Bexley~
While the shower had reinvigorated Ransom, all it'd done for me was ruin me for the rest of the night. Had it been a cold shower, I might have stood a chance. However, it'd been a hot, long, steamy one, and I could barely keep my eyes opened against the pillow under me.
After Ransom had dried me off, he had instructed me to grab a shirt out of his closet to wear, and after grabbing the first shirt that I'd seen, I had immediately crawled into his bed, ready to sleep the rest of my life away, I was so freakin' tired.
"Not so fast, baby."
I sat up in his bed, and I could feel myself practically drooling as I watched Ransom and that ripped body of his walk towards the bed. A grey towel was wrapped around his waist, and that was the only thing that he was wearing. Though to be fair, the man was so hot that clothes should be illegal on him. Those abs of his were the second sexiest things on him, next to those goddamn dimples.
"What?" I asked, never wanting to go to sleep so badly in my life.
Ransom sat down on the edge of the bed, and I watched as he pulled the drawer to the nightstand out, grab something, then place it on my lap.
It was a ring box.
"Ransom-"
"There's this, too."
I heard him, but all I could do was stare at the box on my lap. I recognized the logo, and my heart started thumping in my chest with how much this thing might be worth. Then I also feared that it wouldn't be to my taste at all. If that were the case, then it'd mean that Ransom really hadn't been paying attention to me all these years. I wasn't the flashy type, so gaudy rings really weren't my thing.
When he placed a slip of paper on my lap, I noticed that it looked like a receipt. My first thought wasn't a charitable one. I mean, there was only one reason that people kept receipts, and that was so a return would be easy if a return was necessary.
I looked up at him, and his mercury orbs were staring at me intently. "You kept the receipt?"
"I did my best to pick something that I thought you'd like, but I kept the receipt in case you didn't like it." He shrugged casually, but I could tell that he was nervous. "I didn't want you wearing something that wasn't you."
Looking back down at the receipt, I saw that it was a gift receipt, so the purchase amount wasn't on it, but that's not what caught my attention.
The date.
Everything started to blur in front of me as the date kept staring back at me smugly. The gift receipt was dated over a year and a half ago, and I couldn't believe how stupid I felt. I had allowed us to become total spectacles because of all my doubts. The entire town of Carmel Springs was talking about what idiots Ransom and I were, and all because I'd been too afraid to hope that I was finally getting everything that I'd always wanted with Ransom.
With shaky hands, I set the receipt aside, then let out a deep breath as I opened the black box, the creaking noise the only sound in the room. Once it was opened, a simple two-carat diamond ring stared back at me, and that's when the first tear fell.
It was perfect.
Though two-carats still seemed a bit much, the design was simple and elegant, and it's exactly what I would have picked for myself had I been the one shopping for it.
"It was either one-carat or two because one and a half just bothered me, so I went with two," he remarked casually.
"It's perfect," I replied honestly. "Really, Ransom. It's beautiful."
Without another word, Ransom took the box from my hands, then I watched as he removed the ring before slipping it on my finger. I stared at the ring as it sparkled, and I honestly didn't know how to feel right now. There were so many emotions swirling around in my chest that I couldn't focus on just one. I was happy, scared, relieved, embarrassed, and tired...very, very, very tired.
I looked up over at Ransom, and he was looking at me like I was his whole world. He was looking at me like I'd always hoped that my future husband would. He looked like he wanted to be here with me, and that's all that I had ever wanted for myself. Those silver eyes were drinking me in, and I had to smile when I realized something.
"You're not even going to ask?"
Ransom shook his head. "Hell no," he snorted. "Do I look stupid? I'm not giving you a chance to say no."
"Because you're sure that I'd still say no?" I teased.
"Bexley, the last thing that I'm ever going to do is take you for granted again," he said softly. "I've done enough of that during these past two years, don't you think?"
"You know, we still have a lot to work out, Ransom," I sighed, knowing that it wasn't going to be this easy. "I've loved you for so long without you loving me back that...I'm going to have my moments."
"You can have a million moments," he replied as he reached up to cup my face with one hand. "As long as you're mine, you can have however many emotional meltdowns that you want to, baby." His lip curled in a smirk. "Though truth be told, I'd rather have you spitting mad at me than sad."
"Like that angry sex, do you?" I smirked back.
His face softened. "Nah, baby," he lied. "I'd rather deal with your temper than your tears. Your tears are fucking brutal for me." His thumb started rubbing back and forth over my cheek. "These past few days have been fucking awful, Bexley."
"I'm sorry," I said, finally apologizing for my part in all this. "You were right. I could have easily said something also. I was scared. I thought that this was nothing but a good time for you, and it was one thing to expect my heart to get broken, but another to actually have it happen."
"Baby, you're not the only one that hadn't wanted to take the risk, so I understand," he replied graciously. "But if there's one thing that we both need to promise, it's that we will never not communicate again. No matter how ugly or uncomfortable, we share what we're thinking and feeling."
"Deal," I agreed, smiling. "Now that there's no getting rid of me, that'll be easier to do."
Ransom smirked again. "I think that's the other way around, baby. There's no getting rid of me."
Feeling better than I could ever remember, I said, "I like the sound of that a lot."
*****
Ransom~
I didn't want to be here, but not because I was a coward. It was Monday, and Mondays always fucking sucked. Though we had plenty of guys working for us, since we were a hands-on kind of management, I actually had a shit ton of things to do.
