THE END