Page 18 of Sweet Temptation (Honeysuckle, Texas #3)

A whirlwind of a day was the understatement of the year. Every minute of the day, right up until Diane paid for a ride to take Brad back to their house, where he was given twenty-four hours to pack his personal belongings and find somewhere else to live, Garret had been on edge.

Not that Jackie was in any danger of serious injury, but Garret didn’t want a single hair on her head, or beat of her heart, hurt, and today promised any of the above possible. In too many ways to list.

Now, much to his surprise, he’d confessed, sort of, to loving Jackie for real.

Not a ploy to save the ranch, not a charade to fool his mother, but honestly, truly, and deeply, loved Jackie.

As in the put a ring on her finger and treasure her for the rest of their lives kind of love.

All he had to do was convince her to make their little game real.

“I love how bright the stars are out here.” Jackie’s grandmother glanced out the kitchen window. “We had night skies like that when I was a little girl, but not anymore. Too much growth and light pollution.”

“It’s one of the many things I love about being out here,” Jackie cast a sideways glance at Garret before returning her gaze to her grandmother.

“If y’all will excuse me a minute,” Garret pushed away from the table, “I need to run upstairs. I’ll be right back.”

Some heads nodded, but the conversation around the table continued as if he were still there. With one exception, he could feel Jackie’s gaze on him all the way to the stairs. All he could think was, now or never.

Resisting the urge to take the steps two at a time, he eased up the staircase and made his way directly to his room.

Closing the door behind him, he slowly opened the top dresser drawer.

Hidden inside a pair of white athletic socks, he slid out the simple black velvet box.

Taking a moment to lift it open, the solitaire ring sparkled under the overhead light.

The ring had been a splurge. When he and his siblings had decided to seek out temporary marriages, he’d thought to only purchase a simple wedding band for his fake bride.

Once Jackie came into the picture, he’d not given the rings any more thought until the day last week when he’d found himself at the jewelers.

Somehow, a simple band alone didn’t feel right. This solitaire had caught his eye.

A small swirl of gold around the main stone with a tiny diamond encircled at either side had seemed a perfect fit for Jackie.

The main diamond, tough enough to stand the test of time.

The surrounding design, delicate and whimsical, and reminded him very much of Jackie.

Without hesitation, he’d put the ring on his credit card and then brought it home and buried it in the drawer.

Tucking it away in his pocket, sans the sock, he said a small prayer that the look he’d seen in her eyes a few minutes ago meant what he thought it did.

That there was a real chance for them. And not just for a single year.

Taking the steps downstairs at a measured pace, he returned to the dining room.

Voices merry with success bounced back and forth.

Jackie sat quietly taking it all in. He willed his heart to stop pounding for fear the whole room would hear it as clearly as he did.

Not wanting to draw attention to his intent, he leaned over Jackie’s shoulder and lowering his voice, whispered, “Join me outside a minute.”

Smiling up at him, she nodded, set her napkin on the table and the two slipped out of the room.

“Is anything wrong?” She glanced down at the hand that now held hers and was leading her through the kitchen and out the back door onto the porch.

“Not at all.” He was hoping something—no, everything—was perfectly right. Looking over his shoulder to ensure no one had thought to follow them, he stood at her side, leaning against the porch railing. “Your grandmother’s right. It’s a beautiful night.”

“They all are.” Her chin lifted, her smile sweet, her gaze settled on the tapestry above of bright lights on dark velvet.

To him, she was more beautiful than the West Texas sky.

“I know I haven’t been here long, but I can’t imagine living in the big city again.” Her hands squeezed the railing as she leaned back slightly. “For one thing, this no rush hour traffic is way better than I imagined.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s true.”

“And having everyone know your business isn’t nearly as bad as it’s made out to be in the movies.”

That much he wasn’t so sure of, though they had used it to their advantage the last few months while trying to save the ranch.

“Have you ever thought of living anywhere else?” Twisting slightly, her gaze dropped to meet his.

“As a kid, yeah. Wanted things more exciting, but after four years of college, and traffic, and boring night skies, moving home became much more enticing.”

“I feel you there.”

His hand at his side, about to pull out the ring that had been burning a hole in his pocket, the hinges on the screen door squeaked open.

His brother Preston had a tall glass of tea in hand and one foot on the porch when his mom’s voice rang out behind him.

“Preston Sweet, get back here.” Caught like a deer in the headlights, Preston looked at Garret, then Jackie, and before he could advance or retreat, his mother’s voice rang out again, “Preston.”

“Looks like I’m needed inside.” Not waiting for a third call, Preston spun around and stepped into the house, the screen door slamming behind him.

Her gaze on the door, Jackie bit back a smile and swallowed a chuckle. “Wonder what he did wrong?”

“Who said he did anything wrong?”

“I may not have known your mother very long, but there’s no disguising that motherly reproving tone. All that was missing was his middle name.”

“Charles.” He smiled at her. “After my father.”

Again the door squeaked and before his other brother could get his boot on the porch, once again, his mother called out, “Don’t even think about it!”

Now Garret chuckled with no effort to hide it.

“Do you think your mother is trying to give us some privacy?”

