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"Oh" Larry looked between the two of the terribly uncomfortable, he backed away from them "Sure Okay Great" He closed the door with a click behind him

Mary’s mouth trembled as she stared at the cut on Jack’s eyebrow "Oh God, I’," he told her as he took both of her hands in his, "but not because you threw the ring atis that you’ve doubted for even one second that the love I feel for you is real"

She took a shaky breath "I need to knohy you didn’t wait until the product was launched to ask me to marry you"

"I had to ask you because I couldn’t wait one more second to know that you’d bewas bad, that there’s sohiestured toward the other room "That e could do this photo shoot and interviews today to sell your invention as a couple"

Awareness daith the suddenness of a hah Jack loved her more than he had--or would--ever love anyone else, he wanted to shake her "You think I was using you like Romain did"

Her beautiful eyes flashed with an array of e that looked a little like shame "Everyone was so happy for us today, and that was lovely, but then I started putting the pieces together Allen already had the chane How easily you stepped in front of the ca about how perfect the tieet even more press and sell evenit alone What else was I supposed to think?"

"That I love you And that I will never hurt you like that spineless scu with her expressive, beautiful face for over a decade She kne to change her look from happy to sad to pensive between one frame and the next But she’d never hidden her emotions from Jack, which hy he could easily read the hope on her face along with the continued fear

"But the first time you saw me, the first time you spoke to me, you wanted me for your business"

"That day I saw you in Union Square, I felt as if a lightning bolt had stopped me dead in my tracks I knew you’d be perfect to represent the Pocket Planner, but aze, forcing her to recognize the truth in his "I know I fu, but business never came first Never And I alanted you for you"

"But you didn’t even know me that first day"

"Yes, I did I’ve always known you, Mary"

"How?" she asked in a whisper, as if she still couldn’t possibly believe that he loved her

Last night after he’d proposed and she’d accepted, she’d said, "I can’t believe you love ht up in her kisses, in the heat between them, he hadn’t wanted to read toowrong

But now he knew She’d still doubted his love

"I know you, Angel, because every time you smile I see the honest warmth in your eyes And that first day in Union Square, when you picked up that little girl who ran onto the set and laughed with her, I saw that your beauty ran much, much deeper than the surface Every moment I’ve spent with you since then hasat you, and I hurt you" She looked up again at the nick on his eyebroith deep regret "How can you forgive ht avebecame clear in an instant Mary had been told she was loved and had loved back with an open and honest heart, first with her mother, and then with Romain…only to have her love throay as if it orthless

"I don’t care how s you throw atanywhere, Mary Not now Not ever I loved you from the first moment, and I will love you until the last"

She reached for his face, held it in her hands "That’s why it hurt so badly to think that what you felt for e as inyou And while I can’t promise not to yell sometimes, or losebecause I’ain Please," she said softly, "will you put it back on ether so that he could still hold her hand while reaching for the ring on the floor

He looked deep into her eyes as he slid the ring back into place "Forever"

She echoed the word against his lips It would have been easier to just keep kissing her, to lose hi else for later But he had always been honest with her, and he alould be

"You need to knohy Allen kneas going to ask you to marry me" Jack had never worried much about pride, but for the second ti it "The , I kneanted you to have it, and I wanted you to wear it as a symbol of our love for each other"