Page 2 of Take My Name

“Would you say yes if I were?” I drawl, unable to contain my own smile.

“Maybe you oughta ask and find out…” Her calm, taunting tone sends my heart into overdrive because we’ve talked about our future plenty of times but discussed getting married after she moved home permanently.

I walk us slowly through the water to keep warm, but I don’t release my hold on her when I brush my thumb over her cheek and cup her face. “Maisie Callaway, will you be my wife?”

“Hmm…” She twists her lips, her brows furrowing as she contemplates her answer. “You really wanna marry me?”

“Been wantin’ to since I was fifteen, darlin’.”

“That’s when we started datin’.”

“Exactly.”

She beams, unable to hide her excitement, although she’s trying to act unaffected.

“Gimme one good reason why I should,” she says in a playful tone that means she’s not going to make this easy for me.

My fingers flex into her ass, pushing her against my cock so she can feel how much I want her.

“Besidesthat.” With her arms around my neck, she lifts slightly to purposely rub her stomach against my growing erection.

“Because Maisie Langston sounds so fuckin’ good on you.”

“You do have a point…” Her teeth graze her bottom lip again, and I’m tempted to lean in and bite it.

“Is that a yes? You’ll take my name?”

“On one condition…” Her cheeks flush. “You build me a house like the one we discussed.”

“The two-story A-frame cabin with the large deck?”

“And a fireplace in front of the large windows, a cozy living room, big enough kitchen for us to cook together, a reading nook I can fill with my books, and a room for a nursery. Oh, and a master room big enough for a king-sized bed with an en suite that has a large tub for us to fit in together.”

Smiling wide at her excitement, I can hardly contain my own at the thought of us living under the same roof. When we were still in high school, I told her my dream was to build a house on my family’s property when we got married and she started looking at ideas the next day. She created a whole dream board of pictures and ideas, and I loved every single one.

“I’d love nothin’ more than to build that for us, baby.”

She leans her head back toward the water, her arms stretched out while they stay wrapped around me and as her legs tighten around my waist, she laughs up at the darkening sky. It’s a beautiful sight.

“Then yes, Warren Langston…” She returns her eyes to mine, pressing against me. “I’ll be your wife.”

My hand wraps around her neck, pulling her mouth to mine, and I devour her. My tongue slips between her lips, tasting the country air and waterfall ripples, and moaning against them.

“So, next summer?” I ask between kissing down her jaw.

“What’s the hurry? Am I pregnant?”

I chuckle against her neck. “I would’ve asked you years ago if I knew it wouldn’t have freaked you out. Or our parents.”

Considering we’re only twenty, they definitely would’ve freaked out.

Hell, they still might.

Her parents aren’t my biggest fans, but that’s never stopped me from showing how much I love her. Mine, on the other hand, adore her.

“Why do ya wanna marry me so badly?”

I meet her eyes and they’re filled with sincere curiosity.