Page 91 of Into These Eyes

Gavin

I park my shit-box of a car in the empty garage and kill the engine. It might be a piece of junk, but I love it for everything it represents.

Freedom.

Clutching the wheel, I check the time on the dash. Half an hour and she’ll be home.

My heart flip-flops in my chest before setting itself to a brisk pace. Thirty minutes to get ready and calm the fuck down so I can act like there’s no difference between this day and all the others we’ve spent together.

I hightail it into our ensuite, get in the shower and think about everything that’s happened since last Christmas.

Jamie quit her job, studied estate planning and conveyancing, and has now opened a boutique law firm, freeing her from the constant barrage of evil that criminal law presents. She’s put together a great team, which also gives her the option to take time off when she needs a break.

Three months ago, my conviction was officially overturned, allowing me to start my own career.

I’ve been visiting prisons and counselling inmates, which I’ll continue to do.

But I also want to run a private practice.

I’ve been putting out feelers for an office, though I’m not quite sure if that’s the sort of clinical environment I want for myself or my clients.

What I’d like, is to operate out of our home.

Unfortunately, the layout of this house doesn’t allow for a homely office that won’t involve taking clients through our sanctuary.

But as of this morning, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem anymore. We’ve talked about moving a few times, mainly because of the shadow of Jamie’s father and the fact we both almost died here.

We want to make new memories, our memories.

And now we can. When I checked my banking app this morning, I discovered I have fifteen million reasons why we can now make that happen.

I haven’t told Jamie yet. She knows it’s coming, just not when, or how much.

Along with getting my conviction quashed in record time, she asked Pete for something else.

She demanded he push hard for compensation.

Compensation which isn’t a forgone conclusion for the wrongfully convicted.

It’s simply left to the government’s discretion on whether or not to offer an ex-gratia payment.

Pete warned me it could take years and, if I was awarded anything at all, it might not be much. Matters such as mine are not, as a rule, public knowledge, so it’s difficult to determine who has come before and succeeded.

But I had a number of things on my side.

Reid’s corruption being one of them. Malice or negligence by a government official are the top factors in a successful ex-gratia payment.

And Reid had that in spades. Then there’s Pete himself.

Though I don’t blame the guy, he claimed he was negligent in not supervising the surveillance on Reid, resulting in me being shot.

Along with Liam’s statement and Jamie’s father’s video confession, I’m apparently one of the lucky few to succeed.

So says my bank account.

I can’t wait to see her face when I tell her.

It marks the end of the past I want to put behind me. And the start of our future.

A future I’m now capable of providing for her.

As I dry off and hurry to the wardrobe, excitement courses through my bloodstream. With a trembling hand I pull on a deep blue Henley t-shirt Jamie bought me, then find the pair of jeans I hid at the back of the wardrobe a while ago.

Taking a deep breath, I slide them on, check the pockets, then inspect myself in the mirror.

I might not look like fifteen million bucks, but I definitely feel like it. My goofy grin seems to think so, anyway.

Giving myself another quick pat-down, I check my watch and take a few deep breaths. Almost time.

In the kitchen, I transfer the bottle of champagne I’ve kept hidden at the back of the fridge to the freezer, grab a couple of glasses and pop them in too. As I turn away, I hear the faint rumble of the garage door.

My heart thunders. I don’t know why. I’m positive she’ll be thrilled, but I guess my heart wants to make sure I’m fully alive and present. It’s beating hard and deep because I care hard and deep.

Striding into the hallway, I lean against the wall and wait for her to emerge. I hear the internal garage door close, footsteps, then the laundry door swings open.

She smiles when she sees me. I step forward like I do every day and kiss her. After I slip her laptop bag off her shoulder and place it against the wall, she touches my chest.

“Ooo, the Henley,” she says, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Someone’s getting lucky tonight.”

“We’ll see.” Her hair’s loose around her shoulders, and she’s wearing a pretty blouse paired with tight jeans and cute little heels. Now that she works for herself, she dresses however she likes.

As comfortable as she looks, those heels are coming off.

I drop down on one knee, her hands automatically going to my shoulders.

“Gavin, you know you don’t need to keep doing that. I’m fine.”

“And you know I love taking care of you. Don’t try to deny me that pleasure, woman.”

“You’re right. So stupid of me. Knock yourself out,” she says with a pleased sigh.

I do just that. First one shoe, then the other. When she drops her hands from my shoulders, I take them in mine and look up at her.

She gazes down at me, confused. Usually, I’d be on my feet, telling her what’s for dinner or asking about her day. When she realises this too, her eyes widen a little, and she starts to blink. Fast.

She knows.

And now I know, without a doubt, I have nothing to worry about.

