Holy hotness wrapped up in a hockey-player package.
I’m pretty sure I just soaked my panties.
“Easton . . .” My hands claw at the front of his shirt, refusing to allow any space between us.
“Tell me you feel this too. Tell me it’s not one-sided and I didn’t just make a fool out of myself.”
I run my teeth over my bottom lip and try to force the words to come out of my mouth, but nothing happens. I stand there in front of this fountain in Vegas with this beautiful man, shocked to my core. “Easton . . . I . . .”
Words escape me, so instead I tug the front of his shirt and pull his face down to mine.
He presses his lips to my forehead, and I slide my hands up the length of his neck to his face and hold him there.
“You gonna break my heart, princess?”
“God, Easton. Do you really not know?” I close my eyes and decide there’s no going back now. “It’s you. It’s always been you, and it’s going to always be you. I have loved you . . . God, I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. I want to be old and gray and sitting on our porch one day a million years from now, surrounded by all our grandchildren who love to skate.”
He swallows a deep breath and smiles against my skin. “Hockey skates or figure skates?”
“Mine are better. Sharper,” I tease.
“Promise me something, baby,”
“Anything.” I pull back and look deep into those green eyes that are growing darker by the minute.
“When we’re old and gray, you’ve gotta let me die first, okay? Because I don’t think I’d ever survive without knowing you were breathing on this Earth.”
I run my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and tug. “How about I promise that when we’re really old we’ll die in bed together like that couple in the movie you used to hate. The one Kenzie and I use to watch all the time. I’ll let you go first, but I’m gonna follow you, okay?”
“You sure, Lindy?” The look on his face makes me hesitate for a second.
“Marry me, Easton.”
“What?” he chokes back.
“I’m standing here, in front of the man I’ve already loved for a lifetime, and he’s promising to love me forever. There are twenty-four hour chapels all over this town. Marry me. Make me Mrs. Madeline Hayes.” I giggle. I used to doodle that on my notebooks when I was a little girl.
“You’re fucking serious?” He takes a step back, and I’m pretty sure my heart drops out of my chest. Please, God, don’t let him laugh in my face. I don’t think my heart could survive it. “Madeline Kingston, I’m supposed to ask you to marry me. It’s supposed to be fucking romantic. Fit for a princess.” His tone is pointed, but his smile is huge, and my heart soars instead of cracking.
“Fuck romance, Easton. We’ve already done life and death. We’ve already been each other’s person for years. I don’t need hearts and flowers and pretty words. I need you. And you say fuck a lot more than you say anything else.” I bite down on my bottom lip, and he gets all growly again.
“You keep biting your lip that way, princess, and we’re gonna need to hurry up and get married so I can put something else in that pretty mouth to keep you busy.”
And there go my panties again.
“Okay. You find the chapel, and I’ll get the girls.” I step back, but Easton grabs my hand and pulls me to him.
“Not a chance, baby. Let’s get the girls, get some rings, and go find ourselves an Elvis together. Until you’re legally my wife, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“Ahh . . . I love the sound of that.”
He moves in front of me and bends his knees. “Hop on, princess. Let’s go get married.”
Oh. My. God.
I’m getting married.
“Easton,” I gasp as realization dawns. “Oh my God, E. I’m so sorry.”
He gathers me in his arms and holds me close. “You still want that annulment, baby?”
A sob bubbles up in my throat. “I was awful to you.”
“You didn’t remember,” he tells me as he buries his face in my hair and runs his hand along my spine. “I knew how you felt. I just needed you to remember it.”
“But I . . . I blamed you. I forgot . . . I forgot everything.” My chest tightens, and the all too familiar heavy ball of anxiety starts to grow in my chest. “I’m so sorry. I don’t have any better words to give you.”