“Mhm.” She looks so confident, so certain. “Rory, I saw the ring. And now this?” She smiles wider.
“You saw the ring?” My eyebrows shoot up, but I’m grinning.
“I didn’t mean to find it. Honestly.”
“Did you like it?” I dragged Pippa and Streicher to the jeweler about ten times to make sure the white gold band with a cluster of rare blue-gray diamonds was perfect, but if she doesn’t like it, I’ll toss it out the window and get her whatever she likes.
“Yes,” she says quietly, throat working as she glances at me. “I loved it.”
“It isn’t too flashy?”
She rolls her eyes. “It is, but—” She laughs, shrugging. “It reminds me of you.”
A sly, arrogant grin hitches on my mouth. “Huge, expensive, and gorgeous?”
She shakes her head, smiling ear to ear, and my heart lifts up into the starry sky. “Yes. All those things. Also,” her smile softens and she swallows, “one in a million. Perfect for me. Everything I didn’t realize I wanted.”
“It isn’t too soon?”
I know I’m reckless and impulsive and we should probably date for at least a year before getting engaged, but Hazel’s it for me.
Again, she smiles to herself, shaking her head. “Not for us.”
I hum, nodding with a casual air like I’m not brimming with emotion. “So, say I ask you to marry me. Then what?”
Her eyes soften. “Then I’ll say yes.”
I move so I’m facing her, skating backward, and when my hands come to her hips, I slow us to a stop, gazing down into her stunning blue-gray eyes. “You sure about that?”
“Never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“You can change your mind.”
She smiles. “I won’t.”
“I won’t, either.”
“I know.”
She tracks my hand as I slip the box from my pocket, and when I kneel, her eyes shine.
“Hazel Hartley, will you make my goddamned life and marry me?”
Her smile? It’s everything, and I’ll remember this moment forever.
“Yes, Rory Miller, I will.”
I take her left hand and slip the outrageous sparkling ring onto her finger before I stand and kiss the woman I love. The woman who made me into the best version of myself. The woman I fell head over heels for years ago, and who’s finally caught up.
The woman I can’t wait to live the rest of my life with. Get married to. Have kids with. Grandkids.
“I love you,” she whispers against my lips.
“I love you, too, Hartley, and I’ll never let you forget it.”
To read the bonus scene of Rory and Hazel’s wedding （and wedding night!） and get hints about future characters, sign up for Stephanie’s newsletter at www.stephaniearcherauthor.com/rory or scan the QR code below:
Hayden and Darcy’s book is next, but in the meantime, check out the Queen’s Cove series, a small town series with four hot brothers, loads of tension, big laughs, and some serious spicy praise. Keep reading for an excerpt of The Wrong Mr. Right, a spice-coaching She’s All That style rom-com with a hot surfer and shy bookstore owner.
THE WRONG MR. RIGHT EXCERPT
“So you kissed him and there was no chemistry.” Wyatt raked his hand through his hair, mouth in a hard line.
“Kissed him? No.” I made a noise of frustration. “We never got that far. I spent the entire date talking about—” I broke off before I said something embarrassing.
“Talking about what, bookworm?” His dark gaze was back on me.
I shook my head, pressing my mouth closed.
He took another step toward me and I backed up, the backs of my knees hitting the bed. “Talking. About. What.”
I threw my hands up. “You. Talking about you. Oh my god. You’re so pushy.” I rolled my eyes, when really, my heart raced, my skin tingled, and nipples pinched hard. I had all this energy and nowhere for it to go.
I put my hands on his chest to push him back a step but he grabbed my wrists. A smug grin grew on his features. Paired with his dark gaze, the effect was hypnotic.
“Me?” He raised his eyebrows, cocking his head. His hands scorched my wrists. It was like he ran hotter than normal people. Maybe that was why he was never cold in the water.
I rolled my eyes again. “You came up in conversation because of the surf lessons.”
“Right. Because of the surf lessons.” His gaze stayed glued on me, still heated. “So you didn’t kiss him because it didn’t feel right?”