Page 101 of Rising
I glanced at Cooper, whose ears had gone crimson at the tips. Then at Benji, who was grinning at me as he looked between the two of us, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.
For lack of a better idea, I popped the lid off my coffee and peered inside.
The whole world swayed around me at what I saw in the bottom. Heart pounding in my ears, I looked up to see Cooper so pale I worried he might faint.
A ring. A thin, white-gold band with the tiniest pale blue stone set deep in it.
So it wouldn’t catch on anything. Like my ballet tights, for example, which Cooper knew snagged on everything.
“I won’t hold you to that yes,” Cooper said, voice trembling.
I blinked at him.
“Are youkidding?” I asked, staring down into the cup. “Yes? Obviously, yes? You are asking me to marry you, right?”
A wave of relief I felt in my own stomach rolled off Cooper as he broke into one of his perfect gorgeous shy smiles. “Uh, yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “That was the idea.”
I closed the distance between us in one long stride, practically crashing into him in my eagerness to kiss him. He made a startled sound but then melted into it, free hand landing on my hip and squeezing firmly as I threaded my fingers into his hair.
For Benji’s sake, I broke off approximately six hours before I would have liked to. We could pick up where we left off later.
“Hold out your hand,” I murmured, brushing the tip of my nose against his. Cooper obeyed and I tipped the ring out of the cup and into his palm.
“Put it on me.”
Cooper laughed, taking hold of my hand and raising it up so he could put the ring on.
“This is why you made me stick my hand in that modelling putty weeks ago,” I said as it slipped into place, the perfect fit. Cooper would have objected to the idea, but hewasa genius. Maybe not the way most people thought of it, but there was nothing practical he couldn’t figure out. The renovations on the cabin were proof of that.
As was our highly satisfying sex life, though I couldn’t exactly show people that as proof. Other than Avery, who marveled over the pieces of furniture Cooper had come up with to make things easier for me.
How could Inotmarry a man as perfect as Cooper was, if he was asking?
Cooper shrugged. “It worked.”
“I love you so much,” I said, kissing him again. Benji was used to it, he could handle one more.
“This is definitely a yes?” Cooper asked.
I kissed him one more time for good measure. “Definitely a yes,” I confirmed, bumping our noses together. “Let’s get out of here.”
Cooper passed me my cane once I’d pulled my sweater on, Benji took my hand, and the three of us walked out into the last of the afternoon light, toward the people mover.
Headed for home.
