James let's go of my legs and helps me stand.

"Don’t move," he warns.

"What do you have up your sleeve?"

James reaches around me to untie the sash. Low lighting sets the mood in his eyes when I finally look into them. He drops his gaze to the floor, and I catch the colorful ink on his chest. My eyes roam down his body, and as I reach his shoes, I realize I’m standing near a thick pile of blood red and hunter green blankets on the floor. I blink. My brows draw together as familiarity paints me. I spin around and a small breath hitches in the back of my throat.

"James," I whisper. My gaze bounces around the space, taking it all in at once. "What did you do?"

Twenty-Three

From the blankets to the fire to the bottle of cognac, James has recreated one of the evenings we spent with our naked bodies flushed together in ecstasy. The weather had been brutal that night, dropping to a mere three degrees, but that didn't faze us as our passion built toward the most glorious heated climax. I consider it a favorite and one of our most romantic nights.

James steps closer to me. There’s something in his hand I briefly take note of before he places one hand on my hip and looks into my eyes. I’m all he sees and that makes me hotter than the fire behind me.

"No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to let this go. There's no questioning how I feel for you. I think you already know, Aubrey, and have known for a very long time I love the fuck out of you. I'm going to love you more than anyone else and will prove that to you until you see I'm not playing around." James runs his tongue over his bottom lip, and my heart drops like it knows something I don’t. "I'll make it my mission if I have to, to show you how much I cherish you. You're it for me. I may have met Valentina first, but I fell in love with Aubrey, and that's never going to change. My love for you grows every day into something that's new to me. I never knew I could love someone the way I do you."

My eyes are round and huge, and my lips are slightly parted. James places one foot behind him and steps back. My pulse skyrockets, my breathing becomes denser. Chills pepper my arms.

I thought…

Oh, God.

My heart is pounding against my ribs.

I can't think straight, and I'm a bit in shock.

I didn't think he was going to ask me again. I really thought I had lost my chance.

Tears fill my eyes instantly, and I flatten my lips tightly together.

James lowers to one knee and presents a black velvet box to me. Little breaths turn into pants. I meet his gaze and look at him, the man who will become my husband. I'm trembling inside to the point the nerves are making me sick. The other times James had asked me to marry him, there'd been no ring. I suspected he had one with him each time, but when I rejected the notion of marriage, I'd just assumed he didn't take it out. As odd as it sounds, I'm glad he hadn't until now.