Chapter 35: The Renegade Billionaire: Chapter 35

“Fuck,” I hiss, clutching my side.

“Shh.”

Who the hell is shushing me? Rolling over onto my back, I almost scream when I find Cian peering down at me.

“Jesus, man. Did you kick me?”

He shrugs. “My arms are full,” he whispers.

Sitting up, I realize it’s still the middle of the night and everyone in the room is sleeping.

“You said you had something to do before everyone wakes up,” he says.

“Right, thanks.”

As quietly as I can, I slip away from Madison. We unzipped our sleeping bags and made a bed out of them, so after I stand, I take care to tuck her back in.

“You okay?” I ask.

He nods. “She likes the lights.” Cian is staring at his daughter in a way that only a dad can.

I pat him on the shoulder and tiptoe through the house, then as quietly as I can, I start pulling presents out from the closet and filling the stockings.

“You’re shitting me,” Cian mutters. I hadn’t realized he followed me over here.

I grin at him. “Santa has to come.”

“Keela too? Mate, she can’t even hold a pacifier on her own.”

“Everyone,” I whisper. “Now go away before you wake everyone up.”

“Too late,” Elle says, coming closer, then stopping to kiss Keela’s cheek. “You’re not the only Santa in town though.” From behind the tree, she carefully drags out a large garbage bag full of gifts.

“I like your style, Elle O’Brien.”

“Same, Braxton, same.”

We work side by side with Cian supervising, and an hour later, all the gifts are laid out and arranged by Elle to create a picture-perfect scene.

“Thank you,” she whispers when we’re walking back to where everyone sleeps. “For including us all. It means a lot to us to see her this happy.”

I’m choked up by her words, so I simply nod, then sneak back under the blankets next to Madison.

She is my home.

The gifts that took me for-fucking-ever to wrap are spread all throughout the room with wrapping paper in every shade littering the floor.

Clover walks around with a garbage bag, collecting the trash, while Cian and Grey roll up the mats to make way for the folding table and chairs we borrowed from town hall.

“Today was perfect, thank you.” Madison lifts up to her tiptoes, and I lean over to meet her lips.

She’s so damn sweet.

“I’m going to help Savvy in the kitchen.” She tries to pull away, but I catch her by the hand.

“Give me five minutes?”

She arches a brow. “For what?”

“Not that,” I laugh. “Five minutes is not nearly enough time for that. Come outside with me.”

“Five minutes, that’s it. It’s not fair to leave Savvy with all the work.”

“Don’t worry about Savvy. Grey is heading in there next to work on the lamb, and the turkey’s already in the oven.”

“Grey is what I’m worried about,” she mutters. And I don’t blame her.

Grey has lost his damn mind—especially around Savvy. He announced this morning that he’s started the search for a surrogate. As soon as this holiday is over, I need to talk some sense into him.

“Five minutes.” I take her hand, grabbing a folded blanket by the door, and we slip outside. It’s in the low sixties, but the breeze causes a chill as I lead her to the new porch swing.

Once we’re seated and the blanket’s tucked around her, nerves settle in. My palms are sweaty, and I’m fidgeting as though I’ve been rolling around in poison oak.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, I, I love you, Madison. So damn much it scares me.”

“I know you do.” Her shoulders relax, and she settles into the swing. “And I love you too. It’s not as easy for me to say it sometimes, but I feel it. I hope you know that.”

“I do. And I know we’ve only known each other for a few months, but⁠—”

“Braxton.” Her tone is cautious, and her gaze darts from me to the front door.

Shit, is it too soon?

“Fuck, I’m nervous,” I admit as she picks at the hair elastic on her wrist.

“At the Chug, I told Harry that you were my fiancée.”

She frowns. “You did?”

I nod. “Maybe you didn’t hear me. There was a lot going on that day.”

“You told him in front of everyone?”

“Yeah. It just happened.”

She laughs, and my jitters fade away. Her laughter will always bring me joy. “Well, that explains why everyone’s been congratulating me. I thought they were talking about the inn.”

“Nope, it was probably because of me.”

With a smile that outshines the sun, she pats my knee in a reassuring gesture. “Don’t worry about it, Braxton. Is that why you’re so nervous? It’s not a big deal. We can explain to Blissy what happened. She’ll get a laugh out of it, and the whole town will know by lunchtime.”

That’s not what I want. Doesn’t she know that?

Damn it. My skin feels too tight for my body.

“Braxton?” Her tone is concerned.

