Agony Aunt

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Jacob... what?" I stuttered.

"You heard me," he grinned, like this was the most normal situation in the world.

I was standing here with my dress rolled up around my stomach, my underwear on the floor and fluid dripping down my leg. Meanwhile, Jacob was down on one knee, the state of his clothing was no better because his glorious erection that showed no sign of faltering was poking out from the top of his boxers and the soiled condom was hanging loosely off the end.

Then there was the matter of the most beautiful rose gold and pink sapphire ring that he held in his hand. Rose gold was my favourite, I had only mentioned it only once to him but he hadn't forgotten. Unfortunately, I remembered that Jacob wasn't the first person to offer me a piece of my favourite kind of jewellery tonight. I peered down at my wrist where the bracelet still rested and wondered how Matias knew this was my favourite, perhaps it was a coincidence or a good guess? After all, I did like to wear pink a lot.

"We should talk about that," Jacob gestured towards the bracelet with a nod. "But first I would like an answer," his blue eyes melted into mine with a smile.

"Is this your idea of a perfect proposal?" I gave a reassuring smile, one that told him there was nothing facetious about my question.

"I had planned on doing it tonight but since I was down here anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time, I wanted to surprise you."

"You definitely surprised me," I fixed my dress appropriately and got down to Jacob's level. "I thought we weren't going to rush our relationship," sadness overtook his eyes, he snapped the box closed and before he could retreat, I took his hands into mine.

"It doesn't feel like we're rushing, it feels right," the emotion in his voice made it crack.

"Is this because you're scared of me walking away again? You think getting married will stop me from doing that?" Jacob shook his head, I saw in his glassy eyes that his proposal was genuine and had no other reason than it came straight from the heart, but selfishly, I had to ask. I had to hear him say it. "Because the last couple of weeks have made me think and I'll never do this to you again, I promise."

"Our time apart has made me think too, but that's not the reason. Sure, I value you and our relationship a whole lot more now, and I don't want to waste time being a part again but the sole reason is I love you. I see a future with you and I want to marry you, so why prolong the inevitable?"

"I thought we had agreed that I would focus on finishing my degree first, then we had planned on moving in together during the summer," my knees were cramping, so I moved to sit cross-legged.

"That plan hasn't changed, we can still do that," Jacob reassured. "Being engaged won't inhibit you from finishing your degree, or even interfere with your column. You are my priority, Alice. Whatever will make you happy, I'm here to help make life easier for you," his words were so sweet and genuine, which made them all the more delicious to my ears.

"Being engaged changes everything," my shoulders stiffened, unlike his floundering hard-on that was apparently killed by my words.

"What exactly do you think it will change?" He stood up, tearing the condom off what was left of his erection, placing a knot in the end and shoving it into his pocket, probably at the thought of not wanting to leave it lying around on the floor in Aidan's office.

"If we're getting engaged..."

"Ouch!" Jacob called out, pinching his finger when he pulled his zipper up. "What did you just say?" The last remnants of disappointment washed away and were replaced with shimmers of hope dotted around the sea of his blue eyes.