Page 297 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1

"Really. So, what do you say?"

I hadn't even realized that we were walking hand in hand on Main Street. There was no one around. It was the weekend before Halloween and it wasn't even 8 a.m. on a Sunday. No one would be up for hours. This is what I wanted. I wanted for us to be able to be us. That was only going to happen super early on the weekends if we stayed here. But New York was different. In New York we could be whatever we wanted to be. It was our fresh start. And I wanted that with him.

"Did you bribe her with lots of money?"

He laughed. "I didn't need to."

"So you didn't donate any money to the school?"

"I didn't say that either." He gave me an innocent smile.

"You're infuriating."

"No, that's you." He squeezed my hand. "So, what do you say?"

"I say we should start packing."

"I was hoping that would be your answer. Maybe we can go back up in the next few days to look at apartments? Something cozy of course."

"That sounds perfect."

"I guess there's just one last thing I need to do here." James stopped outside the coffee shop where we had first met.

"What, get a cup of coffee?"

He smiled at me and walked into the coffee shop, holding the door open for me.

When I walked in, I froze. There were rose petals all over the floor and there had to be at least a hundred candles. The whole shop was empty except for us.

"Penny." He grabbed my hand again.

I turned around and he was on one knee.Oh my God.

"This wasn't just where I first met you. This is where I fell in love with you. You took my breath away when you bumped into me. It was something that I've never experienced before. I've neverbeen so attracted to someone in my life. It's very distracting when you blush."

His words made me blush even more.

He looked down for a second and then back up with me. "You made me realize that I hadn't been living. Really living. Because life without this feeling, the feeling that you give me, isn't a life that I'm interested in at all. You chose me even though I told you I wasn't good for you. You've always seen the good in me, which was something that I couldn't see in myself. You made me realize that it doesn't matter who I was before. It's about who I've become. Because of you."

"Yes."

He smiled up at me. "I have more to say."

"If you're asking me to marry you, the answer is yes."

He laughed and kissed each of my knuckles. "I'm yours, Penny. I've always been yours. I love you with all that I am. And I don't want to go another day without knowing that you're mine. Not just for today and tomorrow and the next. I want you by my side forever and always. Penny Taylor, you are the love of my life." He let go of my hand and pulled out a small box from his pocket. "You asked me if I was a believer in fate. I am now. I don't know how I ended up as a professor in Delaware. But I know why I did. Because you were here. And my life would always be meaningless if I had never met you. Because without you, I'm not whole. Penny." He grabbed my hand again. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes." I threw my arms around him.

He laughed and pulled me down into his arms.

"James, I love you so much." I put my hands on both sides of his face and kissed him. This is what I had wanted to do the morning we first met. But everything we had been through, all the ups and downs, had led us to this moment. And this moment was perfect. I wouldn't have wanted to change a thing even if I could.

"Don't you want to see your ring?"

"How did you do all this?" I turned and looked at the candles and rose petals. "How did you know no one would be here this morning?"

"It's closed today."