I have no idea what’s going on with my face because I’ve lost all control of my features.

“What if we don’t?” I blurt.

“Ah…” She searches the porch, presumably for answers as to why I’m acting as though I stole Santa’s sack. “What if we don’t what?”

“Tell Blissy. What if we don’t tell Blissy that it was a mistake?”

“I’m sorry. You’re not making any sense. What are you saying?”

It’s now or never. Reaching into the pocket of my hoodie, I pull out a small box. It’s empty inside, but it’s the thought that counts, right? I hold it out to her in my open palm.

She stares at it with her mouth wide open.

“It’s empty, don’t worry.”

Now she frowns, blinking furiously.

“No, I mean temporarily it’s empty. Pops gave me your grandma’s ring, and I want to merge her ring with one I buy for you, but I didn’t want to mess with her ring unless you said it was okay. It’s okay with Pops, but is it okay with you?”

“You talked to Pops?”

I nod, a tiny amount of confidence returning. “About ten minutes ago. I was afraid if I did it any sooner, he’d blab it to everyone.”

“I don’t really know what you’re asking here.” She frowns. “You haven’t really asked anything, so I’m not sure what to say?”

And the insecurity is back. “Shit. I’m messing this all up. I’m really nervous. I’ve never done this before.”

“You’re not someone who gets nervous, Braxton. Ever.”

“Well, I’ve never asked anyone to marry me before either.”

Dimples show on both of her cheeks. “Is that what you’re doing here?”

I run through our conversation at warp speed in my mind. Thank God I didn’t do this in front of everyone. I’d never, ever hear the end of it.

Dropping to the floor, I take her hand in mine. “Yes. I’m doing a spectacular job of screwing it all up, but I’m asking you, Madison Ryan, if you’ll be my wife.”

Tears spill down her cheeks, and I hate how they make me feel. I don’t ever want to see this woman cry—not if I can help it.

“Y—yes,” she splutters, then throws herself at me, and we tumble to the floor just as Cian steps onto the porch.

“Crickey, mates. Seriously? I gotta get more wood for the fire, and you’re out here fooling around?”

I hold up the empty jewelry box, and he beams like a proud papa.

“They got engaged for real this time,” he yells into the house.

It causes a mass exodus, and she explains three times why she isn’t wearing a ring. I need to make that a priority. I had no idea people would be asking to see it already.

The day evolves into one giant celebration, and as carolers knock on the door, one of Madison’s friends or Madison herself tells anyone who will listen that she’s engaged.

It fills me with joy to see her this happy.

“You did good, Uncle Brax,” Sage says at my side. “But what are we going to do with that one?” He points to Grey, who’s in the corner scrolling on his phone.

“What’s he doing?”

“What do you think?”

“Is he serious?”

“He’s on some website. He seriously needs an intervention.” Sage throws his hands into the air for emphasis.

“Or a fucking dog. I’ll be right back.” Leaving Sage in the foyer, I march over to Grey and swipe his phone from his hands.

Sure enough, he’s scrolling through surrogates. “Put this on pause for now, will ya? Let’s get through the will and everything before you make any monumental life decisions.”

“Oh,” he sasses. “Like you did? Getting engaged is a pretty monumental step, if you ask me.”

I hold his phone in the air. “But this is… This requires more thought. Today, focus on the people who are already in your life, for me, please?”

He purses his lips, but agrees, so I tuck his phone into my pocket.

“Hey.” He jumps to his feet.

“No devices. You need to cool off, Greyson. I’m serious.”

He mutters one curse after another but stalks off toward the kitchen, and relief settles over me—at least for now.

The rest of the day and night is spent indulging in the happiness of the people around us. It’s a luxury money couldn’t buy, and it’s one I’ll never take for granted.

“This is how Happiness spends the day after New Year’s?” I ask.

Madison grins up at me, and the bitterness I had about freezing my balls off at the park floats away.

“Yes. At 8:00 p.m., everyone can start taping off their booths. Tomorrow, construction starts.” She’s downright giddy.

When I glance around the park, I realize the giddiness appears to be contagious. She’s wearing gloves, so I can’t see her ring, but the bulge on her ring finger tells me it’s there.

Not only did I mess up the proposal, but I didn’t even give her the ring properly. The jeweler on Main Street saw her walking by the shop tonight and pulled her into the store because it was ready. The man did everything I asked in record time. Surrounding her grandmother’s diamond is a circle of yellow diamonds, and when the light hits it, it shines like the sun. It’s everything I wanted it to be, but I was probably the last one to see the damn thing.

