Page 26 of Her Steamy Cowboy
"SIX! FIVE! FOUR!"
"Of course I kept it." I watch as his expression shifts, something vulnerable and determined crossing his face. "I kept everything about that day."
"Lindsay." His voice is rough with emotion as he takes both my hands in his. "You've been my best friend for so long that I can't remember what life was like before you. You're the first person I want to talk to every morning and the last person I think about every night."
My heart thunders in my chest. After all these years of wondering, of hoping, of trying to convince myself that friendship was enough...
"You make me laugh harder than anyone else," he continues, "challenge me to be better, and understand me in ways no one else ever has." He takes a shaky breath. "I've been in love with you for years – probably since that first day when you rolled your eyes at me and then helped patch up my knee anyway."
"Jace." My voice breaks on his name as tears blur my vision. "I love you too. I think I always have."
The smile that breaks across his face is brighter than any I've ever seen. His hands tremble slightly as he releases mine, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small velvet box. My breath catches in my throat as he sinks to one knee.
He opens the box, revealing a delicate vintage ring that catches the soft glow from inside. "Even with a scraped knee and a bruised ego, I knew you were something special. Something once-in-a-lifetime. Lindsay, will you?—"
"THREE! TWO!"
The world narrows to this moment – the solid warmth of him before me, the soft light reflecting in his eyes, the way his hand trembles slightly as he holds the ring. All the years of friendship, of unspoken feelings, of moments just like this one where we almost, almost...
"Marry me?" he whispers, the words both monumental and as natural as breathing. "Because I love you so much that sometimes I don't know what to do with it all."
"ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
"Yes," I breathe, pulling him to his feet. "Yes, yes, yes."
When Jace kisses me, it's like every romance novel I've ever read got it wrong. There are no fireworks, no symphonies – just this bone-deep feeling of coming home.
His lips are soft against mine, one hand tangling in my hair while the other still clutches the ring box between us. I taste mint and possibility and the slight sweetness of the champagne from earlier.
When we finally break apart, I realize it's started to snow – delicate flakes catching in Jace's dark hair like stars. His eyes are wide and wondering as he looks at me, like he can't quite believe this is real. With trembling fingers, he slides the ring onto my hand.
I know exactly how he feels.
Through the window, I catch a glimpse of my father watching us, his expression soft with something that looks like understanding.
Rachel and Jasmyn are pressed against the glass, both of them crying and grinning like they've been waiting for this moment even longer than I have. Luke and Wyatt are whooping and hollering, their excitement spilling out onto the deck, while Brody just stands there with that knowing smile of his, like he's had this planned in the family betting pool all along.
For the first time in more years than I can count, everything in my world feels perfectly, wonderfully right.
Jace taught me that cowboys know how to wait for the good things. He waited years, loving me quietly as my best friend. And tonight, under a Wyoming sky, I finally understand why – because some loves, especially those involving cowboys with patient hearts, were always meant to be.
The End