Hudson gazed up at Allie, who had a look of complete shock on her face. As he knelt in front of her, the reality of the situation sunk in and anxiety hit him hard. She wasn’t saying a word. Silence . . . more silence.
“I’m on my knees here. Say something. Tell me no, or to go to hell, but I’d rather a yes.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Not the reaction I was hoping for.” Hudson stood up.
“It’s not that . . . yes, I love you . . . but it’s just . . . I mean, you hardly know me . . . and we’ve barely been together six weeks . . . and technically we’re not even together right now and . . .”
“To the outside world we’re not, but we’re together in the only place that matters—in our hearts. That’s one thing after all these years that’s never changed. I lost you twice before and I’m a man who learns from his mistakes. Hell if I’m going to lose you again. And despite the litany of reasons you just provided for why we shouldn’t marry, I’m fairly sure I heard a ‘yes’ somewhere in the middle. So let me do this again.”
Allie laughed despite the tears that filled her eyes. “You want a do-over, Mr. Chase?”
“I believe our entire relationship is a do-over, Miss Sinclair.” Hudson took a step back and dropped to one knee. He cleared his throat as he held out the red leather box again. “Alessandra Sinclair—my love, my life—will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, I will marry you.” When he stood up, Allie launched herself at him, hitting his chest so hard they took a couple steps back. His hands shot up to cup the sides of her face. He brushed his mouth against hers before pressing a tender kiss to her lips.
“Say it again,” he whispered.
Tears spilled down Allie’s cheeks and a huge smile spread across her face. “Yes, I will marry you. Big wedding, small wedding, whatever you want.” She laughed. “But please don’t say the Drake.”
Hudson chuckled. “Hell no.” He ran a hand back through his hair. “I was actually thinking we could get married here.”
“At the lake?”
He nodded. “The weekend we spent here in October, the time we shared . . . something changed between us that last night. I suspect that’s the night you realized you loved me. Without a doubt it’s when I knew I loved you, and that I always had.” He took a deep breath. “I take risks on a daily basis, Allie, but I will never again take one that jeopardizes what we have. Nothing in the world is worth more than that. I’m just sorry I wasn’t man enough to admit it then.”
“Shh,” Allie pressed her fingers to his lips. “I think this would be the perfect place to get married.”
Hudson dropped a quick kiss to her mouth and grinned like a son of a bitch. “It’s settled then. We’ll marry at sunset tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Allie’s voice reached a pitch he was certain only mammals of the four-legged variety could hear.
“Yes,” he said emphatically.
“We’re in the middle of this huge mess with Julian.”
“All the more reason. Despite the uncertainty in our lives right now, there’s one thing I’m sure of, and it’s that I intend to spend the rest of my life with you. I see no reason to postpone that simply because Julian wants to maintain some fucked-up love triangle. Besides,” Hudson flashed a broad grin. “I’m a man of opportunity, and when I see one I take it. Tomorrow will be our wedding day. I want to say vows to each other; I want you to take my name, become Mrs. Hudson Chase.” Allie opened her mouth, but he kept talking. “I won’t argue with you if you choose to hyphenate, but—to our family, friends, colleagues—you’ll bear my name as my wife. I am madly in love with you, Allie, and I need to start the rest of our lives together immediately. I can’t wait.”
“I don’t want to wait either, but have you forgotten we’re not even dating at the moment?”
“How could I forget?” The muscles in Hudson’s jaw flexed.
“I know we don’t have much family between us, but I’d like to at least have Nick and Harper here.”
“So would I, but we can’t tell them.”
“Harper is going to be pissed. We sort of have this whole maid of honor pact going.”
“Nick will no doubt hang this over my head until I’m six feet under. Once this whole mess is resolved we can marry again in front of our friends and family, as many times as you want, anywhere you want. Whatever your heart desires, I’ll give it to you. We can announce our engagement in the newspapers, take publicity photos; hell, I’ll even argue with you over seating charts if that’s what you want. And you can invite all of Chicago, I don’t care. But tomorrow will be about us, for us. I want you to be my wife, and the only person I need in attendance is a minister. Everything else has been taken care of—flowers, dresses, hair, and makeup—whatever you need has been arranged.”
“That confident I’d say yes?”
He grinned. “That hopeful.”
“Wait, did you say dresses?”
“In the guest bedroom. I had a local shop send over several for you to choose from. Don’t worry,” he added quickly. “Even I know that the groom can’t see the dress. Though I look forward to seeing you out of it.” A sinful grin curved his lips. “Take a look at them after dinner. If none suit your taste, I’ll have more brought in tomorrow.”
A slight blush colored Allie’s cheeks. “I thought you knew my taste,” she teased.
“Oh, I do.” Hudson’s lips brushed her jaw. “Exquisite perfection. Sweet, and all mine.” Allie sank into him as he ran his open mouth down her throat. “But when the woman started to mention fabric choices and bodice cuts, I threw my hands up in surrender.”
She laughed as he found that sensitive spot beneath her ear. “Well, you men have it easy. The black tux or the black tux?”
He smiled against her skin. “You never know. I could have opted for the powder blue.”
Allie reared back and a frown creased her brow. Hudson reached up to smooth the velvety skin with the pad of his thumb. “I’m playing, Allie.”
“No, not that. What if . . . Well, it’s just that you and I, we’re always in formal attire for one event or another. But the weekend we spent here in yoga pants and jeans, it was one of the happiest times I’ve ever known. I want to start our lives off the exact same way.”
He cocked a brow. “Are you suggesting we marry in jeans?”
Allie nodded. “As much as I love you in a tuxedo, I love you like this even more.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather wear a fancy white dress? Don’t little girls dream about that sort of thing?”
“This girl has spent ten years dreaming about being with you again. And now I’m going to be your wife. The clothes we wear are irrelevant. I can wear a proper wedding dress when we do this again for our family and friends. But tomorrow, like you said, is just about us. And this is who we are.”
Hudson dipped his head and his tongue did a slow sweep along the curve of her lip before he sealed his mouth over hers in a kiss. His shoulders rolled as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tighter against him. As he poured everything he felt for her into this kiss, he thought about the woman Allie had become—forgiving, compassionate, beautiful, intelligent—and he was one lucky SOB that she loved a shell of a man like himself. Life was way too fucking short, and one lifetime with her wasn’t ever going to be enough. He would marry her every damn year to prove that he was done searching. She was it. Such a fucking sap he’d become. Like he gave a shit. Hudson broke the kiss and traced her now-reddened, swollen lips. “The rehearsal dinner is at seven with rehearsal for the honeymoon to follow.”
“Oh, no.”
“What?”
“Not until the wedding night.”
“You’re shitting me, right?”
A glint of amusement lit Allie’s hazel eyes, the gold flecks brightening over the asinine idea. “We may not be the most traditional couple, but I’m not having sex with you the night before our wedding.”