High Stakes (The Kingdom Book 2) (39 page)

“Is this another present? You bought me more?” she asks in disbelief as she pulls out the second box, and I nod.

“Open it.” She tears the bow off with more excitement than before, and it makes me want to shower her with gifts every day. She’s a little more careful with the tissue wrapping inside the second box, and peels it back gently.

“Oh, honey. This is beautiful,” she remarks, holding up the black lace underwear in front of her.

“I had Beth give me your sizes.”

“I love this.” She places it down on the bed and climbs into my lap, wrapping her legs around my waist, and her arms around my neck “I love birthdays … I love you,” she whispers and lowers her lips to mine. I momentarily get lost in her, before the nerves start to churn in my stomach again, and I remember that she hasn’t opened the last present.

“You saw the last box in the box, right?”

“There’s another box?” she asks in disbelief and reaches for it, pulling out all the filling to find the smallest box of them all. She takes it out and lets it rest in the palm of her hand. Still with her legs wrapped around me, she pulls the ends of the bow until the ribbon falls away. Then she lifts the lid, and gasps.

“Arianna,” I say softly and she looks up at me. “I love you. I’ve never met anyone that makes me feel like you do. You’re brave, you’re strong, and I’m so proud of you. I can’t imagine my future without you in it.” She’s holding her breath, and her eyes start to glisten, this wasn’t the way I had planned to do this, but I can’t exactly get down on one knee with her wrapped around me like this, and I don’t want to put her down. “For all these reasons, and a million more, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me, Arianna?”

Her mouth falls open, and she looks between the diamond ring nestled comfortably in the box, and me. I’m not sure if she’s thinking about her answer or if she’s speechless. So, I take the ring from the box and hold it up between us, prompting an answer from her.

“Yes!” she gasps, her words come out with a sob from her chest and her eyes fill with tears. “Yes, yes, yes!”

I let out the breath that had tightened in my chest.

She said YES!

She’s the queen of his heart.

He’s the King of her love.

They’re an army of two.

TO MY HUSBAND, ASH
, who most probably thinks I’m crazy for crying over fictional characters, but tries to understand, and supports me nonetheless.

A big thank you to my kiddies, Tamara and Jacob, for understanding my need to write for hours on end every night, and being super supportive.

Thank you as ever to my family. All of you. Your enthusiasm and endless support makes me unbelievably happy. I’m a lucky girl to call you all mine!

Beth. My kindred spirit. It never ceases to amaze me how connected we are. Thank you for your friendship, your honesty, and your enthusiasm.

To my beta’s. You girls are the best, most constructive beta’s I know. Thank you for not being afraid to tell me if something doesn’t work.

Sarah and Patricia. My book would sound very British if it wasn’t for you!

NJ. Thank you for taking time out to beta when you had your own book to finish. I owe you more vodka!

Zoe. My secret squirrel! You’ve fast become a friend. Thank you for your passion for my characters and their stories. Thank you for your never ending support and cheerleading. You rock!

Hang Le. You did it again. I love my cover. It’s perfect, and you are just awesome.

Mandy Smith. My editor. You’ll probably read through these acknowledgements and mutter to yourself ‘damn that girl and her comma’s everywhere!’ You made the editing process feel seamless, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. Thank you for everything.

Claire Haiek. Thank you for having an eagle eye as always, and for always making time to explain things to me. You go above and beyond, and I thank you for that.

Kassi. Thank you for making the final product look awesome!

Natalie at Love between the sheets book blog. You’re just the most organised, most accommodating person I’ve ever met. Everything I present you with is received with a virtual smile, and you just make everything easy. I don’t know how you do it. It’s a gift. I appreciate you more than I can express.

To Lisa and Angela. Thank you for being so enthusiastic about my story and telling all our customers about it!

To my BBB girls. Thank you for being supportive of me and my books. There’s barely a day goes by that one of you doesn’t make me nearly fall off my chair with laughter (usually Amy!)

To Donna Tutin, Gabri Canova, Kelsey Burns, Sheena Lumsden, Jade Donaldson and Rhonda Koppenhaver. Thank you for everything. Your loyalty and enthusiasm is contagious.

There are too many bloggers to thank individually, and I would hate to miss someone out. But thank you to all who share teasers, snippets, links, cover reveals, blitzes and your general love of reading. You’re all awesome!

To readers everywhere. Do you realise you’re feeding an addiction? No? Well, you are. Writing is an addiction, and your reviews, shout outs, messages and enthusiasm makes me want to do it all the more! Thank you! I couldn’t stop now if I wanted to.