Page 89 of Auctioned to the Devil

My hands fly to my mouth.

He opens a small wooden box.

Inside is a ring unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Cedar and silver worked together around a simple diamond.

“You made that.”

“Most of it.”

My eyes fill.

He clears his throat. “I’ve spent twenty years earning the name Devil.”

Someone laughs softly.

Caleb doesn’t look away from me. “You make me want to be a better man.”

My chest squeezes. “Caleb.”

“I don’t need better.”

“I do.”

He takes my hand.

“I want mornings with you. I want your shit all over my cabin.”

I laugh through my tears.

“I want to argue about your boots for the next fifty years.”

“They’re perfectly good boots.”

“They’re fucking terrible.”

The crowd laughs.

“I want kids if you want them. Dogs. That lodge full of foster kids every summer. Whatever you want.”

His thumb moves over my fingers.

“I just want to be there for it.”

A tear slips down my cheek.

“Marry me, Emily.”

“Yes.”

He blinks. “I wasn’t finished.”

“I don’t care.”

Laughter erupts around us.

I pull him to his feet.

“Yes.”