There was also the fact that Bexley and I were getting married in two weeks. While we were going to get married in Mr. Colter's backyard per tradition, we had wanted to give everyone enough time to make our wedding day work for their schedules. It was really Clayton, Brett, Jax, and Stevie that needed to switch some things around in order to attend, but advance notice was always the considerate thing to do. Nothing was worse than some last-minute shit that wasn't an emergency.
At any rate, I was at Nichols & Nichols this fine morning because Bexley had insisted on it. Though I didn't feel as if I owed Colin Byrnes any kind of apology, Bexley was still upset that I had threatened him. She claimed that she didn't want to spend the rest of her employment at Nichols & Nichols feeling like she had to apologize on my behalf whenever she saw him.
However, the joke was on her. Colin Byrnes was a man, so I couldn't see him really thinking that I owed him an apology. Men were possessive by nature, so I was sure that Colin was more understanding to my plight than offended.
Still, anything to make Bexley happy.
Walking into Nichols & Nichols, I saw Uma's eyes widened as she realized it was me and not a legitimate client. "Uhm...hey, Ransom," she stammered.
"Hey, Uma," I greeted. "Is Colin Byrnes available?" I had also made sure to time my visit to coincide with Bexley's lunch just in case shit went south.
"I..." She glanced around the room, even though we were the only two people here. When she looked back at me, she asked, "Do you think that's a good idea?" I snorted. "I mean, the last time you were here, it didn't go so well, Ransom."
"Well, the last time that I was here, Bexley and I weren't engaged," I pointed out. "In case you haven't heard, she finally agreed to marry me, and the wedding is in a couple of weeks."
"Oh, I heard," she drawled out. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that the whole town has heard."
That got a grin out of me. "Well, then there's no need to worry, Uma."
"I don't know, Ransom," she hedged.
"I promise that I'm not here to cause any problems, Uma," I assured her. "While Bexley can't call off a marriage, she can still call off an engagement, and I'm not trying to go through that."
"I've got news for you, Ransom," she retorted. "You can call off a marriage; it's called a divorce."
"Not in my world," I informed her. "My marriage will be forever."
Uma let out a sigh before picking up her phone to call Colin. It was clear that she was still feeling hesitant about it, but having gone to school with me and Bexley, Uma knew me well enough to know that I wasn't going anywhere until I got what I wanted.
When she set the phone down, she looked back up at me, surprise etched all over her face. "Uh...yeah, he said he'll be right out."
Not two minutes later, Colin Byrnes was walking into the lobby, a smirk on his face. "Mr. Campion, what can I do for you?"
"There's only one reason why I'd be here, Byrnes," I replied honestly.
"Bexley is demanding that you apologize to me for that bullshit earlier," he surmised.
"Bingo."
Colin slid his hands inside his suit pockets. "That's not necessary," he said graciously. "No blows were thrown, and I can't really blame you. I'd lose my shit if someone asked my girl out, too."
Just then, the door to the office opened, and we both turned to see Bexley walking in. Her eyes widened and her feet skipped as soon as she saw me. Her auburn hair was pulled up in a classy bun, so with her hair pulled back, her hazel eyes looked large.
"Ransom, what are you doing here?"
"Apologizing to the man like you asked me to."
Her eyes darted around a bit. "I thought I told you that I wanted to be with you when you did," she said, her voice sounding a bit clipped.
"You did," I agreed. "But I thought I might get extra credit if I came here and did it on my own." I winked at her. "You know, prove to you that I know how to play nice."
"You are such a child, Ransom Campion," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Before I could argue against that accusation, Colin's phone started ringing, and he pulled it out of his pocket with a huge smile on his face. "It's all good, Campion," he said. "I have no issues with you." He smiled over at Bexley before taking his call, then walking out.
Bexley speared me with her hazel gaze. "I hope you know that I still feel embarrassed as hell."
"I'll make it up to you every night," I smirked.
"Yeah, I think it's time for my break," Uma announced, and Bexley shook her head as I grinned.
As soon as Uma was out of the room, Bexley let me have it. "What am I going to do with you, Ransom? I mean, seriously."
"Whatever you want to do to me," I answered, reaching out, grabbing the fabric of her shirt, then yanking her towards me. "You're back early from lunch."
"I should have known better," she muttered.
"You really should have," I agreed.
Bexley let out a heavy sigh. "Will marriage settle you down?"
I shrugged. "Doubtful," I answered honestly. "But I look forward to you trying, baby."
She shook her head again, but she was laughing under her breath, so that was a win in my book. "You are too much, Ransom Campion."
"Maybe, but I'm all yours," I said, pulling her in closer.
She readjusted her purse over her shoulder before wrapping her arms around my neck. "I do suppose that's what I signed up for," she sighed dramatically.
"That you did," I agreed before lowering my head to drop a soft kiss on her lips.
Though she let me kiss her, she still pulled back. "I'm at work, Ransom."
"I know, baby," I chuckled. "I swear I'm not here to seduce you or get you in trouble."
"From your lips to God's ears," she mumbled, but she was smiling.
Tightening my arms around her waist, I said, "Okay, I'll let you get to it."
"How magnanimous of you."
"It really is."
"I'll see you tonight, Ransom," she said, stepping out of my arm.
"Every fucking night," I clarified.
"Every fucking night," she echoed.