Page 25 of Cade

The dress shows just a hint of cleavage, but the back is plunging, revealing my vine tattoo down my spine. The dress goes to just below my knees, and I have strappy heels to slip on right before we head out. Before I stepped out of the bathroom, I made sure the dress was adjusted correctly. Cade’s got the curtains open and the lights on so I can see in the room, and what I see has my mouth watering. Cade’s standing in the room, wearing a light gray button-up shirt. He’s got the sleeves unbuttoned and rolled up slightly. He’s got on black trousers and shoes, and he looks completely edible.

I must make a noise because Cade looks up from his phone, sees me, and growls. He actually makes a growl mixed with awhimper sound. When his eyes reach mine, his are full of a hunger I’ve never seen before.

“Holy hell. I’ve known since the day we met you were the most beautiful woman in any room you walked into, but tonight Vegas is going to know too.” He moves toward me and leans forward, giving me a quick kiss, as if he’s afraid to kiss me deeply, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop. He pulls back from me and looks like he’s trying to read something on my face.

He bites his lip for just a second before speaking up. “I’ve been thinking about this for a bit and was trying to decide on the right time, but I think just being the two of us here together is the right time.” The man is speaking in riddles until he moves and gets down on one knee.Oh my gods. Is he?

Cade looks up at me and smiles. “Hanna, my love. From the first day I met you, you have blown me away. By your heart, by your kindness, by your smile, by your laughter, and by the fact that the moment you step into the room, you’re all I see because you areyou. You, who also happens to be one of the most beautiful and sexy women I’ve ever laid eyes on.” My eyes are more than watering, but I don’t move a muscle to wipe them away because I don’t want to lose this moment. I also can’t wipe the smile off my face. Cade reaches into his pocket and pulls out a beautiful ring. It’s got a sapphire in the middle and two small diamondson each side. Nothing too flashy, but its beauty and elegance lie in its simplicity.

He holds out the ring and whispers, “This was my grandma’s ring. My grandpa always said he picked it because the two small stones represented the two of them as individuals—like diamonds, they were strong and able to stand on their own just fine, but the sapphire represented them as a couple, a team. It is strong, but also beautiful and memorable. When I talked to my dad about getting the ring from him and how I felt about you, he said something that stuck with me. It matched what your pops and dad said when I talked to them. Dad said he knew my mom was the one for him when she walked into the room, and no one else existed. He said she supported him in ways she still to this day doesn’t know, but more than anything else, he realized she was his favorite person. She still is every day. When he told me, it all clicked.Youare my favorite person. The one I want to do everything in life with. The one I want all the highs and lows with. The one I want a family with. You’re the one that I want to sit in our recliners when we’re old and wrinkled and talk about how our lives have been filled with fun, tears, and a whole helluva lot of love. I want to wake up every day next to you. Hanna, will you marry me?”

I nod, tears streaming down my face. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” He slips the ring on my finger, and I can’t help but throw myself into hisarms and hug him as I kiss him. I break the kiss, and the words just come out. “I love you so much! That was the best proposal ever!” Cade chuckles as he touches his forehead to mine.

“I had planned to do it at dinner, but when you came out, all I could think was that I couldn’t leave this room without you wearing my ring so the whole world knows you’re already taken.” Well hell, that’s about the hottest, most possessive statement I’ve ever heard, but now I want the same thing. I look down at his hands, and a thought crosses my mind.

“What if we don’t wait?” I watch his face as he’s not following my train of thought. The man is always sexy, but his confused face is as cute as can be.

“What do you mean? I didn’t wait to propose. You got the ring on your finger right now.” I nod and look down at our joined hands and quietly admit my equally possessive train of thought.

“I was thinking about what you just said about not wanting me to leave the room without a ring on, and I realized I want you to wear one too. I might be nearly blind, but I know you catch a lot of women's eyes and I want them to know you’re not available. So my question is—what if we don’t wait to get married? I mean, we’re in Vegas…”

Cade quickly stands up and pulls me up with him, not breaking eye contact with me. “Are you telling me you don’t want thefancy dress, the party, the whole shebang? What about your dad and pops not getting to walk you down the aisle? I’m not saying no, I just want to make sure you’re sure.”

