Chapter 37

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SEVEN

When Colton woke up in the hospital this time, Ella was next to him.

Getting shot was no joke. He'd lost count of the number of times the medical staff had used the word fortunate .

Fortunate the bullet hadn't hit any vital organs.

Fortunate Ella had the presence of mind to dress the wound as best she could then get him nearly out to the car.

Fortunate the Prince brothers had found them when they had.

One inch. If the bullet had hit anywhere else in his midsection by one inch, he probably wouldn't be here right now. Colton did stunts all the time where an inch made the difference between success and failure. But this was the first time it had made the difference between life and death.

They'd removed the piece of metal from his body in surgery not long after he'd arrived two days ago, and he'd been getting stronger minute by minute since.

Yes, he would have to take it easy for a while. Easy was fine with him as long as Ella would be by his side.

"Hey, you." His voice was still a little hoarse, but stronger than yesterday. The doctors planned to release him tomorrow.

Ella sat up in the recliner that was positioned by his bed. "Hi. Your parents were just here but didn't want to wake you. Let me go get them."

"No, that's okay." He'd already seen and talked to his parents multiple times since they'd arrived yesterday.

Half of his friends from Oak Creek had come by too. Bear couldn't because he'd been in the middle of the farewell lunch for the campers. Rick had been the one to volunteer to drive to the hospital so Colton and Ella could be part of the event via video.

So, between the visitors, the videos, and the fact that Colton's body needed as much sleep as it could get, he hadn't had a chance to talk to Ella alone yet.

He still owed her an apology.

"I like being here with just you," he continued.

"I like that you're here at all, Harrison. No more jumping in front of bullets."

"Then you better stay away from people with guns. Because I will jump in front of every bullet aimed at you for the rest of my life." He raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to argue.

She didn't. "We need to talk."

Those words had him warding off a panic attack, even though they were nothing but the truth. "Yes, we do. Starting with my apology."

"Colton…"

"What I accused you of is unforgivable. More than that, it was preposterous. As soon as I thought it through, I knew you weren't the one who leaked that info. That's not who you are."

"You're right—it's not."

"I know you want to say some things to me, and I want to give you all the freedom to do that. Anything. You have every right to"—God, it was hard to say these words, but he was going to say them anyway— "never speak to me again and tell me to fuck off."

He wasn't going to tell her that, if she did, he planned to use every trick he'd ever known to get her back. Clean tricks, dirty tricks, groveling tricks—whatever it took to get her to let him back into her life .

"But," he continued, "I'd like to say a few things before you say what you need to say. If that's okay with you."

She nodded slowly. "I do have things I need to say, but go ahead."

"I truly am sorry. It never should've crossed my mind that you'd done something like that, and I can promise you that it never will again."

"Thank you."

"But that reaction made me realize that I need to get my damned priorities straight. That being with you is a privilege, and if I can't appreciate that, then I don't deserve you."

She simply looked at him, surprised. "I was actually thinking the same thing over the past couple days. Almost exactly."

"Good. Because it's the truth, and both of us need to embrace it. I want you just the way you are, Butterscotch. I am so sorry about those cruel things people posted and said, but that is not how I feel in any way. I consider it such an honor to be with you. To be the man at your side. To be the man taking you home."

She smiled. That gentle, kind smile that was uniquely Ella and lit up her whole face. "I forgive you, Colton. We all make mistakes."

It was all he wanted to hear, and for the first time, he felt like he could breathe again. He hadn't screwed up the best thing he ever had. He and Ella were going to make it through this, and he was never going to be this stupid ever again.

And God, he loved this woman. Loved her tenderness and kindness, her feistiness and intelligence, her beauty and her curves. He had to believe that if Lincoln hadn't spilled the beans, they would've still found their way to each other eventually.

She was one of his best friends who had become the love of his life without his even being aware it was happening.

He was the luckiest bastard on the planet.

But still…

"I don't accept your forgiveness."

Her big green eyes blinked at him. "Uh…what?"

He grabbed her hand and threaded their fingers together, bringing the back of her palm up to his lips. "I'm eternally grateful for your forgiveness, but I don't accept it. Not yet."

"I don't understand."

He kissed her hand again. "You're kind and gentle and amazing, Ella O'Conner. It's not in your nature to make anybody grovel, but this time, you don't get a choice."

Ella received a bouquet of flowers every single day for the next month. Roses. Lilies. Tulips. Orchids.

Colton said he couldn't send larkspurs, but that it was flowers—and her quick thinking—that had kept them both alive, so the blooms had double the sentimental value to him now. It was only after her house had started to resemble a florist that he'd finally agreed to stop sending them every day.

Not that the switch to every other day was so much better.

And then there were the dates. Every night, Colton had taken her somewhere. Sometimes to the Eagle's Nest or one of the small restaurants in town. Sometimes to Reddington City. Once even involved whisking her off to New York City for a weekend to the opening of a new restaurant there.

Colton was attentive, charming, and persistent as hell.

