Temptation - Brenda Jackson [64]
“I’m sorry, Zeke. I should have been more supportive of you like I wanted you to be supportive of me. And you were right, I do have a problem, but I promise to work on it and—”
He leaned down and kissed her again to shut her up. When he pulled his mouth away, this time he handed her the flowers. “These are for you.”
She looked at them when he placed them in her hands and for a moment he thought she was going to start crying. When she glanced up at him, he saw tears sparkling in her eyes. “You brought me more flowers after how mean I was to you on the phone?”
“I know you were upset, but your being upset was not going to keep me away, Sheila.”
She swiped at a tear. “I’m glad you think that way. I thought your plane had gotten delayed. How did you get here so fast?”
“I called my dad and asked a favor. I needed to get here for you, so I swallowed my pride and asked my father if I could borrow his jet and its crew to get me here ASAP.”
He knew the moment the magnitude of what he’d said registered within Sheila’s brain. The man who had never asked his father for anything had asked him for a favor because of her.
“Oh, Zeke. I love you so much,” she said as fresh tears appeared in her eyes.
He held her gaze. “Do you love me enough to wear my last name, have my babies and spend the rest of your life with me?”
She nodded as she swiped at her tears. “Yes.”
It was then and there, in the parking lot of the TCC, he dropped down on his knee and proposed. “In that case, Sheila Hopkins, will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes!”
“Good.” He then slid a beautiful ring on her finger.
Sheila’s mouth almost dropped. It was such a gorgeous ring. She stared at it and then at him. “But…how?”
He chuckled. “Another favor of my dad. He had his personal jeweler bring samples on the plane he sent for me.”
Sheila blinked. “You father did all that?”
“Yep. The plane, the jeweler and a travel agent on board.”
She lifted a brow. “A travel agent?”
Zeke smiled as he stood and reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Yes, I have plane tickets inside. We’ll marry within a week and then take off for a two-week honeymoon in Aspen over the Thanksgiving holidays. I refuse to spend another holiday single. Since neither of us knows how to ski, Aspen will be great—we’ll want to spend more time inside our cabin instead of out of it. I think it’s time we start working on that baby we both want.”
Sheila’s heart began to swell with even more love. He’d said she was his temptation, but for her, he would always be her hero. Her joy.
“Come on,” he said, tucking her hand firmly in his. “Let’s go home and plan our wedding…among other things. And before you ask, we’re taking my car. We’ll come back for yours later.”
Clutching her flowers in her other hand, she walked beside him as she smiled at him. “You think of everything.”
He chuckled as he tightened her hand in his. “For you I will always try, sweetheart.”
And as he led her toward his car, she knew within her heart that he would. He was living proof that dreams did come true.
Epilogue
Just as Zeke had wanted, they had gotten married in a week. With Summer’s help she was able to pull it off and had used the TCC’s clubhouse. It was a small wedding with just family and friends. Brad had been Zeke’s best man and Summer had been her maid of honor. And her new friend, Abigail Langley, had helped her pick out her dress. It was a beautiful above-the-knee eggshell-colored lace dress. And from the way Zeke had looked at her when she’d walked down the aisle, she could tell he had liked how she looked in it.
As nothing in Royal could ever be kept quiet, there had been mention of the wedding and small reception to be held at the TCC in the local papers. The story had been picked up by the national news wires as a follow-up to the stories about