Page 87 of Stuck

I released her and took a step backwards. “I’m doing a lot of thinking.”

“What about?”

I took a deep breath, checking one more time that the decision felt right before I committed to it. It didn’t, quite, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. “I’m going to move to London permanently.”

Elizabeth didn’t move. Something passed over her face, but I wasn’t sure what. She nodded, slowly. “Right.”

That was not the reaction I’d been hoping for. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Elizabeth—be apart from you more than I’m with you. I don’t want to keep shoehorning our lives into a few hours a week. So I’m going to make the flat my permanent residence and work remotely.”

She still didn’t look particularly happy.

“Don’t you want that?”

“I’m just not sure it’ll solve the problem. We’ll still hardly ever see each other.”

Was I not explaining myself properly? “Why not?” I was on the verge of telling her to forget it and changing the subject when the most amazingly mischievous smile spread across her face and something told me I shouldn’t give up on this conversation yet.

“Because I just got transferred to the Reinsfold drone project in Chesterfield. William Lucas emailed me the confirmation on Wednesday.”

Hope hit me like a freight train. “Seriously? Bingley said he extended your contract with him.”

“He offered to—I haven’t accepted yet, and I’m not going to. I’m moving to Derbyshire. I was kind of hoping I didn’t need to worry about accommodation when I got there, but if you’re going to be here, maybe I’d better start looking for a house share.”

She stopped talking and started giggling when I grabbed her around the waist, lifting her off her feet to spin her around—no easy feat in such a small space. “You’ve tortured me enough, woman. No more talk about living with anyone but me!”

She squawked when I put her down and tickled her side, her glorious laughter ricocheting around the lift. “Stop punishing me, then! This is no way to show your gratitude.”

If it was gratitude she wanted, I was more than happy to provide it. I bracketed her face with my hands and walked her backwards until her back was pressed against the wall, then I kissed her, hard and demanding. She arched into me, meeting my passion with her own unfettered appetite. Her fingers began working on the buttons of my coat, and as soon as she had access, she slid her hands inside, over my chest and sides and round my back, where she fisted my shirt roughly. I yanked her scarf all the way off and slid her coat down her arms, letting it drop to the floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me before now?” I asked against her skin as I rained kisses down her neck.

“I wanted to surprise you for your birthday. I was going to tell you tonight.” She let out a breathy moan. “I had a whole plan.”

I cupped her breast in my hand and nipped her earlobe with my teeth. “It’s the best birthday present anyone’s ever given me.”

“It’s not your only present. Do you want to see what else I got you?”

I straightened to look her in the eye. “You have it with you?”

She nodded. “I was going to wait until later for this, too, but since we’ve got time to kill…” She removed her hands from my coat and began to unfasten her jeans.

I raised an eyebrow, surprised and extremely intrigued. Knowing that Wickham had thrown up in this lift made the prospect of having sex in it considerably less appealing. Although, if I was honest, sex with Elizabeth was never truly off the table. I swallowed when she pushed her waistband down over the curve of her backside, wondering whether that was where she was going with this.

My breath caught in my throat at the first glimpse of black ink on her upper thigh. “You did it?”

She smiled a full-wattage smile and nodded as she revealed the whole design: a simplified black-and-white outline of Pemberley, instantly recognisable with its pillars and porticos, done in the same style as her tattoo of Longbourn, there, in indelible ink. Forever.

“I was worried it might be presumptuous, but then I decided to trust myself. And my gut instinct was that you’d approve.”

“You were right.” I could hear the reverence in my voice and didn’t mind it. It felt appropriate as I knelt at her feet to admire it more closely. “When did you get it done?”

“Yesterday. It’ll start to scab soon, so I’m glad you got to see it first.”

I wanted to kiss it, but I didn’t want to expose her to even the slightest risk of infection, so I settled for kissing her hip, right above it. “It looks good on you.”

Understatement of the century. It looked incredible. As good as she looked at the real Pemberley. She might not officially live there yet, but she’d unquestionably made it her home—and in doing so, made it more my home than it had ever felt before. She’d met all my relations now, and every one of them agreed that she was exactly what the place needed. Exactly what I needed.

And just like that, I found myself making an entirely new decision, and this one felt right the instant it occurred to me.

I reached for her hand. “A tattoo is a big commitment. Do you think we’d better make us more permanent to match?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, will you marry me, Elizabeth? I know we haven’t been together that long, but I know what I feel, and it’s not going to change. I love you. I want to be with you—always. I want to wake up with you, go to sleep with you, spend all my time with you, for as long as I have. If you’ll have me.”

A tear spilled down her face and fell onto the back of my thumb. But she was smiling. It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.

She reached down to cup my cheek. “There is nobody in this world I’d rather be stuck with.”

I had no idea how long it took to rescue us. It didn’t matter. We were exactly where we wanted to be. Together.