I rolled over to find an empty bed. Sitting up, I glanced around. Corina wasn’t in the room, and I didn’t hear her in the bathroom. With a quick flick of the covers, I reached for my sleeping pants and slipped them on. As I made my way down the steps, I heard her. My heart felt full as I listened to her on the phone, talking to Chloe.
“I know you don’t want to share kisses with Gage, but I promise to give you extra-long hugs.”
I smiled. Chloe had reached the stage where the newness of her baby brother was wearing off and a bit of jealousy was making its way in.
“Wade made you a bed for your baby doll? How sweet of him. Yes, I know how much you love her. She’ll be so happy to have a comfy bed. Yep. Okay. Yes, I am looking at the snow right now. Okay, I’ll send you a picture. A snow angel? Yes, I’m an expert at making them. I’ll have Mitchell take a picture.”
I poured a cup of coffee and made my way to the sun room.
“No, Chloe, I’m not on my honeymoon. Your momma is right. Well, I do love your Uncle Mitchell so very much. Yes…someday…I hope.”
I let my imagination run away and pictured Chloe asking Corina if we were going to be married someday.
“I’d love to make that title official, as well! Where did you even learn that, Chloe Parker?”
I stopped walking and stared at Corina. She was wearing gray flannel pants and a long-sleeve, pink flannel shirt. She looked beautiful as she stared out through the windows at the heavily falling snow.
I set the coffee cup down and rushed back up the steps and grabbed the ring box. Silently I crept back down the stairs. Corina was still on the phone with Chloe.
“I promise when I get back I’ll read that book to you. Yes, I’ll do the voice.”
My heart was overfilled with love for this woman. She was everything I wanted in life. Everything I needed. Hearing her talking to Chloe only made it that much clearer to me.
This was the perfect moment to ask her to marry me.
“Okay, Chloe cat. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Yes. I promise to make sure Uncle Mitchell is awake before I call. You be a good girl and help Mommy with your baby brother. They both need you.”
“Love you, too. Bye, pumpkin.”
Corina pulled the phone away from her ear and hit End. She set the phone on the table and drew her knees into her body. With her chin resting on her knees, she let out a contented sigh while she watched the snow fall.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Glancing back at me, she dropped her legs. “Oh, you just missed Chloe. She called to talk to us. I thought you were still sleeping.”
I smiled and pushed the hand that wasn’t hiding the ring box through my hair. “Just woke up. Someone kept me up half the night getting freaky with me.”
Her cheeks flushed and my chest tightened. “I believe it was you, Mr. Parker, who was getting freaky with me.”
I wiggled my brows. “Looks like we may be snowed in. We could get freaky again, if you want.”
Corina pulled her legs up on the sofa and sat crisscrossed. “What I think we need to do is go get some food. Look at that snow coming down.”
Looking out the window, I nodded. “We could get stuck in here. I knew there was a chance we could get an early storm.”
She laughed. “Just our luck, huh? It’s beautiful though.
I peered out the window. She was right. It was beautiful. Snow covered everything. The rushing river cut a path through all of it, large boulders covered in fresh snow rising in various spots throughout the river.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so breathtaking in my entire life,” she said.
“I have.”
Corina was still looking out the window when I walked up next to her. “Really? Mitchell, look out that window and tell me that isn’t the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.”
Dropping to one knee, I took her hand in mine. Corina turned and faced me. Her blue eyes seemed to catch the reflection from the snowflakes falling from the sky. She smiled, and I lost the ability to breathe.
“You are so beautiful. You literally steal my breath when you look at me.”
Her eyes filled with happiness. It was the perfect moment to ask her to marry me. The white backdrop, the soft music coming from the radio she had turned on. The fact that we were both in our pajamas, talking about the possibility of being stranded in a snowstorm.
Perfect moment.
“The first time I ever laid eyes on you I was mesmerized. You somehow managed to grab a hold of my heart, and I’m positive I loved you from that moment on.”
A tear slipped from her eye and slowly traveled down her beautiful face.
“That first night we were together, I knew you were the one. I was stupid and scared and ran as fast as I could because I wasn’t ready to admit what I felt in my heart. I’d never in my life experienced it before. Even then I knew I had fallen in love with you. It took me awhile to admit that you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The woman I wanted to have children with.”
Corina covered her mouth, trying not to cry harder, but losing the battle.
“I wanted to make this moment special for both of us. I’m not good at things like this, and Amelia’s romance audiobooks can only help me so much.”
Corina shook her head and let a slight sob slip from between her lips.
I swallowed hard and cleared my throat, trying to get my voice back. “I know this isn’t the most romantic way to ask you to marry me, but I figured if you allow me, I’ll spend the rest of my life working on the romance part. Corina, will you do me the great honor of becoming Mrs. Mitchell Parker?”
Dropping to her knees, Corina threw her arms around my neck. “Yes! Yes, I will marry you!”
I pulled her to me and held her tight. Her body shook as she cried.
“Mitchell, this is the last thing I ever expected!”
Drawing back, I wiped her tears from her face. “It’s not too soon?”
She shook her head and her bottom lip trembled. “No. Not for me.”
