“That I’ll get all old and crusty, and you’ll still be this young, hot, immortal sex monster, and you won’t want me anymore!” she squeaked, and her eyes glistened with something that was decidedly not happiness. “And don’t get me started on the fact that I will die, SJ. And yes, I know you can visit me in Heaven whenever you want … but you’re not going to want to … because I’ll be a crusty old lady soul!”

Her head dropped into her hands.

My stomach flipped, and I realised that while to me, this was a simple fix … to her, this was a make or break. It was something that she wouldn’t be able to get past.

I reached for her, tugging her into my arms. “Jemma, my beautiful girl,” I whispered into her hair as she hid her face against my chest. “For the record, I will love you no matter how old and crusty you get. Because the most precious part of you isn’t on the outside. It’s that big, beautiful, caring heart of yours.”

“Stop lying to make me feel better,” she mumbled.

“Not a lie.” I swallowed back the sudden emotions choking my throat. “But … if this is a deal breaker for you … I might have a solution. A forever solution.”

She tilted her head back to peer up at me. I smiled softly down at her, swiping away the tears and the smear of mascara under each eye.

“What do you mean, a forever solution?”

I shrugged, but my heart was practically vibrating out of my chest with nerves. “You know that ring I just offered you? And the little piece of your soul attached to it?”

Jemma nodded, nose crinkled with adorable confusion.

“If … hypothetically speaking … an immortal being … a devilish immortal being … were to put that on, that piece of your soul, which is currently desperately looking for a living host, would hop straight into that immortal being’s body.”

Jemma sniffed, wiping at her nose with the back of one hand. “Okay,” she muttered, uncertainty in her tone.

I took a calming breath. “And as long as that piece of your soul is residing in that immortal body … your soul would be immortal, too.”

“I’m still not following.”

Just blurt it out, SJ! Tell her straight!

I let out a nervous chuckle. “I can make you immortal, Mouse. If a piece of your soul lives in me, an immortal being, your soul … and your body, cannot age. You cannot die.”

Her eyes widened with sudden comprehension. “SJ … are you saying what I think you’re saying?” she breathed.

I nodded uncertainly. “I think I am—if you think I’m saying that we can marry and have forever, with no crusty old bits to worry about, that is.”