Still grinning, he nodded. “No doubt.” He figured he’d better get cracking before someone else tried to step onto the porch and his mom got laryngitis from scolding everyone. “I have something I’d like to show you.”

When he pulled the box out of his pocket and flipped it open to expose the solitaire ring, her eyes widened.

“Is that what I think it is?”

He nodded. “But there’s a catch.”

Most people had butterflies in their stomach when they were nervous.

Not Jackie. Right about now she had a flock of crazed geese swooping and diving and flapping around inside her.

Her mind turned over one possibility after another, her heart holding out hope while her mind continued to churn. “Catch?”

His head bobbed again. “When we originally agreed to marry to save the ranch, I intended to give you a simple wedding band.”

Somehow, she managed to nod, but words were not an option.

“Since we would need to rush through the preliminaries for a quick wedding, an engagement ring didn’t make sense.”

This time she couldn’t even nod, her heart was hanging on every word.

“But then I saw this,” Garret continued, the ring catching the silver moonlight, “and I knew it belonged on your finger.”

Jackie stared at the delicate swirl of gold around the diamond, mesmerized by its simple elegance.

“The catch is,” his voice softened, “I don’t want our marriage to be temporary.”

Her heart tripped in her chest. “What do you mean?”

Garret set the box on the railing and took both her hands in his. “I’m saying that somewhere between rescuing a drunk girl from a bar and watching you orchestrate the downfall of that jerk today, I fell in love with you. The real you.”

The night air stilled around them. As if waiting for her response, the crickets seemed to pause their chorus.

“Our arrangement was supposed to be strictly business,” he continued, his thumbs stroking the backs of her hands. “But every morning I wake up looking forward to seeing your smile. Every night I go to sleep thinking about the sound of your laughter. That’s not business, Jackie. That’s love.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “Garret…”

“When I saw you today, standing up for yourself and those other women, I realized I don’t want this to end after a year. I don’t want it to end—ever.”

Releasing her hands, he picked up the ring box again and slowly lowered himself to one knee. The wooden porch creaked beneath him as he looked up at her, vulnerability and hope mingling in his eyes.

“Jacqueline Drake, I’m asking you—for real this time—will you marry me? Not for the ranch, not for the trust, but because I want to spend the rest of my life with you under these stars.”

The world seemed to narrow to just the two of them on the porch. Through the window, she could vaguely make out shapes moving inside, but they felt distant, unimportant compared to the man kneeling before her.

“I know this is fast,” he hurried on when she didn’t immediately respond. “And maybe I should have waited, done this properly with candles and dinner, but—”

Finding her voice at last, she cut him off, barely managing a whisper, “Yes.”

Eyes filled with disbelief blinked, a hint of a smile teased at one corner of his mouth. “Did you just say yes?”

A laugh bubbled up from deep inside her, washing away any uncertainty. “I did. To everything.”

Rising to his feet, Garret tugged the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger.

Her gaze settled on the sparkling stone, a perfect fit.

A delightful surprise. What had she said not so long ago, everyone loves surprises.

Slowly, she lifted her head and leveled her gaze with his.

“I came to West Texas looking for a fresh start, but I found so much more. I found a home. I found you.”

The hint of a smile spread wide and bright as if trying to outshine the stars. “So no more pretending?”

“No more pretending.” She rose on her toes to press her lips to his.

Unlike the few short pecks on the lips for anyone looking, this kiss was just between them—it was hard and soft and sweet and strong and filled with love and passion and everything she’d ever dreamed of. A promise sealed under the vast Texas sky.

Not wanting the kiss to ever end, but knowing they had the rest of their lives to show each other the depths of their love, they slowly pulled back.

His forehead gently touched hers. “I love you, Jacqueline Drake.”

“I love you more, Garret Sweet.”

The two actually giggled, not moving, not wanting to lose the little contact they shared.

The squeak of the porch door broke the reverie, seconds before a hard thud snapped them apart.

Carson lay on the wooden porch with Preston on top of him and Jillian using one hand to stop herself from tumbling onto the pile of Sweet siblings.

Behind them, Alice Sweet and her grandmother, along with the other wives and Rachel stood grinning like cats with bellies full of cream.

“I guess we had an audience.” Jackie stepped back and linked her fingers with Garret’s. “Good thing they could only see and not hear.”

Rolling his eyes, Garret chuckled. “Good thing you said yes or I would never live this down.”

His brothers scrambled to their feet and hurried into the kitchen. Righting themselves, Jillian and Rachel slapped high fives. His mom and her grandmother remained rooted to the floor, side by side, smiling happily.

“Shall we go inside and make it official?” She squeezed his fingers, delighted when he pulled her into the fold of his arms.

Heaving a slow sigh, Garret kissed her on the temple. “Ranch and trust aside, I do not want a long engagement.”

She chuckled softly. “Good. Is tomorrow too soon?”

“Not for me, but I think the state of Texas won’t agree. Three-day waiting period.” He tugged at her hand. “Let’s go inside and face the family you’re going to marry into. And then I’m going to climb into bed and start counting the days until you can join me.”

Her cheeks flushed hot and her gaze met his. “Me too.”

Taking steps toward the house, Garret grumbled softly something that sounded like stupid state . She knew exactly how he felt.