Page 116 of Shots Fired

When he styled his hair this morning, he kept it simple, dark pieces falling over his eyes. He also kept the scruff on his jaw since he knows I like to feel that against my fingertips.

Along with other places.

I close out the text thread and place my mobile face down on a side table. No phones today.

Just us.

Archer still hasn’t said anything as he walks toward me, carrying a small white bag in his left hand, eyes locked on mine the whole time. When he left to go run an errand, I took the opportunity to get dressed.

The second he reaches me, he loops his big arms around my waist, locking my body against his.

He smells incredible. All woodsy and spicy and manly.

I tip my chin up to look at my fiancé. The difference in our heights is especially noticeable since I’m not wearing any shoes.

“You’ve rendered me speechless, Doll,” he purrs into my ear. “When I picked out this dress …” He smooths a palm over my ass, squeezing it a little, and I feel my underwear grow damp. “I knew it was the one, I knew you’d look perfect in it.” He pulls back from me, gaze descending my body. “But you look like a fucking angel. An angel carrying my baby.”

He walks a few feet to a wardrobe, setting the white bag he was carrying inside before he pulls out a white shoebox. As he removes the lid on his way back over to me, a pair of white Gucci pumps comes into view. They’re flat and simple but with the cutest yellow bows stitched to the toe.

“I hope you don’t mind that they haven’t got a heel. They just screamed my girl when I saw them and then had the yellow bows added.”

I move my gaze from the pretty pumps to his face. “You had the bows stitched on?”

He shrugs, cheeks pinkening slightly, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s rare Archer flushes, but I guess it isn’t everyday you get hitched.

Especially not in secret.

“Yellow reminds me of you. One of my favorite dresses you wear is yellow, and it’s the color of sunshine.”

He bends down, taking the shoes from the box and placing them to the side.

Carefully, I slide each foot into a pump while he holds them for me.

A bubble of giddy laughter climbs up my throat. “You’re like Prince Charming or something.”

Standing back up, Archer cups the nape of my neck in his hand. “You’ve always reminded me of Rapunzel, with your hair and cute features.”

I cock my head to the side, thinking it over. “I can get on board with being a Disney princess.”

On a slow exhale, Archer dips a hand into his pocket. “I bought you something else yellow too.”

My breath catches in my throat. As a girl, I always dreamed of the moment a boy asked me to marry him. I pictured him down on one knee with a beautiful landscape behind us, my hair blowing in the breeze while he wore a suit and bow tie. I imagined a crowd of our friends and family surrounding us and a party into the small hours of the morning.

It’s amazing how societal norms can be the complete opposite of what we truly want—and need—in our lives. With Liam, I thought that’s what I wanted too. But as Archer pops the lid on a small velvet box and a princess-cut yellow diamond on a thin white gold band stares back at me, I realize this is what fate planned all along.

Archer was right when he said we were always meant to be.

Just like the old horse chestnut tree in Fort Greene Park, a love like this grows from the deepest roots. And even though it can take a long while to surface, its strength is unwavering.

Like everything else Archer buys me, the fit is perfect when he slides it onto my left hand, interlacing our fingers together.

“Do you like it?” he asks, his voice thick, his eyes glossy.

“What do you think?” My throat is as tight as his sounds.

We both stand in the silence of our suite, taking in the moment.

He pulls me in for a searing kiss, his mouth moving over mine. I grow wetter, thinking about how he’ll touch me tonight. As his wife.