Carson
The citrus scent of a freshly peeled orange drifted over to the side of the room I was working in. I glanced over at Joss, who was perched on the kitchen counter, and sure enough, she was peeling an orange. They were her favorite snack.
“I mean, case in point—Wonder Woman,” she said, continuing with the train of thought I’d only halfway been listening to, since my mind was on the drywall I was patching. “She fights bad guys in a strapless swimsuit and hooker boots. What’s up with that? Why doesn’t Batman wear a Speedo? It would be considered undignified for him, that’s why. But for a woman, it’s pretty much mandatory.”
“Can’t argue with that, babe.”
I looked over and saw Lola cocking her head at Joss, silently asking when she was getting a bite of that orange. What kind of dog loves oranges? Our Lola. There was nothing that dog wouldn’t eat, from shoes to toothpaste to underwear.
“Did I already promise not to try to move furniture by myself again?” Joss asked.
I gave her a wry look. “You did, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.”
“If I had known that bookcase would fall and knock a hole in the wall—”
“It’s not the hole, babe. You could have hurt yourself moving that all alone.”
“Won’t happen again.” She slid down from the counter. “I’m gonna start dinner. Fish tacos or pork chops?”
“Uh . . . actually, I need your help with this.”
She gave an amused snort. “My help? I’m terrible at this stuff, babe. Remember when you asked me to hold your sledgehammer and I dropped it on my foot?”
I smiled at the memory of her howling and hopping dramatically around the room. “I promise not to ask you to hold anything heavy this time.”
“Okay, let me wash my hands.”
She did, and then she walked over and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. “Are you going to ask me for sexual favors while you work?” she asked playfully.
“Now that you mention it . . .”
“After dinner,” she said, peeking her head around to look at me. “Because we value reciprocity in this relationship.”
“That we do.” I gave her a quick kiss and turned back to the drywall I’d just cut.
“So what can I do to help?” she asked.
“I need a screw.”
“I thought we decided to wait until after dinner.” She arched her brows playfully.
“Ha ha, funny girl. Get me a drywall screw from the box on the floor. They’re in one of the top drawers.”
She bent down to the box of plastic drawers. “Drywall screw. Got it.”
As she opened a drawer, I said, “Not that one.” She moved to the next one, and I said, “No, it’s one more over.”
As she opened the drawer, I set down the square of drywall I was holding and just watched her.
“Okay, so . . . what?” She looked up at me, her eyes wide.
She’d spotted the diamond solitaire on a rose gold band I’d left in the drawer. I got down on one knee and took her hands in mine.
“Jocelyn Drake, you’re my world. I love you more than anything. Will you be my wife?”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and a wide grin spread across her face. “Yes! Ten thousand times yes!”
She threw her arms around my neck, and I held her close.
“I know it wasn’t the fanciest proposal,” I said.
Pulling back, Joss cupped my face in her hands and met my eyes. “It was perfect. Just perfect, Carson.”
I reached over to the drawer and took out the ring, then slid it onto her finger. As soon as she looked at it, she broke into tears.
“We’re getting married.” Her giddy tone lit me up from head to toe.
“Yes, we are.”
I kissed her with all the passion she brought out in me every day. Joss had brought color into my life. She’d made me believe in so many things. Before, I’d been a lost soul who didn’t even realize how wounded he was.
Though I still had bad dreams sometimes, she was always there when I woke up from them. I shared them with her, and that took an emotional weight off my shoulders.
That one night we’d spent together in her research room had changed the course of our lives. Joss was mine forever now, and I was hers. And as I looked at the sparkling ring on her finger, I knew we’d both gotten lucky, but that we’d also finally gotten what we truly deserved.