Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,69
looked back to the love of his life, ready to do what it took.
Katie held tight to her brother’s arm, and even though they were still a few feet away, Damon could see the way she shook and the look of question on her face. He held her gaze, doing his best to impart everything he was feeling for her in his eyes.
When they got close enough, he stepped forward. “Damon? What...the photo…” She looked to Logan, clearly trying to figure out what exactly was happening.
Logan shook his head and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. “It was our turn to lie,” he said with a grin, before gently extracting himself from the situation, leaving the two of them alone—with everyone watching.
“Damon?” Tears pooled in her eyes.
Damon took hold of her hand. It shook in his, but he wasn’t going to let it go. He dropped to one knee and smiled up at her.
“What are you doing?” She hissed at him under her breath. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“It does,” he said. “This is the thing that makes the most sense. Katie, I love you.”
“Damon, I know. I love you, too, but—”
“No, Katie.” He had to make her see. “I’m in love with you. Madly, deeply, and completely crazy in love with you.” He chuckled a little. “I can’t even see straight most of the time when you’re around. And I’m certainly not thinking right. I think that’s clear from the way I’ve been behaving.” He shook his head a little. “I don’t even know how to properly explain this to you, Katie. But I’m going to try, okay?”
She didn’t look convinced, but she nodded, just a little, and that was all Damon needed to keep going.
“You’ve always been my best friend. The one person in this world I couldn’t imagine living without. I think I’ve always been in love with you, Katie, but I was too young and stupid to see it for far too long. We are more than good together.” He noticed the way she winced at his choice of words, but it didn’t deter him. “We are everything together.
“Marrying you last week was the best decision of my entire life.” A tear slipped down her cheek and he resisted the urge to stand and wipe it away. He needed to finish first. “My only regret was that I didn’t give you the wedding you deserved the first time.” He swallowed hard. “No,” he corrected himself. “That’s not my only regret. My biggest regret was trying to pretend it wasn’t real, because it was. You and I are the most real thing I’ve ever had in my life and I need you to know that, Katie. I love you with all of my heart and more than anything, I want to spend the rest of my life proving that to you.” He took a deep breath. “Will you marry me?”
There were a few gasps of surprise and muttering from the crowd that he’d almost forgotten was still there. Surely, the truth had spread through them all by that point—not that Damon cared what Faith and Logan had told them to get them there, as long as they were there. Katie had told him all about the wedding she’d imagined she would have and that’s exactly what he was going to give her.
If she said yes.
“Damon, I…”
“Tell me that you don’t love me.” From his pocket, Damon pulled the ring his father had given him earlier. His mother’s wedding band. He squeezed it briefly, took a breath, and held it up. “Tell me that you don’t feel the same way, Katie. And if you do, I promise I’ll get up and walk away. But I need to hear you say it.”
She was silent for a moment before dropping her head but still, Damon waited. After what felt like forever, she looked up and grinned. “I can’t,” she said. “I can’t say that because it’s not true. Damon, I do love you. You make me crazy and make me want to tear my hair out sometimes, but I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
Her lips flicked up into a smile and his heart about burst in his chest.
“So, that’s a—”
“Yes!” She shook her hand in his. “A thousand times yes. I will…stay married?” She laughed, but there would be time to work out the semantics of everything.
For now, Damon had heard all he needed to.
He slipped the ring onto Katie’s finger—where it had always belonged—jumped to