Page 92 of Man Candy (After We Fall 1)
“The fact that I want this for the rest of my life.”
My stomach swooshed, but it was a good kind of swoosh. The kind of swoosh you feel on a rollercoaster—equal parts trepidation and excitement. “Honestly? Yes. I’m OK with that. Tonight when I made the toast, I said it was Alex and Nolan who made me believe in love, but you know it wasn’t just them.”
He smiled. “I know.”
“I don’t know how you did it.”
“I didn’t, Jaime—you did. I fell in love with you, but you had to open yourself up to it. And you did.”
“Eventually.”
“Eventually. And I think once you felt it, you saw it in others. Not just as something beautiful but fleeting and superficial, but as something deeper.”
“I did.” I thought for a moment. “It’s like the difference between a wedding and a marriage. A wedding is all about the show, but a marriage is about commitment you can’t see. All those things you said to me at Alex’s birthday finally made sense.”
“Good. Does this mean you want to get married?”
My heart stopped. “You’re killing me. One thing at a time, please.”
“That wasn’t a no. I’ll take it.” He kissed my lips, his tongue teasing inside them.
“I do love you, Quinn. And it is real, even though I’ve always thought you were too good to be true.”
“I hope you always think that,” he said, “even when I’m old and bald and fat and can’t get it up anymore.” He picked up his head. “Forget I said that. I’ll always get it up for you.”
I laughed, locking my legs around him. “I’ll hold you to it, love bug.”
The next morning, Quinn ran out for coffee and bagels while I lounged around his condo in one of his T-shirts. When he got back, we were going to compare calendars and check out some resorts in the Caribbean—Quinn wanted to take me on vacation, and I’d gleefully said yes.
I dug my phone out of my purse and checked messages, and then I couldn’t resist checking Instagram. He’d taken a bunch of goofy pictures of me this morning, despite my protests and many a pillow thrown at his head.
Sure enough, there was one of me, but I was sleeping soundly, my dark hair a bedraggled mess on the white pillowcase, but my expression serene. He must have snuck it this morning, because the light was soft and pale.
My breath caught as I read the caption: You know I will.
Nothing else, no silly hashtags or jokes, just four simple words from the song we’d danced to last night, his childhood lullaby. I smiled.
Someone else might have wanted a more obvious declaration for the world to see, or maybe have wondered, you will what? But he knew me. And I knew I could finish it a million ways…love you, respect you, tease you, support you, laugh with you, talk to you, listen to you, stay with you. Always.
I will, too, Quinn.
I will too.
Acknowledgments
To my husband and daughters, for making it possible for me to do what I love, for understanding my silences and distraction, and for reminding me how beautiful real life is.
To Jenn Watson, publicist, therapist, and so much more. I love you. Thank you for hatching me out of that egg.
To Melissa Gaston, PA/admin extraordinaire, you make my life so much easier in so many ways! You’re the best!
To everyone at Social Butterfly PR, especially Hillary Suppes (congrats, new mama!) and Candi Kane (thanks for pizza, shoes, and all you do). I appreciate you!
To Rebecca Friedman, agent and friend. You are truly lovely.
To my beta readers, thank you for the feedback and encouragement.
To my proof readers, Laura Foster Franks, Amanda Maria, Angie Owens…love your eagle eyes!
