Written in You

A Montgomery Ink Short Story

Author Note: Griffin from Written in Ink (Montgomery Ink Book 4) has a very important question to ask Autumn. It’s best if you read this story any time after Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink Book 5).

Proposing to your girlfriend shouldn’t be as hard as this, damn it. It wasn’t as if countless others hadn’t done it before to their prospective fiancées, but this was different. This was Autumn. His Autumn.

And he was Griffin Montgomery.

A New York Times bestselling author who knew how to pen a word, build a world, and destroy one within the pages of a book.

And yet he couldn’t figure out how to ask Autumn to marry him.

They hadn’t had the classic courtship that some of his siblings went through, so he figured he should try something different.

With a groan, he put his head in his hands so he wouldn’t bang it against his desk.

As if any of his siblings had dated their significant others in the usual ways. Each of the Montgomerys had gone a little crazy, a little head over heels, and a little…different when they’d fallen in love, and Griffin was no different.

The only real difference between him and his siblings was that he and Autumn had been dating far longer than any of the other Montgomerys dated during their initial relationships. He and Autumn had been together for over a year, and though they’d lived together for much of that time, neither of them had seemed in any great hurry to make it more…official.

They worked together. They slept together. They loved together.

And it had been enough.

Before.

Now, Griffin wanted Autumn as his wife. He wanted her to be his. To be a Montgomery. He knew his family already thought of her as theirs so that part would be easy. She’d only just begun to see her own family again recently, and because of that, she was becoming more and more settled.

Now, he wanted to be.

Of course, instead of just asking her like he should, he’d spent the past three weeks trying to figure out how to approach her about it. He knew she loved him, and he loved her so much he couldn’t breathe half the time, but he couldn’t quite get it out of his head that she might say no.

His mouth went dry, and his hands shook.

What if she said no?

What if she decided that she couldn’t deal with his messy and scatterbrained ways when he was under deadline? He knew he was a bit sporadic and not one of the sanest people around when he was deep in his book, and Autumn knew that firsthand. She was the one who had to deal with him on deadline, out of deadline, and near a deadline.

She knew everything about him, his deepest and darkest secrets, his ticks, his pain in the ass habits…everything.

She had every right to say no to him.

This time, he did smash his head against his desk.

Why the hell did he keep doing this to himself?

They loved each other. They were practically married already. They just needed the damn piece of paper.

He banged his head on the desktop again.

Of course, it wasn’t just a damn piece of paper. That was why he wanted to propose in the first place. He knew having her as his wife, having him as her husband, meant something more than signing a marriage license.

He just needed to kick himself in the ass and actually ask her.

Soft hands slid over his shoulders, and he brought his head up suddenly, smashing it into Autumn’s cheek.

He cursed as she let out a short laugh, clutching her face. “Fuck, I’m an idiot.” He stood up quickly and put his hand over hers. “I’m so sorry. How hurt are you? Are you bleeding? Do you need to go to the doctor?” He put his other hand on her hip and tried to move her backwards.

She stayed put, resting her hand on his arm. “I’m fine, dork. You just caught me off guard.” She put her hand down, wincing. “Well, and my face, but you didn’t hurt me too badly. I promise.”

He kissed her cheek softly, once, twice, then a third time before moving to her lips. “I hurt you. I’m an idiot.”

She kissed him back harder than he had kissed her and then moved back. “You’re a little bit of an idiot, but so am I. That’s why we get along so well. Now, why don’t you tell me why you were banging your head against the desk like that. You’re not near your deadline, and you finished your initial outline two days ago. You’re supposed to be resting and researching, not stressing. What’s wrong, baby?”

Griffin cupped Autumn’s face, staring into those big eyes that always seemed to see every part of him. Her auburn hair lay tangled in curls around her head, though she’d taken part of it to make a braid that had begun to fall apart on her run. She’d never been able to tame her hair, and he loved it. He traced his thumbs over her cheekbones, noting the redness on one of them and gently brushing it as if he could make the mark he’d accidentally given her go away.

He was such a klutz sometimes.

Yet she loved him.

Every bit of him, it seemed.

Why was he so scared that she’d say no? What could he lose if he asked her?

He’d lose more if he didn’t.

“Marry me,” he blurted.

Well, that wasn’t quite asking.

Her eyes widened, and he thought he might have made a mistake. “What?” she croaked.

He cleared his throat. “Marry me.” He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. He still had his hands on her face, and her eyes were still wide. “I love you, Autumn. I want you to be my wife. I want to be your husband. I want to wake up to you every day for the rest of our days. I know we already do that, but I want my ring on your finger, want my name as yours. I want the world to know that we’re together and that we always will be. I know it’s traditional, but I want to be that couple. I want that forever. I can’t imagine my life without you, Autumn. Pick me, baby. Be with me.”

“Of course,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me for weeks. Ever since I saw you talking to yourself over the ring I guess you’re about to give me. You have no idea how hard it’s been to wait for you to pop the question. I almost asked you myself, but I didn’t want to steal your thunder or ruin your plans. Though if your plan was to hit me over the head so I would say yes, I’m just going to put the idea out there that you could have gone another way.”

Griffin pulled away, laughing. “You knew? All this time, you knew?”

“Of course, I knew.” She rolled her eyes and put her hands on his hips. “I’m going to be your wife. I know everything.”

He twisted around to reach for the ring he’d once again been talking to before she showed up. He opened the top of the box and showed her the antique pearl ring he’d found for her. “I’d say next time I’d do better, but this is the only time. You’re my only, Autumn.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she held out her shaky hand as he placed the ring on her finger. “Only. I like the sound of that, Montgomery.”

“Only,” he whispered then took her lips with his.

Only.