Reckless (Mason Family #3) - Adriana Locke Page 0,83
confident that someone would even try to reach for me if I fell.
But I know he would. He’d catch me just as quickly as he caught Rosie a moment ago.
“Who should I speak with then?” I ask even though I know the answer.
Danny grins as he heads for the door. “You’ll have to speak to Mr. Mason.”
My gaze flips to his and he snatches it up like he was waiting for the opportunity. The greens are vivid and bright. They pull me like a moth to a flame.
“I’m going to lunch,” Danny says. “We’ll get the details worked out this week, Mr. Mason. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Thank you,” Boone says. “We’ll be out of here in a moment.”
“Take your time.”
With a final smile and a little wave, Danny exits the room.
The room grows smaller in an instant. The temperature increases. I tug at the collar of my shirt.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Making sure you don’t get away from me.”
The tears well up in my eyes again. He wants us. He wants us to stay.
“Boone …”
“The plan I wanted to go over with you yesterday was the purchase of this complex. I thought it might be a good way for you to see if management was really something you liked. Even if it wasn’t, these places are gold mines. It would be money we could set aside for Rosie.”
I don’t fight the tears. There’s no point.
His words are more than a balm to my wounds. They’re a salve to my fears.
“I understand why you were scared,” he says. “I get why you internalized everything wrong. But I’m the one who let you down. And, for that, I’m sorry.”
The pieces of my heart float back together. The sincerity in his eyes mend them into one.
Not only does he want us in his life but he’s also thought of my dreams and Rosie’s future.
Who is this man? How am I this lucky?
“I panicked,” I tell him. “I got so scared and ran. I thought it would be easier to end it on my terms rather than it ending on yours.”
He smiles sadly. “But I didn’t want it to end.”
He sets Rosie down on the floor. She grabs his wrist and presses her finger to the dial, following the minute hand around and around the glass.
“I didn’t want it to end,” he says again. “What I wanted was for it to be for forever. I was just scared too. I terrifies me to think that I can love you with everything that I have and have it not be enough.”
My breath stalls in my lungs. My knees begin to shake.
“I meant what I said last night. I love you, Jaxi. I love Rosie. I want us.”
He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a light pink box.
“Oh, my gosh,” I whisper.
He picks Rosie up and walks across the room, then bends down on one knee.
Tears flood my face, my body shaking with adrenaline and excitement.
My heart explodes with love.
“You broke into my life like a thief in the day and flipped my world upside down,” he says, making me laugh. “You woke me up, made me see that I had more to give. More to live for. You make me want to be the best person I can be for you and for Rosie.”
“And Wade,” Rosie says.
“Rosie … no,” Boone says, shaking his head. “Not Wade this time.”
“Oh.”
I giggle, covering my mouth with my hands.
“Last night was awful. I want it to be the last night we ever spend apart. I want to make our family official. Boone, Jaxi, and Rosie Mason.”
“Rosie Mason,” Rosie says.
Boone shakes her, making her laugh.
“That’s right,” he says. “Rosie Mason. Do you like that?”
“Yes, but my name is Penelope Rose Woods, Boone,” she says, blushing.
“You’re right. But I want you and Jaxi to have the same name as me,” he explains softly.
I love this man.
“What about Penelope Rose Woods Mason?” he asks.
I blink back tears.
“Yes! Boone! I love it,” she sing-songs.
“Then, that’s what your name will be.”
“But what’s all your names gonna be?” she asks.
He sighs and then chuckles. “My name is Boone Michael Mason. It doesn’t change. Just yours and Jaxi’s”
“Oh. Okay. I like that.”
He kisses her forehead and then sets her down next to him.
She takes his hand back.
And then, he looks at me, and I struggle to take in air.
The intensity. The love. The absolute confidence. In me. In us.
“Will you do me the greatest honor by becoming my wife?”