Epilogue
Eden
Sometimes snooping was ill-advised but, in my defense, I wasn’t looking for it. I heard the shower turn off and slipped the little velvet box back in the zippered compartment of Killian’s gym bag. I stowed it on the shelf on his side of our closet and slid the door along the track, hiding the evidence. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.
I forgot all about getting ready for our dinner date and collapsed on our king-sized bed, staring at the exposed-wood ceiling beams. Today was the one-year anniversary of the day we met. I let my thoughts wander back in time. To the early days when he tried to keep me at a distance. And to all the hours and the days when he became mine. Heart, body, and soul. Our life together wasn’t a fairytale. It was real, and sometimes hard and painful, but there was magic in the everyday too.
I couldn’t pretend the night that man held a gun to my head didn’t affect me, but I’d sought counseling and worked through it. I was stronger now. Killian gave me the tools to physically fight my own battles if I needed to. He was an amazing teacher with far more patience than I’d ever expected. Mentally and emotionally, I felt stronger too. For Killian, the counseling hasn’t been as easy. He had always believed he needed to lock down his pain, but he sees his shrink once a week, and it’s getting better. He doesn’t come out of it looking like he’s ready to punch a wall or shut himself in a room anymore.
Killian strutted into our bedroom and crossed the hardwood floor, a plush white towel slung around his hips. I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my hand. My gaze traveled up the length of him. Now that he owned a gym, Defiance MMA & Fitness, he’d found his passion again and loved his job and, unbelievably, he was even leaner and fitter than he was when we met. Beads of water trailed down his bare chest, and I raised my gaze to his freshly-shaven face. I stared at him, mesmerized, as if I’d never seen his face before. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man, and there was no doubt in my mind we belonged together.
“You going like that?” he asked, eyeing my silky green robe. I couldn’t form the words to answer him. All I could do was smile so big it practically split my face in two. I watched the towel drop to the floor and caught the wicked gleam in his eye. “Let’s have our dessert first.”
I laughed. Killian still didn’t eat dessert. Or junk food. But I kept my own stash in a cupboard next to his whole grains and birdseed.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Do we have time—” The rest of my sentence was swallowed up in his kiss. As it turned out, we didn’t need a lot of time. It was quick and dirty, and I was screaming his name a few minutes later.
He collapsed on top of me and kissed my neck. “Love you.”
“Love you more.”
“It’s not a contest.”
“If it were, I’d win.”
He chuckled and braced his arm to support his weight. I looked into his blue eyes and I could swear they twinkled. He lets me see him now—his joy, his pain, his sadness, his love. It was written on his face, reflected in his eyes, and I loved that he trusted me with all his emotions.
“The answer is yes,” I blurted out. What an idiot. Filters, Eden.
Killian raised his brows. “What are you saying yes to?”
“Anything you ask me, I’ll say yes.” I smiled, all innocence. I didn’t fool him for a minute.
He started laughing, the sound coming from deep inside, his chest rumbling against mine. He was laughing so hard tears sprang to his eyes.
“What’s so funny?”
Killian rolled off me and scrubbed his hands over his face. “What am I going to do with you?”
Yeah, I ruined the surprise. My own stupid fault. “You should have booby-trapped it.”
“You shouldn’t have been looking through my bag.”
“I was going to leave you a little love letter.”
I leaned over the side of the bed, fished the proof out of my robe pocket, and placed the letter on his chest. He tipped down his chin and unfolded the notepaper, holding it up so he could read it. It was corny, but it put a smile on his face.
Dear Killian,
You once asked me what you do for me, so I made a list:
You always put the toilet seat down.
You do all the nasty jobs around the house, like cleaning my hair out of the shower drain.
You give excellent massages, guaranteed to have a happy ending.
Your smoothies are hit-or-miss, but you don’t force me to drink them…so thanks for that.
You support all my crazy ideas, even when I insisted on cutting down our own Christmas tree (in Indiana, Pennsylvania AKA “The Christmas tree capital of the world”). I might have underestimated the difficulty of transporting a twelve-foot Blue Spruce on the roof for three-hundred miles. But hey, the tree looked amazing in our loft. Next year, I say we go bigger.
You didn’t get angry after that unfortunate fender bender with your new Range Rover.
For all these little reasons and the big ones too, you’re my real-life hero. My white knight, my wish on a star, the wings of my heart.
I love you more today than I did yesterday.
