Twirled Bond (Holly Woods Files, #5) (34 page)
“I think you’re the crazy one.” My mouth is dry, so it came out hoarsely.
“There is evidence for that, but fuck it. If I have to be crazy, then,
bella,
I wanna be crazy with you.” He puts one hand on top of the box and, as he drops to one knee, opens the top.
My wine glass falls out of my hand and hits the ground, shattering, sending wine everywhere, including over Drake.
“I didn’t plan to do this wearing Chardonnay, but okay.” He laughs, and I cover my mouth with my hands as I giggle too, the knot in my stomach unraveling in my amusement.
“You had to know this wouldn’t go flawlessly,” I reason.
He grimaces. “I knew I was hoping for too much.”
I bite my lower lip and nod, smiling. The ring in the box is stunning—a white-gold band with one single stone in the center. Simple. Gorgeous. Perfect.
“I don’t care if it doesn’t happen this year. Or even next year. I don’t care if it doesn’t happen in ten years, because I meant it when I said the only thing that matters is that we’re happy.” He runs his tongue across his top lip. “And then you said you wanted this, and I realized that you were right the day you said to me marriage is just a piece of a paper. We don’t ever have to get married. You don’t ever have to be my wife, Noelle. I love every ounce of your independence, and as much as I would love to one day call you my wife, I respect that that part is down to you. But what you didn’t consider was that this, a proposal, is a promise. So I’m not going to ask you to marry me.”
My heart tightens.
“Be mine. Forever. Marriage or not. That’s all I’m asking you for. I want to be crazy with you for the rest of our lives.”
I can’t breathe. My eyes are burning as I look at him, and now, I can’t even see him straight because there are tears and it’s blurry and he looks strange.
My hands shake as I swipe my cheeks, and I shake my head. He freezes, his lips parted, and another tear escapes my eyes.
“I won’t be. I can’t be,” I whisper. I wipe my eyes again, not that it makes a difference. “Not unless you ask me to marry you too.”
He drops his head and rubs his hand through his hair. “I swear to fucking god, woman...”
“What? You can’t get on one knee with a ring and say all that sappy shit, make me cry, and then not ask me to marry you. What kind of monster are you, Drake Nash?”
“The kind who puts up with your shit, obviously.” He looks up, but he’s not mad. He’s smiling, his eyes bright, and he takes my hand. “Noelle Bond, will you be crazy with me for the rest of my life...as my wife? Will you marry me?”
I nod before the word even leaves my mouth. “Yes. You’re not getting rid of me anyway.”
It’s as though everything freezes as he pulls the ring out of the cushion and takes my left hand. I hold my breath as he slides it onto my finger, and it’s a perfect fit. Of course it is. And, the second he stands, I launch myself at him. My arms tightly wrap around his neck, and he buries his face in my neck as his arms circle my waist.
“You’re a pain in my ass,
bella,
” he murmurs, squeezing me.
“And you just asked me to be your pain in the ass for at least fifty years. Not your smartest move.”
He leans back and kisses me firmly. “You say that, but you just agreed.”
“And, now, we have to tell Nonna.” We’re never gonna hear the end of it. “Are you sure you need your balls? Eloping sounds awesome.”
Drake shakes his head. “Friday night dinner. We’ll tell her then. Your dad is making sure everyone’s there.” A smirk is creeping onto his face, and I lean back.
“You’ve had this planned, haven’t you?”
“Actually, no. I’d like to take credit for dinner, but that’s all your dad.” He shrugs. “I just want to see Nonna’s face.”
“Fifty bucks says she faints.”
He dips his head and touches his nose to mine. “Done.”
I’ve kept my hand hidden for the past twenty minutes, and now, it’s getting old. Since we decided to
actually
go to Miami for a couple of nights, we didn’t have to try to hide it from anyone.
Dad has looked at me fifty times since we got here, prompting suspicion from Mom and Alison, but nobody else has noticed. Except Drake. Who is currently trying not to laugh at me.
“Okay,” Alison demands, scooting forward on the sofa. She looks at Dad. “Why do you keep lookin’ at her like that? Do you know something we don’t?”
Dad shrugs. “She got a great tan from two days at the beach. Must be the Italian blood.”
“She gets a tan from lookin’ at the sun,” Trent comments.
Dad glances at me.
“There!” Alison shrieks. “Just like that.”
Drake nudges me, and I drop my hand to my lap.