She looked down at the ring and gasped. I took it out and slipped it onto her finger while she stared at it.
“It was my grandmother’s ring. She loved emeralds. My grandfather had this ring made for her. The halo of diamonds around it was to represent his unending love for her. She didn’t like yellow gold, so he had it made in platinum. To represent the strength of their love.”
“Oh Mitchell, that is so beautiful.”
Grinning, I nodded. “My grandmother never took it off. She told me once when she would get upset or need clarity, she’d stare at her ring. The emerald would calm her…clear her vision.”
Corina held the ring up and gazed at it. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
My smile grew bigger. “I’m glad you like it.”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Like it? Mitchell, I love it and will treasure it for the rest of my days. You will never know how much it means that you gave me your grandmother’s ring.”
I pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “Someday you can pass it down to one of our grandchildren.”
Her eyes filled with tears again. When I placed my hand on the side of her cheek, she leaned into it. “I have something I need to tell you, dove.”
Her grin faded some.
“It’s nothing bad, I swear,” I added with a lighthearted chuckle.
“Okay, what is it?”
I wasn’t sure how she was going to feel about this. Would she think I was insane? Maybe she would think it was too soon. It didn’t matter—I wanted to be honest with her and I knew she would want that too.
“I want to have a baby.”
Her mouth parted and she sucked in a breath. “W-what?”
“A baby. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I mean…I want to start a family.”
Corina sat onto the ground and stared at me like I had lost my damn mind.
Fuck. Maybe I had. We’d only been together since August, and we’d had a pregnancy scare the first week we were officially dating. It was only the beginning of October and I’d just asked her to marry me and have my baby.
Yep. I had lost my mind. But I knew this was what I wanted and prayed it was what she wanted too.
Corina stared at nothing, like she was trying to process everything that just happened in the last two minutes.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I sat on the floor in front of her.
“Mitch, did you hear what you just said?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“You want to have a baby?”
“I do. Very much so.”
“Before we get married?”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. If you want to run off like Amelia and Wade did, I’m game. If you want to have the biggest wedding known to man, I’m down for that too. I don’t care how we do this, I just know I want all of it. With you.”
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before focusing on me. “What about getting to know each other? Spending time together?”
“I know I love you. I know we started this relationship in a crazy-ass way, so why not keep up with it?”
Her hand went to her stomach. When I saw her beautiful blue eyes glass over, my heart about pounded out of my chest. I could see her answer in her eyes. It felt like I could look into them and read her soul.
Dropping her hand, she laughed. “Yes!”
Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “Yes to the marriage? Because you already said yes to that…or yes to a baby?”
She took my hands in hers. “Yes to a baby! Oh my God! Are we really going to do this?”
I smiled so big my cheeks hurt. “Only if you really want to.”
“Do you? I mean, Mitchell, this is such a one-eighty for you. You’re sure that you’re not just caught in the moment of all this magic? Maybe it’s the cold weather. It’s gone to your head!”
I pulled her into my lap. “I’m positive. I want to marry you, and more than anything I want to watch your stomach grow with our child. I love you, Corina, and I don’t want to wait another second to start this life with you.”
“A baby? We’re going to try for a baby?”
Placing my finger on her chin, I grinned. “I say we start practicing now.”
Her teeth sank into her lip. “Practice makes perfect.”
Corina and I spent the rest of the morning making love as the snow fell quietly all around us. I’d never been so content in my entire life.
There was no way life could get better than this.
We raced into the hotel and shook the snow off.
“Wow! Is all this snow normal?” I asked the bellhop.
“We are known for getting an early storm like this every so often. It is beautiful though, isn’t it?” he said.
“It’s breathtaking!” Corina answered. She still had a glow on her cheeks from all the lovemaking this morning. It had been amazing, being buried inside of her all morning. I had thought I was done for the day until I watched Corina throw her birth control pills away. Something came over me, and before I knew it, I had her on the counter in the kitchen and was fucking her like my life depended on it. By the time we both came, we were covered in a sheen of sweat, each of us breathing like we had just run a marathon.
After making our way to the restaurant, I looked around to make sure Kristi wasn’t there. Corina ordered a water, and when she said “Just in case,” it made my stomach dip like I was on a fucking roller coaster. I ordered a tea. If she wasn’t going to drink, neither was I.
We ordered our meal and I reached across the table to take her hand. “I need to tell you something.”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “Is it more big news? Because I think you’ve about reached your quota for today.”
Laughing, I winked at her. “It is more news. Good news.”
She smiled and my heart skipped a beat. God, how I love her smile.
“I probably should have told you this first before I asked you to marry me and tried to get you knocked up.”
“Oh no! Did you quit your job or something, and now we have to live on my salary alone?” she asked as she let out a chuckle.
“Actually, yes. I gave my two-week notice that will go into effect when we get back from vacation.”
Her smile dropped. “You did what?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few weeks. Being with you has really opened my eyes to the things I really want in life.”
“Oh my gosh. Mitchell, what are you going to do for a job?”
I could see the panic in her eyes.