Yours,
Eden
“So yeah,” I said, when he folded it up. “I was going to put the letter in your gym bag, so you could find it tomorrow and…well…”
He was off the bed, reaching into the dresser for his boxer briefs. “Get dressed. We need to go.”
My mouth gaped as he casually got dressed like nothing major was happening. “What? But…”
“We have a reservation.”
“I know. But don’t you have something to ask me?”
“You already said yes to anything.”
Huh. Me and my big mouth. I grabbed my clothes and retreated into the bathroom to get dressed and do my makeup. Dressed and ready in a silky jade green dress with an open back, I gave myself a onceover in the mirror before I joined Killian in the bedroom. He was lounging on the bed, doing something on his phone. He was wearing the white linen button-down shirt I loved on him, with dark jeans and a newer version of his old combat boots.
He stood and erased the distance between us. “You look gorgeous.”
“So, do you.”
He dropped down on one knee in front of me, and it didn’t matter that I’d spoiled the surprise. This was a huge surprise. I hadn’t expected anything so traditional, but here he was, taking my hand in his as he knelt in front of me. I could barely see him through my tears.
“I love you, Eden. All your crazy ideas. Your optimism. Your stubborn determination. Your stellar driving skills…we’ll work on them. Doesn’t matter. I love you just as you are. You’re my home,” he said softly. “Will you marry me?”
You’re my home. I put my hand over my heart and tried to swallow past my tears. God, that was beautiful. I nodded, incapable of speech. “Yes,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He slid the ring on my finger and then he was on his feet, his hands cradling my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears.
Fifteen minutes later, I was still living on cloud nine, and couldn’t stop looking at my engagement ring—an emerald, surrounded by sparkly diamonds. It was perfect.
“How did you pick this ring?” I asked.
“If you want a diamond, we can take it back—”
“No! I love it. It’s perfect.”
I looked out the window as he pulled into a parking space a block from the bar. “I thought we were going to dinner at our little French place.”
“We have time for one drink.” He guided me down the street, texting while we walked. I still worked at Trinity Bar, but I worked day shifts now. When Zeke bought out Killian’s share, he and Louis made a few changes. One of them had been to open the bar during the day. Zeke and I were still good friends, and he had helped Killian put together a five-year business plan, as well as putting him in touch with foundations that helped him get grants for his at-risk-youth program.
Killian ushered me inside the bar, and it took me a minute to process what was going on. When I did, I was on the verge of happy tears again.
“Killian.” I covered my mouth with my hands.
He smirked at me. “Surprise.”
Ha! He got one over on me, not an easy feat. All our friends were gathered at the bar—Louis, Zeke, Chris, Brody, Hailey, Ava, Jared, Connor…even Daniel was here.
I stared at everyone, speechless.
“So why are we all here?” Connor asked.
“Uh, duh,” Ava said. “You didn’t see the rock on her finger?”
It was the most Ava had said to Connor in eight months, and the only time they’d been in a room together. Connor shot her a look, but she studiously ignored it, and carried on talking to Hailey. He shook his head and pulled me into a hug, congratulating me.
When he released me, I gave him a soft smile which he returned. We’d been through so much together and we’d gotten so close over these past months. Connor was like a brother to me now. I just wanted him to be happy, but it wasn’t that easy. He was still working on rebuilding the trust he’d destroyed. My history with him didn’t reach back as far as it did for Killian and Ava, so I guess it was easier for me to believe in him than it was for them.
“Love you, girl,” Connor said.
“Love you too.”
Connor gave me another hug and Louis pressed a glass of champagne into my hand.
The rest of the night was a blur of music, champagne, tacos, and everyone telling stories about how they were the ones responsible for getting us together.
Hours later, I was toasting Hailey who had just landed her dream job in San Francisco where the head chef was a woman. “Here’s to making our dreams come true,” I said.
“I’ll drink to that.”
We clinked glasses and drank to that. I downed the rest of my champagne and set my empty glass on the bar.
Arms wrapped around me from behind and I leaned back against Killian’s chest.
“I love you in that dress…” he murmured in my ear. “But all I can think about is getting you out of it. Wanna hear what I plan to do to you later?”
“How are you going to top this?” I asked, flashing the ring at him.
“I’ve got skills.”
“Mm, I know you do.”
“Let’s go home,” he said.
Home. That had to be one of the most beautiful words in the English language. Maybe life wasn’t a fairy tale, but Killian and I were getting our happily ever after.