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"Mickey," he said quietly, "you came into my life with a plan, a contract, and about a hundred reasons why we wouldn't work."

"All excellent reasons." I sniffed.

"Terrible reasons."

"Debatable."

He smiled as his eyes scanned our surroundings. "I was standing right here the first time I saw you, when Rambo had you cornered and I had to save you."

“You didn’t save me,” I denied.

He let his silence do the arguing, giving me time to amend my position.

“Fine, you saved me,” I conceded.

“Can I finish now?”

“Yes, sorry, go ahead.”

“From the first time I saw you, I wanted to make you smile. The second time, I wanted to see you again. And somewhere between all your eye rolls and telling me to stop flirting, I realized I didn't want anyone else.”

My heart flipped.

“I could wax poetic about how beautiful you are. How you make my heart race every time you walk into a room. How your ass is proof that God has favorites. And all of that would be true.” He smiled. “But that's not why I love you.”

My breath caught.

“I love the way you pretend my jokes aren't funny when you're trying not to smile. The way you have a plan for everything, including things that haven't happened yet. The way you take care of the people you love, even when you forget to take care of yourself.”

My eyes filled with emotion in the form of water, otherwise known as tears.

“I love that you're stubborn as hell. That you challenge me. That you make me want to be better without ever asking me to be anyone but myself.”

One of those tears fell, and he brushed it from my cheek.

“I love the big things about you. But it's the little things that make me fall in love with you all over again every damn day.”

I took in a shaky breath.

“Before you, I never thought much about forever. Hell, I was pretty happy taking life one day at a time. Then I met you.” He shook his head, smiling. “And suddenly I wanted things I'd never wanted before. I wanted to know how you took your coffee. What made you laugh. What kept you up at night. I wanted to be the first person you called when something good happened and the one you leaned on when everything went to hell.”

I sniffed as my heart expanded in my chest.

“I didn't know it then, but I wasn't just falling for you. I was falling for a whole life with you. Sunday mornings. Long drives. Bad movies. Arguments about stupid things. Making up after those arguments.”

His eyes held mine.

“I used to think forever sounded like a hell of a long time.”

He lifted the ring.

“Now I know it’s not going to be nearly long enough.”

My throat tightened.

"You hired me for four days. I'm applying for the permanent position. Mikayla Rayne Parsons, will you make me the luckiest, happiest man on the planet and marry me?"

I nodded, smiling through my tears. "Yes."