in front of her like an excited child. “I’ve dreamt of this moment your entire life.”
Both Garrin and me chuckle and my mom pulls us each in for another hug.
“Welcome to the family, Garrin.” She squeezes his shoulder.
He looks a little taken aback at her words but manages to thank her before announcing his exit.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he says, bending down to give me a kiss.
I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him down to deepen our kiss. When he pulls back, he looks a little embarrassed, glancing over at my mom. It’s all I can do not to laugh out loud at the sight of him chagrined since he normally doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Turns out he cares about what my mom thinks.
“See you tomorrow,” I say, not knowing whether I will or not but fully intending to make it happen.
“Tomorrow.” He nods at me. “Again, it was great meeting you, Amelia.”
“You too, Garrin.” She pulls him in for another hug before he leaves the room.
As soon as he’s gone, my mom turns to me. “I am so happy for you. It’s easy to see just by looking at you two that you love each other.”
I smile at her, tears filling my eyes. I’ve never been so happy. Still, I’m working hard to keep the doubts from taking over because my biggest fear is that this is going to end in disaster.
36
Chapter Thirty-six
Garrin
I pour the coffee into my mug in the Titans’ Den and attempt to blink the blur from my eyes. I slept like shit last night, and I hate to admit that it’s because Isla wasn’t beside me in bed. When the fuck did I become that guy?
There’s no sense denying the truth, though, at least to myself.
The elevator dings behind me and Ford and Ryker step off.
“Morning, sunshine,” Ryker says. “How was your romantic getaway?”
“The skiing was great. Lots of fresh powder.” I bring the mug to my lips and take a generous sip.
“And the woman?” Ryker raises a brow.
“Fuck off.” I sit on the couch while Ryker prepares a coffee and Ford, being the pansy he is, makes himself a frappuccino.
The elevator dings again, and Asher and Lincoln join us. Asher looks like he went on a bender this weekend, with black bags under his eyes and his hair in every direction.
“How’s it going?” Lincoln asks, sitting beside me on the couch.
Asher grabs a beer and cracks it open. We all look at one another but say nothing.
“What’s his deal?” I ask Linc, nodding toward Asher.
“I can hear you,” Asher says. “For your information, Lincoln took me to his little club this weekend and I found myself in the midst of a foursome. It takes a lot out of a man to fuck three girls at once.”
I look at Lincoln. “You took him to Allure?”
He shrugs. “He asked if he could come.”
I shake my head at the both of them.
“So…” Ford sits in the chair to my right. “Should I expect Isla to come in with a permasmile or a scowl on her face this morning?”
“You should expect her to come in with a ring on her finger.” Yeah, I’m not really a beat-around-the-bush kind of guy.
All movement stops and all their eyes are glued to me. I casually lift my coffee to my lips and take a sip.
“You did it? You proposed?” Ryker asks.
“Yes, Einstein.”
“And she said yes?” Ford sounds surprised.
“Of course she did. Hello. Garrin Stone.” I point to myself.
Lincoln lets out a low whistle. “Congratulations… I guess.”
“Thanks. We still have to work out the details, but the wedding will be sooner rather than later.” I set my mug on the coffee table.
“Why the fuck would you do that?” Asher asks, coming over to stand in front of the couch.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t you insist on a long engagement so you can drag your feet and see if we can come up with anything to use against your dad?” Ryker asks.
I say nothing, but Asher’s eyes widen as he stares at me. “Holy shit. You actually love this girl.”
“Is that true?” Lincoln asks, serious as always.
I stand from the couch and smooth out my tie. “I’d be marrying Isla with or without my father’s influence. And I want that to happen sooner rather than later because I’ll protect her from the old man. That’ll be easier to do if she’s my wife and we’re living together. And, yes, to answer your question.” I eye them all. “I love her.”
God,