This is way too fun.
“Seriously,” Alison continues, swinging her head back around to me. “What is she—oh you shut the fuck up!”
“Mamma! That’s bad!” Silvio yells. “No
cazzo
!”
Dad is grinning like a madman, and I give him the kind of look that warns him he’s in trouble for being in cahoots with Drake over this.
“You are not engaged!” Amelia cries. “What?”
Mom’s cheeks fill with pink, and her eyes fill with tears.
“Great,” I mutter to Drake. “I owe you ten bucks.”
He grins and kisses the side of my head. We can’t move because Mom launches herself at us, crying, and hugs us both so tight around the neck that I can’t breathe and choke a little. Chatter bursts into craziness, and I’m almost certain it wasn’t this crazy when Dev and Amelia got engaged, but I’m still waiting for the shining moment.
Nonna.
“What is-a going on?” she yells over the noise, shuffling into the room. “I have-a a lot of-a cooking to do, and you-a all are-a in-a here—” She stops, her eyes landing on my hand on Mom’s back, and gasps so loud that it’s a wonder she hasn’t popped. “No!”
“I’m scared,” I whisper as Mom’s sits back. “Drake. Let’s run. Now.”
Nonna points her wooden spoon at me, flipping marinara sauce across the floor. “You-a—you-a getting-a married?”
“I’m really scared,” he whispers back.
“You-a ask-a her to-a marry you?” Nonna yells at him. “And she-a said-a yes?”
“No, Nonna. I said no. That’s why I’m wearing an engagement ring,” I say dryly, but I’m smiling.
She flaps her hand in front of her face. “I can-a-not-a believe it. You-a! Noella! You are-a getting married!” Her face flushes red, and she blinks frantically for a moment.
“Married hot wench!” Gio screeches. “Married hot wench!
Cazzo
!”
“I can-a-not-a believe it,” Nonna repeats, her hand-waving now more worrying than anything.
“She’s gonna go,” Trent says, getting up.
“Oh, shit!” Dev manages to catch her just in time as her eyes roll back and she passes out.
I hold my hand out in front of Drake. “You get ten for Mom crying, so come on. Forty bucks. I called it.”
He sighs, pulls two twenties out of his wallet, and then slaps them in my hand. “Shoulda called it first.”
Brody grins. “Y’all bet on Mom’s and Nonna’s reactions?”
I meet my little brother’s eyes, smirking. “You bet your ass we did. I’ve also got a hundred on Nonna doing that”—I point at her, now lying on the sofa—“when I say, ‘I do.’ We should probably start a pool.”
Alison purses her lips in amusement. “Oh, boy. If I thought planning Amelia’s wedding was bad...”
Devin grins. “Drake, man, you’ve still got time to get out.”
Drake laughs and squeezes my thigh.
“No!” Nonna yells. Of course she wakes up now. “No. You-a no-a go.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Nonna.” Drake winks at her.
“We must-a plan!”
“You must have five minutes, Mamma,” Dad orders her. “You can plan soon.”
“No! We plan-a now!”
“Nonna...” I say in a warning tone.
She looks at me, sitting up, and mimes zipping her lips. “We plan-a when-a Noella is-a ready.”
Everyone else looks at her in shock, but I share a glance with Drake.
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
But you know what they say about famous last words...
Thank you for reading TWIRLED BOND! I hope you enjoyed the fifth installment of the Holly Woods Files series and will consider leaving a review. They really do make the world of difference!
If you’d like to be the first to hear about all things Emma Hart, including exclusive sneak peeks into the upcoming Holly Woods Files series, you’re invited to join my reader group. Search Emma Hart’s Hartbreakers on Facebook, or visit
http://bit.ly/EmmaHartsHartbreakers
.
The sixth book in the series, BURNING BOND, is Bek’s story, told from her point of view, and will release on October 6
th
, 2016, and is available for pre-order at all retailers today.
The seventh and final book, TWINED BOND, goes back to Noelle’s point of view. Twined Bond is scheduled for release on December 15
th
, 2016. Pre-order will be available everywhere later this year.
By day,
New York Time
s and
USA Today
bestselling sexy romance author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies - usually wine - and writes books.
Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her readers at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and addictive, all-consuming love that will keep you up all night.
She likes to be busy - unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life. This has recently expanded to including vacuuming, a tedious job made much more exciting by the voices in her head. Naturally, it also takes twice as long to complete.
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