“Work for my father. That’s what I was talking to him, Steed, and Trevor about last week. I want to work on the ranch. I’ve always wanted to. It just took me a few years to listen to my heart and go for the things I wanted.”
A huge smile grew across her face. “I think this is amazing!”
The corners of my mouth lifted. “Yeah? You’re not upset or angry?”
“What? No! Mitch, I’ve always known the worry that came with your job, and I was okay with it. But now…you’ve just lifted a huge weight off my shoulders!”
“Hey, ranching is dangerous work.”
She laughed. “Not as dangerous as being a cop. Please, tell me you didn’t do this because you thought it would make me say yes to the marriage and the baby.”
I squeezed her hand. “Dove, you already agreed to that when you thought I was still a cop.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s right! I did!”
The waiter came up and set our bowls of soup down, followed by two salads.
Corina pulled her bowl closer. “Oh, yum. Soup sounds so good right now!”
“Is there anything else I can get the two of you?” the waiter asked.
Corina shook her head. I said, “No, thank you. I think we’re good for right now.”
I took a sip of the soup and wanted to moan. This Texas boy was not used to being so damn cold.
“I’ve got a bit of news to share with you as well,” Corina said.
Looking up, I grinned. “Yeah? Share it with me.”
“I’ve been thinking, since we are officially moved in together and are now talking marriage and baby, what would you think if I turned my house into a bed and breakfast? I’ve actually been tossing the idea around since I moved in with you.”
I set my spoon down and focused on her. “I think that’s a great idea. The downtown area of Oak Springs is starting to really grow, and Lucy mentioned a ton of people are asking about places to stay close to the river and the square.”
Her expression was pure happiness. “Okay, so now I have another idea.”
“Hit me with it,” I said before taking a bite of salad.
“Now that we are trying for a baby…” Her cheeks flushed. “If we do have one, I don’t want to work. I’d want to stay home with him or her.”
“I’m totally fine with that.”
She nodded. “Okay! I can help run the B and B and still be at home with our little one.”
My heart felt like it was floating in my chest. Our little one. Damn, I liked the sound of that.
“And I was thinking after leaving Chicago, what if we asked my mom to move to Oak Springs and run the bed and breakfast full-time?”
“Corina, I think that’s a great idea!”
She clapped her hands and did a little dance in her seat. “I do too! I mean, she loves Chicago, but I know she would love Oak Springs. My brother isn’t planning on kids anytime soon, and if we told Mom we were going to have a baby and we had a job she’d be excited about, I kind of think she’d be game for it.”
“I think she would love that. I mean, even if you got pregnant today, you’d still be finishing out the school year, right?”
“Yes, and we still have to make the changes to the house so that we could do the B and B. Get it all set up with the permits and all that fun stuff. It would be awhile before it’s actually open and ready to take people in. That would be plenty of time for Mom to come down to Texas, check it out, and let us know if she wanted to do it or not. Otherwise, we can hire someone to help run it.”
I couldn’t help the goofy-ass smile on my face. “Holy shit. Are we really making all these grown-up decisions right now? Marriage. Baby. Job changes. New business. Who are we?”
Corina laughed. “I say we get daring and order a bottle of champagne and celebrate all our news!”
Holding up my hand, I motioned for the waiter. “We’ll take a bottle of champagne.”
“Yes, sir. We have a Dom Perignon that is a hundred and seventy-five dollars a bottle.”
Before I had a chance to answer, I saw Kristi walk into the restaurant. I turned to the waiter. “May we have that delivered to our cabin? I think my fiancée and I would rather enjoy the view from our room while we celebrated.”
“Of course, sir. Would you like me to send up anything else, as well?”
“Yes. A cheese and fruit platter would be nice. If you could put the rest of this on my bill, we’re going to be leaving now.”
Corina looked down at her soup then back at me with a confused look. I simply winked.
“Was your meal okay, Mr. Parker?”
“Oh yes, it was delicious. We’ve just decided we want a bit more privacy.”
The kid smiled and nodded. “I’ll have some soup delivered to your room, as well. Let me get the bill.”
When he walked away, Corina gave me a questioning look. “Why are we leaving?”
“Good afternoon, Mitch and Corina,” Kristi said. “How are you enjoying this weather?”
Corina snarled before plastering on a fake smile. “Hello there, Kristi. The weather is amazing. Magical, if you will.”
Kristi let out a halfhearted chuckle. “If you say so. May I join you for lunch?”
The waiter had perfect timing. I quickly wrote out the tip and total and signed the bill. Standing, I reached for Corina’s hand.
“I’m sorry, Kristi. We’ve decided to head back to the cabin. We have a bit of celebrating to do.”
She lifted her brow as she looked between Corina and me. “Really? What type of celebrating?”
“The type that has Corina wearing my engagement ring on her finger. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we were leaving.”
I gently pulled Corina toward me and led her out of the dining room. I didn’t need to look back to know that Kristi was staring at us with piercing eyes. I could practically feel darts in my back.
“Well, if that didn’t leave her with a clear message, I don’t know what will!” Corina said with a giggle.
I brought her to my side, and we walked toward our cabin. “Come on. I want to make love to my future wife.”
“Sounds like an amazing idea to me!”