After The One (The One Series Duet) Read Online Free PDF Page B

in the time we’d been together, he hadn’t made me cry in public—hell, he’d made me cry on national TV—but a few tears due to his unexpected surprises were nothing compared to the sob that his words were on the brink of evoking.
    “Julian,” I sighed, wiping the corners of my eyes. I let out a rush of air and shook my arms at my sides. “You know how I feel about you making me cry in public.” I tried to laugh it off as I tossed the tissue into the trash can, but it came out as a strained, breathy noise. “I swear, you are the most roman—”
    I turned back to face him and gasped. My hands flew to my mouth and my heart felt like it was in a vice grip.
    Staring up at me from his kneeled position, Julian’s mouth opened and closed twice before he licked his lips and cleared his throat.
    “Zoe Jordan. I would love to say to you that during our time together, I realized you were it for me. But honestly, the moment I knew was when you walked into the garden. You stole my heart when we spent those hours together writing and being inspired, laughing and joking, talking and connecting, because it was everything I knew I wanted to share with someone, but didn’t really think I would find a woman who embodied all of that. I’d gone my entire life without a two-hour block of time that felt that meaningful. I’d never met another person that changed my life the way you did. I’ve worked with some of the best in the music game, but not one person that I’ve met has impacted my life as completely as when I met you.”
    Reaching up, Julian tugged at my elbow, bringing my left hand down. He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and then brought his lips to the center of my palm.
    His kiss scorched the skin of my palm and coursed through my entire body. My free hand moved from my cheek to my belly as I was besieged with butterflies. Overcome with emotion and hypnotized by his eyes and his words, I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
    Grabbing my right hand with his free hand, Julian twirled the stunning ring he’d given me on live television. “Zoe, I gave you this ring because I wanted you to have a constant reminder that you will never have to compete for a place in my heart because you have it. You own it. It’s yours. It’s been yours since day one.”
    He took a breath but never broke eye contact as he let go of my hand. His breathing became unsteady as he dug into his pocket. His chest rose and fell quickly and my breathing started mimicking his.
    “I want to give you this ring because I want you to have a constant reminder that for the rest of my life, I will do everything in my power to make you feel the way you make me feel. You are the music in me. You…”
    His voice cracked and when he cleared his throat to keep it together, I lost it. Tears trickled down my cheeks freely.
    “You are the music that beats in my heart, that guides my steps, that makes me whole. You are the music that inspires me, that captivates me, that drives me. You are the music I’ve been looking for to go with the lyrics in my heart.”
    Julian broke eye contact for the first time as he slipped a stunning four-karat princess cut diamond onto the ring finger of my left hand.
    “I’ve been planning this for months and I asked your dad before I returned from tour. I was going to wait until New Year’s Eve, but I’m doing this right now because I don’t want you to ever think I’m asking you because you’re pregnant. I don’t want you to ever doubt that I’m doing this because it’s exactly what I want to do. Zoe, you are the love of my life and I want to marry you because it didn’t feel like my life started until you. I want to marry you because you make everything in my life make sense. And if you’ll have me, I’ll fill you with so much love that even on our bad days, you won’t ever regret this decision. So, Zoe Elise Jordan, will you marry me?”
    My stomach quivered. My heart fluttered