arranged.”
“Sounds good,” she replied before hanging up. Thank God
things were back on track with us. I was worried for a moment, but I never
should have doubted her.
I smoothed my hair down and sat up on the couch, tossing the
throw blanket behind me and waiting for Hudson to come in. I sort of wanted him
to see that I’d been crying. I felt bad. I hated that he was so upset with me
he had to leave.
As he walked in, his eyes were fixed on me. His body was
tense, almost nervous, as he walked over to the family room and sat down next
to me. I sat in silence as I waited for him to speak first.
“Brynn,” he began. “I’m crazy about you. I don’t know what
it’s going to take for me to prove that.”
I turned and faced him, studying his every subtle move. I
wasn’t sure where he was headed with this.
He reached down into his jeans pocket and pulled out a small
box, the size of a ring box, and my heart began to beat hard in my chest. There
was no way he was proposing to me. We’d only known each other a month.
He opened the box to reveal the most gorgeous platinum eternity
band encrusted with tiny canary yellow diamonds the entire way around. It
sparkled in the afternoon sun that spilled in through the floor to ceiling
windows behind us.
He pulled the ring out of the box and held it out, gripping
it right between his thumb and pointer finger.
“This isn’t an engagement ring,” he prefaced it. “I don’t
know what it is. A symbol I guess.”
Blinding sparkles danced around the room around us.
“I want you to wear this every day,” he said. “And any time
you doubt something that I say or do or anytime you have doubts about us, I
want you to look down at this ring and know that we’re in this together. I’m
yours and you’re mine. That’s what I want this ring to mean.”
I took the ring from him and slipped it over the ring finger
of my right hand. It fit perfectly, and it looked gorgeous on my long,
manicured fingers. I wasn’t sure how much he spent on it, but I had a feeling
it was probably the nicest thing I had ever been given in my entire life.
“I went with yellow diamonds because they’re bright and
happy,” he said. “That’s what you’ve brought into my life, Brynn. Happiness.”
“Thank you,” I said as I looked up into his intense, dark
eyes.
His face immediately softened as he leaned in for a kiss.
“This means a lot,” I whispered. “I was so upset when you
left. I didn’t mean to make you so mad.”
He placed his hands along both sides of my face and shook
his head. “I shouldn’t have taken off like that.”
I scooted closer to him as he wrapped his arms around me and
held me tight.
“When do you have to leave?” I asked him. “I don’t want you
to go.”
He glanced at the boldfaced watch on his wrist. “In a couple
of hours. I don’t want to go either.”
The stubble from his five o’clock shadow tickled the sides
of my face as he turned to kiss me once again. I was going to miss his kisses,
his touch, and the way he made me feel like I was the only girl in the entire
world.
He stood up, scooping me up in his arms, and carried me back
to his bed.
CHAPTER 7
“Piper,” I called out at the airport the following Friday.
“Over here.”
Piper looked like a lost duck amongst the throngs of
travelers in the middle of LAX. The second she saw my face, a smile spread
across hers.
She ran up to me and threw her arms around me. She’d never
been so relieved to see me before in her life. Traveling to big cities bothered
her just as much as it bothered me.
I couldn’t help but notice how much Piper stood out compared
to everyone else out there. Her ill-fitting jeans combined with her makeup free
face and an old, faded t-shirt was not something you’d see every day in L.A.
I’d