Chapter 30

~Daniel~

 

Em and I listen to J’s report on the progress that Harlson Construction is making with the house renovations. They’re three weeks into the job right now and everything is right on schedule. For now. These things can change in a heartbeat.

“A month and a half and we should be done,” J finishes.

“Great,” Em says, flashing him one of her cute smiles.

“Thanks, man,” I say, slapping his shoulder.

“No problem. Besides, the faster I get this done, the faster you guys will be out of the penthouse and it’ll be all mine.”

“Shit, you’re gonna defile this place, aren’t you?”

“Think playboy mansion gone wild.”

Em rolls her eyes. “Remind me to call before I come over then.”

J laughs. And then he looks at his watch. His gaze snaps to mine. “Hey, don’t you have somewhere to be right now? Sunset’s almost here.”

Oh shit. The time completely got away from me. He’s right. We need to get moving.

“Yeah, thanks,” I say, throwing him a discreet wink.

“What? Where do you have to be?” Em asks, at a loss.

“We, babe. We,” I say, taking her hand and leading her to the elevator.

I look back at J quickly, suddenly needing the support. He mouths good luck and flashes me a reassuring smile.

Right, yeah. It’s fine. It’s gonna be fine. I need to calm the fuck down.

***

 

When we reach our destination, I pull over to the side of the road and cut the engine. I unbuckle my seatbelt and glance over at Em. She’s looking around, perplexed, not sure what the hell is going on.

“Why did you stop on the side of the road?” she asks.

I grin and climb out of the car. “Come on, babe.”

She follows me around to the front of the car.

I grip her hips and lift her onto the hood. At six months pregnant now, it would be too difficult for her to hop up there herself.

“Comfortable?”

“As comfortable as a pregnant woman can be.”

I chuckle. “When we get home, I promise to do everything in my power to make you unbelievably comfortable, angel.”

Before she can say another word, I gesture around us. “Does this look familiar to you?”

She glances around again for a few seconds and then she turns back to me, smiling widely. “Yes. This is where we first met. You thought I was having car trouble and when you realized that I wasn’t, you hit on me.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” I chuckle.

“Why are we here?”

“I figured it was appropriate.”

I drop to one knee on the side of the dirt road.

I hear her gasp in surprise.

I pull out the ring box that has been burning a hole in my pocket all damn day. I open it and hold it out for her to see the diamond engagement ring nestled inside.

“When we met, I was broken, Em. Shattered. But in that inexplicable way of yours, you somehow managed to put all those pieces back together. You revived me. You saved me. You make me a better man. I can’t bear the idea of not waking up to that sweet laugh of yours every day. That cute grin. The feel of you against me. The taste of you in my mouth. I don’t want us to ever be apart again.” I pause for effect. “So…will you marry me, angel?”

She answers with a sob, “Yes. Oh my God, Dan. Of course. Of course, I will.”

“Aww…don’t cry,” I say getting to my feet and hurrying towards her. “Hold out your left hand.”

She does as I ask and I slide the ring onto her finger. Perfect fit.

Tears are streaming down her face now and she chokes out, “I love you so much.”

I wrap my arms around her. “I know. I love you too, my angel.”

As I hold her, I look out at the sun setting behind us.

Right now, I’ve never felt so warm.

There has never been a moment more perfect than this one. And it’s all because of Em.

Who would have thought that two people could change one another without even trying to, without that being their intention? Just the act of being together had the power to do that for us. It brought out the best in both of us, things that we’d hidden from the rest of the world.

It brought us out of our comfort zones and together we both found everything we’d been looking for.