Chapter 240

Ella

“Will you marry me?”

As I stared incredulously down at the man kneeling in front of me, all I could do was blink at him, my hand clamped over my mouth. Neither of us said anything for a long time before Logan finally cleared his throat.

“Ella?”

“Yes,” I breathed, the word barely escaping my tongue before Logan’s lips were on mine. I felt his hands cup my face on either side, and I threw my arms around his shoulders, our bodies pressing against one another.

When we finally pulled away, our breaths ragged, Logan slipped the ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly, and the stone was dainty and understated. I turned my hand a bit to watch the diamond glint in the sunlight. There was a faint pearlescent color to it, almost.

“I know it’s not the most romantic proposal ever,” Logan said with a chuckle. “Truthfully, I was going to take you out to dinner and ask you tonight. But then I saw you standing there in the sun, with the wind moving your hair, and—”

“It’s perfectly romantic enough for me,” I said with a dry laugh, finally lifting my gaze from the ring to meet Logan’s eyes. They were as blue as ever in the morning sunlight.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

I laughed again. “I’m sure.”

Logan let out an audible sigh of relief, his look of worry slowly spreading into a grin. He took my hand, marveling at the stone on my finger. “You know,” he said, “I never thought that our fake engagement would turn into a real one.”

“Oh?” I asked, smirking up at him. “Is that so?”

He nodded. “By the time I realized that I had fallen in love with you, I figured you would have said no anyway,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “But here we are.”

“Yeah. Here we are,” I said softly. I dropped my gaze to the ring again. Logan’s arm found its way around me, pulling me close. His scent enveloped me; it was so much stronger now that we had marked each other. It was like a comforting blanket. I felt safe and warm in his arms, and not just from the sun.

After a little while, I pulled away just enough to look up at him again. “So what does this mean now?” I whispered.

Logan looked down at me, and his eyes sparkled in the sunlight. “It means,” he began, taking both my hands in his, “that we’ve got a whole lifetime ahead of us. A whole lot of time to figure out what we want.”

“That seems pretty daunting,” I said with a chuckle.

“Not when we’ve got each other,” Logan replied with a laugh of his own.

“You know,” I said after a moment of hesitation, “I was considering moving back into my apartment. You could come with me, since you’re selling the mansion. If you want.”

Logan’s eyes widened slightly, and he took a small step back. “I was planning on buying you a house, actually.”

Now, my own eyes were widening. “You were?”

He nodded. “I mean, if you would rather go back to your apartment, that’s up to you,” he said softly. “You know that wherever you go, I’ll follow. But… I thought that, after everything… A fresh start might not be so bad for the both of us.”

A fresh start. The words resonated inside of me. Maybe Logan was right; maybe something new, something ours, was what we needed. Already, I found myself imagining the two of us building a home together. Something that was distinctly us. Something that we could make perfect, together.

“Well?” he asked. “What do you think?”

“I think… I think I’d love that, actually,” I said, my smile growing wider. “But will you stay here in the city, or...? I mean, after everything—”

“Wherever you go, I go,” he said firmly, although his eyes softened a bit. “But I do love it here, despite everything.”

I nodded, feeling a warmth spread through me. “I love it here too,” I said. “Maybe we can continue working together to make sure the city keeps improving.”

“I like that idea,” Logan said, his voice taking on a more thoughtful tone. “Actually, community service got me thinking.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Logan nodded. “I was talking to my supervisors throughout my service, and… I’ve been thinking about joining the police academy, Ella. Maybe someday, I’ll become an officer to help protect this city. Work in the light, instead of the shadows.”

My eyes widened, but the pride that swelled in my chest felt like enough to make me burst. Throughout the entire month of his community service, Logan hadn’t mentioned this to me even once. But the way he looked at me now, with his eyes sparkling and a smile on his face, told me all I needed to know: that he was serious, and he was passionate.

“What do you think?” he asked. “It’s not too crazy, is it?”

I quickly shook my head. “No. Not at all,” I replied, reaching for his hand. Together, we began walking back up the path to the front door of the mansion. “In fact, I think it’s a great idea.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

…

That night, over the candlelit dinner at which he was originally planning on proposing to me, Logan raised a glass of red wine that almost seemed to shimmer in the dim light. We were sitting in a cozy Italian restaurant downtown. It wasn’t a particularly lively place, but it was perfect for us. A musician with a small accordion wandered around, playing soft, romantic music that was perfect for the atmosphere.

“To my beautiful bride-to-be,” Logan said as he raised his glass. I couldn’t help but giggle a bit as we clinked our glasses together and took a sip, and for the first time, I didn’t beat myself up over being a lovestruck schoolgirl. The dark red liquid was sweet and just the right temperature, a little warm but not too warm.

Inside of me, I could feel my wolf bristling with excitement. She had been like this all day, and I couldn’t blame her.

“You and Logan,” she said with a contented sigh. “And to think, you hated him just a few months ago.”

I blushed, but at least I could blame it on the wine. “I never hated him,” I replied mentally. “I just didn’t realize how much I loved him, that’s all.”

Ema smirked. “Mhm. Sure.”

Just then, Logan’s voice brought me back to reality. “Ella? Earth to Ella?”

My blush deepened. “Sorry. What?”

“You’re always talking to your wolf,” Logan teased with a shake of his head as he cut into his steak. “I’m assuming she’s happy.”

I nodded, feeling the heat rise into my cheeks. “She is. And so am I.”

With a grin, Logan reached across the table with his free hand and gave mine a squeeze. The sensation sent a warm tingle down my spine.

“You know,” he said as we returned to our meal, “I was thinking… I never asked what your plans are for the future. Career-wise.”

I swallowed my bite of lobster. It was an unexpected question, and truthfully… “I… I haven’t thought too much about it, if I’m being honest,” I admitted, setting down my fork. “But I think I’d like to stay here and keep moving up in my career. I’m hoping to become a partner at the law firm someday.”

As I spoke, Logan’s eyebrows raised. “You think? Or you know?”

I paused, glancing down at my plate. It felt like the most natural course of action, to move on up in my career until I was working on really high-profile cases. It had been my original dream when I had first moved here, at least.

“You know,” I suddenly said, “I don’t know, actually. This city changed something in me. Made me want to help the little guy as much as I can. The people in those apartment buildings, those escorts at that party we went to, the sorts of people like Devon who get roped into crime… Those are the sorts of people I want to help.”

Logan leaned in slightly. “So why don’t you?”

I paused again. He was right; why didn’t I make that my primary focus? To be a public defender, someone who was there to help the people that really needed the help. Maybe that was my calling.

Finally, I nodded to myself, and picked my glass of wine up again.

“If you follow your dreams, then so will I,” I said softly. “But only if we take the leap together. Deal?”

Logan nodded and picked his glass up. The sound of our glasses clinking together was soft and sweet.

“Deal.”