“Jamie,” I begin, feeling her hands tighten on mine, “before you, time seemed endless. Sitting in that cell, I wished for nothing more than time to speed up. Every second was an hour, every hour a day. But now, with you in my life, I wish it’d slow down.

Now that I’ve found you, it’s like time’s making up for its previous error, making every day an hour and every hour a second.

Now there’s nowhere near enough of it. And I don’t want to waste another moment. ”

Looking deep into her eyes, I release her, reach into the back pocket of my jeans, and produce the small velvet box.

Her hands come up to her mouth, her eyes already leaking rivers as I reveal the ring.

“Jamie, my sweet, sexy, wicked woman … my you’re-it-for-me girl … will you let me love you and take care of you for the rest of our lives? Will you marry me, J?”

Her knees buckle and she throws her arms around my neck, clinging to me for dear life as her whole body trembles. I wait patiently, and soon enough, she pulls back and looks into my eyes.

“Yes, I’ll marry you, and let you take care of me and love me … because that’s what I want to do for you, too.”

Sitting her on my thigh, I cradle the back of her head and kiss her. Long and slow, taking in all her little noises of pleasure, and her sniffles. Not wanting to suffocate her, I pull back enough to press my forehead to hers. “I love you, J.”

“I love you, Shawshank.”

“Damn it, I forgot to mention cheeky in that proposal.” She buries her face in my neck and holds me tight. That’s when I remember I have something in my hand she needs. “Hey, don’t you want to check out the ring?”

“Oh,” she say, easing away, “it seems so insignificant compared to—”

I bring it up between us. Her eyes widen as I remove it from the box, take her hand and slip it onto her finger.

“Oh my God,” she breathes, “it’s … so beautiful.”

I bring her fingertips to my lips and kiss them. “It is now you’re wearing it.”

She studies the gold band shaped into the infinity symbol, the intricate pattern of diamonds following the shape around two oval diamonds resting within that symbol.

“But …” She tears her gaze away to look at me. “Gavin … how could you afford this? It’s so stunning, I can’t imagine how much—”

I press my finger to her lips. “Dad gave it to me. It’s the ring he bought for your mother.

” I swallow hard over the lump in my throat.

“Is that okay?” I’ve been so worried she might not like the sentiment, that maybe she’d prefer I picked something out for her myself.

But when I saw the ring, I knew it was perfect.

And this way, she’ll have a piece of her mother with her always.

Dad and I both agree the ring belongs to her.

More tears spill from her eyes as she meets mine, then hugs me tight. “It couldn’t be more perfect.”

Scooping her up in my arms, I carry her to the bedroom, place her on her feet and begin removing her clothes. We work together until we’re both naked. Our hands and mouths intimately know what the other wants and needs. But now that we’re truly bound, it somehow feels … more .

Ravishing her until she pleads to have me inside her, I slowly and deliberately slide into my fiancée.

As I make love to her with the knowledge that she’s truly mine and I’m hers, I know our future will be everything our past wasn’t.

With my body and my eyes and my actions, I vow to never let her down again.

Twining our fingers above her head, I look into her eyes and smile as I rock into her with long strokes. Her pupils dilate as her breaths grow rapid, her pelvis grinding up to meet me. I know all the signs.

“My gorgeous fiancée,” I murmur, right there with her. Once she breaks, I follow her over the edge, our eyes never leaving each other’s.

After I help clean her up and pull her to my side, I reach for the bedside table and pluck up my phone.

“That’s a bit rude,” she says, nuzzling into me.

“You won’t think so in a second.” I find my banking app and log in, then I turn the screen toward her sleepy face. “How does it feel to be the future wife of a multi-millionaire?”

Her head snaps up and she snatches my phone from my hand.

She stares at the screen for a long time.

Just like I did. All those zeros are quite mesmerising.

When she finishes absorbing what all those digits mean, she puts the screen to sleep and rests it on my stomach.

Then she gazes at me and caresses my jaw.

With a smile spreading her lips, she says, “I’m so happy for you. You deserve every cent.” She blinks at me, her expression growing serious. “But it’s kind of anti-climactic.”

I want to chuckle at her choice of words, but her expression stops me. “I thought you’d be thrilled.”

“I am … but having you love me, having you want to marry me …” She taps the phone. “Money’s only value is what it can buy. And it can’t buy that.”

Damn woman. She’s so fucking right.

As we gaze at each other, that burst of true happiness surges through me.

I’m here, in this moment. A moment that not long ago I never thought would be a part of my life.

I have so much to be grateful for. I’m indebted to not only her, but Benny and my sister and my father.

And I’ll make sure they always know how important they are to me. To us.

“We’re in this life together for the long haul. A team. A united front. You and me, J.”

“You and me, Shawshank,” she whispers as she kisses me.

And that’s all I need.

THE END