I squeeze his hands. “I do want that, too. What I was thinking is that we get married tonight. That’s just for us, something to keep between you and me. Yes, it’s lawful and will be binding, but it’s just for us. We plan a whole thing where our family can come, and we can renew our vows. Only everyone doesn’t need to know it’s a renewal, just us.”

He looks like he’s deep in thought, and it’s got me questioning how stupid my idea is. “I mean, we don’t have to do it at all. We can just wait, and that’s fine, it was just a flee—” Cade puts his hand up to my mouth to stop my rambling.

He looks at me but doesn’t move his hand. “I love you. I don’t care if we decide to do a big wedding or not. I’ll do whatever you want, but Idefinitelywant to marry you tonight.” He leans in and kisses me like I hold his next breath, and breaks the kiss right as I was reaching up to unbutton his shirt.

“Get your shoes on and fix your makeup so we can go. We’re getting married tonight. Gonna go to dinner, then we’re gonna come back here, and I’m gonna spend all night making love to my wife.” Fuck me. I love it when he sounds all alpha-y. It’s hot. You know it is. I hurry back to the bathroom because I just know it’s going to be a night to remember.

CHAPTER NINE

In life, there are things that happen that are out of your control and things that happen that are within your control. It’s not about fighting against or for something that determines the path your life goes down. It’s all about how you play the hand you’re dealt.

~Text from Cara to Cade~

Cade

We’ve been home almost a month since our trip to Vegas. Both families were excited to hear we’re engaged. No one knows that, in fact, our engagement lasted all of an hour and a half before we got married. I was definitely shocked when Hanna suggested it, but I have to admit it felt right. I knew without a doubt it was the thing to do. Later that night, we were lying in bed, sharing some dessert from room service, just being together,when my wife made a confession that sealed the deal and confirmed in my mind that if anyone ever finds out that we still did the right thing.

She’d just taken a sip of champagne and leaned into me, the sheet pulled up covering her chest.

“I’m glad you went along with my wild idea. It really was mostly because I want the world to know you’re taken too…but…but if I’m really honest, my sight is getting worse every day for the last few months and I’m scared that if we planned awedding for a few months from now that I might not be able to look you in the eyes and see you looking back when we said our vows.” I let her continue and fought my damnedest not to wipe her tears away and tell her it was all going to be okay, because this was not something I could fix. She sighed and continued sharing her thoughts.

“I’ve known almost my whole life that this was most likely inevitable and that I’m lucky I made it to my age while still having a decent amount of sight. I also know that the vision I’ve lost is never coming back, and I can keep losing it this fast, or it might slow down, but this…this…this wasn’t something I was prepared to lose. Even if I get worse and lose the ability to see anything, I can have this memory and my condition can never take that from me.”

I knew from that moment that we’d done the right thing. I also knew Hanna needed to be heard and not placated. I also told myself that I’d go toe-to-toe with anyone who tried to say our decision was wrong or selfish. Our vows were for us, between us. The party and all that stuff? That’s for everyone else.

It’s the next-to-last match of the season today. We’ve secured a berth in the playoff tournament. It’s the first time in almost ten years for the Axemen. There’s a buzz around the team that is freaking awesome. We’re playing Butte today. We can never take them for granted, even though the odds are in our favor.Dustin’s back from injury, and Carter’s knee seems to be doing better. The only weak spot we have is the one that’s been there all season. Zack’s still not getting the memo that this is a fucking team sport and that he needs to work with us and not just for himself and his stats line.

My parents are coming out next weekend to see the last match of the regular season and to help Hanna and her parents with some wedding plans. Hanna wants to do it at her parents’ place. She said Asher and Logan’s wedding was there, and she thought it was beautiful and had enough space for everyone we want to invite.

I know I should get out of bed and get the day started, but it’s comfortable, and I have my beautiful wife in my arms. I know I have about fifteen minutes before my alarm goes off, but before I can pull Hanna closer to me, a hairy fur ball of energy interrupts my actions. Golden retriever hair flies all over as Tucker jumps on the bed and dives between the two of us.

He’s been in our lives a little over two weeks, and he’s overall a wonderful dog. He does great at helping Hanna and is definitely protective of her, which I love. Because of that, I guess I’ll have to live with the occasional cockblock from him.

He nuzzles in, and I hear Hanna giving him kisses. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy? Do you need to go outside andhave your nummies?”I am not jealous of our dog. I am not jealous of our dog. Fuck, yes, I am.