Nothing has been conventional about our engagement, but then again, neither was our courtship.

“Now will you tell me what your idea is for the booth? I’ve never not been involved in the planning, you know, and it’s killing me.”

“Yes, but how many audiobooks and podcasts did you get caught up on while I was doing this?” I hold up a three-ring binder containing a rudimentary sketch and all the steps we need to take to win this thing.

“Oh, no. No, no, no,” she cries when we reach our designated spot.

And then I see what’s upset her. To our left is a sign that says Blinky’s.

“What the hell? Who would’ve done this?” Anger mingles with a protective side that comes out whenever Madison is involved.

She drops her head to her hands. “It’s a lottery, and it’s done in front of the town council so no one can cheat. Once your spot is chosen, it can’t be changed.”

“Real sorry ’bout this, Madi,” Moose says, walking up beside us. “I tried to change it, but Old Man Cracken is a stickler for the rules.”

“Is that his name? Cracken?” I ask.

“Yup. He’s a real ornery son of a bitch too.”

“It’s okay, Moose.” The excitement she carried only a moment ago is burned out, and her shining expression has dimmed. “Thanks for trying.”

“Always, Madi,” he says before moving on to the next spot.

“I met Harry’s dad,” I whisper. “He seemed like a good guy. Hopefully he’ll be here to keep him in line.”

Madison moves her head as if she agrees, but her thoughts are somewhere else.

“Hey, he isn’t going to ruin this for us. Put him out of your head. I’ll be right by your side, and so will Pops and Grey. We’ve got this, remember?”

She flexes her hands and forces a tight smile. “You’re right. Come sit and show me.”

There are two folding chairs and a small folding table on each booth’s platform, so I sit down at ours and open the binder.

A bevy of emotions flit across her features as she turns the pages.

I’m starting to sweat.

“You did…all of this?” She points to the binder. “You had beans and leaves flown in from all over the world to…to try and unite the town…with a drink?”

“Yeah. Why are you looking at me that way? Did I miss something with the planning?”

She closes her eyes and rubs small circles into her temples with her pointer fingers. It’s a slow movement that causes a newfound anxiety to spike.

“No,” she says. “I’m in shock. No one has ever done anything like this for me, Braxton. First the inn, the donations that pop up everywhere, and now this. You know that even if you didn’t do all those things, I would have still fallen for you, right? It’s not about money or what you can give me. It’s that you thought to do them in the first place. No one has ever cared this much.”

“Oh my God. You scared the shit out of me, Madison. I thought you were breaking up with me or something.”

She laughs. “I didn’t know you were so insecure.”

“I never have been, not until you. I care so much that losing you would physically destroy me.”

“I love you. We need to discuss boundaries and your tendency to go extremely overboard, but I love you. Let’s get going on this thing, huh? Then we can go check out the competition.” She pulls a roll of masking tape from the large bag she’s carrying and hands me a measuring tape.

“You measure, I’ll follow along with the tape. Construction begins tomorrow.”

“I’m at your beck and call, my dear.”

“That does sound good.” She stands suddenly, a question forming on her expression. “Wait, did you actually try this…this Dirty Matcha? Is it any good?”

“Oh, sweetheart. Have you ever known me to do anything half-assed? Grey and I have been working since Christmas on the recipe. We finally perfected it last night.”

“Is that why he’s been bouncing around so much? He’s on a caffeine high?”

“Yup. It was better than him focusing his attention on a surrogate. I had to give him something else to obsess over while our company is shut down for the holiday.”

She snorts a laugh. “That’s true. I don’t think he’s actually given up on it though. He was in the Chug yesterday on baby websites.”

“He’s grasping at this baby idea because he feels as though he’s losing me and Sage. I don’t know how to get through his thick skull that he isn’t losing us, he’s just gaining all of you.”

“You’re a good friend, Mr. Reyes.” She wraps her arms around me and hugs me tight.

“And you’re a fabulous fiancée, future Mrs. Reyes.”

“I love how that sounds.”

“Mm-hmm. Me too. Let’s hurry up and get this done so I can get you home and naked.”

“Are you always thinking about sex?” She bends over to unroll the tape, and I groan.

“With you, always. In every position, and every⁠—”

“Braxton,” she gasps.

“You asked, sweetheart. And I’ll always tell you the truth.”

No matter what, that’s a promise I’ll keep forever.