Tony was out of their life—the man was awaiting trial on multiple charges, including attempted murder. There was no more danger, no more stalker. Colton had been using the shake-up as an opportunity to begin implementing the changes he wanted to make in his career.

Ella loved to see him so passionate and focused. He'd still had a couple of nightmares about the avalanche but none of the full-on panic attacks that had plagued him.

Because his mind knew he was moving in the right direction.

Including shutting down his social media accounts, which he'd done this morning.

Ella hadn't asked him to do that. She'd made her peace with the fact that people could be cruel. There would always be someone who'd post negative things just because they could. She wasn't going to live her life worrying what strangers thought of her or her appearance or her weight.

For her, getting rid of her social media accounts had been easy: just delete them.

For Colton, with his millions of followers, it had been a little more complicated. He'd issued a statement rather than merely deleting the accounts.

Adventure.

For as long as I can remember, it has been my focus, my passion, my muse.

Nothing was ever more important to me than reaching the next level. Than pushing myself to do more. Than transcending limits.

Thank you for coming on those adventures with me.

But now, I leave you to take my next adventure—my greatest adventure—privately.

And I am the luckiest man in the world.

Ella couldn't tear her eyes away from the picture accompanying the statement. One of Colton staring at her, with nothing short of awe on his face.

It was from their first actual real date a month ago. No sting operation, no pretending.

Just them.

She didn't know who snapped the picture, but she couldn't deny the look of love on Colton's face. Love for her .

Which was why she closed Fancy Pants early today and sent everyone home. She had some baking to do.

It took her a few times to get the treat correct—combining both butterscotch and rainbow sprinkles into something delicious wasn't particularly easy. But she knew the combination would work, given enough tweaking.

Just like she knew she and Colton would work in the same way.

A mini butterscotch choux au craquelin—with a light dusting of rainbow sprinkles on the top—made it into the final treat box a few hours later. The cream-puff-type French pastry was delicious, if she said so herself. It would definitely become a regular in her shop.

Colton had been busy today and had texted her to ask if they could meet at the Eagle's Nest for dinner. Looking at the clock now, she would have to hurry to make it on time.

She loved that she didn't have to worry about what she looked like—didn't have to rush home to change or primp. Colton didn't mind her hair in the messy bun or her in jeans and a sweater.

Although, when she got to the Eagle's Nest and saw that nearly everybody in town had decided to hang out there that evening, she wished she had at least made sure she'd gotten all the flour off her face.

Colton waved to her from the booth he was standing near, talking to Bear and Lincoln. Becky and Lilah were in another booth, so Ella stopped by there on her way over to Colton.

"Do I look okay?" she asked. "Colton and I are having dinner. But I didn't expect the entire town to be here on a Wednesday night, for crying out loud."

She knew this was her deep-rooted insecurities talking, but she also knew that it was going to take longer than a mere month to move past them.

"You're glowing, Ella-Bella," Lilah said. They all liked the new nickname her friend had come up with much better, since Bella meant beauty .

Becky smiled gently. "She's right. You're gorgeous."

"What's that?" Lilah pointed to the treat box in Ella's hand.

"I made something sweet especially for Colton."

Lilah and Becky shot each other a look.

"What?" Ella asked.

Becky reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Ella's ear. "Nothing. I'm sure he'll love it. Get over there and say hello before Colton storms over like a Neanderthal and throws you over his shoulder."

She glanced up to find his gaze pinned on her. Everything in her body heated and melted at his look .

She couldn't tear her eyes away from him. "Did you guys see what he posted this morning on social media?"

"Oh, we did. Believe me," Lilah said. "We all did."

Ella barely heard her. She gave her friends a wave as she walked toward Colton—unable to resist him any more than she'd be able to resist gravity.

"Hey, you." She reached up onto her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Finally." He wrapped both arms around her hips and lifted her so they were eye to eye. "I missed you."

"We'll see you guys around," Bear said, he and Lincoln walking away. Once again, Ella was only barely listening. She couldn't do anything else when she was this close to Colton.

He kissed her, both of them very aware they wanted more, but then set her back down on her feet. He slid his arms from around her but didn't let go of her hand as they both slid into the booth across from each other.

"The guys didn't have to leave. Do they want to eat with us?"

Colton didn't so much as look over at them. "Nah. They have plans."

"Okay, that's probably good anyway. Because I have something for you." She pulled out the small white box containing her new creation and set it on the table.

Colton just stared at it, saying nothing.

"It's a new treat I came up with. I wanted you to be the first official person to try it." He was still staring at the box. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged then brought up an identical box from beside him and set it on the table. "I also have something."

"What's that?"

"I baked you something too."

She laughed. "You did? Why didn't you come do that with me? We could've done it together."

He still looked a little shell-shocked. "I wanted to surprise you."

She reached over and squeezed his hand. "I wanted to surprise you too. Whose should we try first? "

"Yours!" The word was surprisingly adamant.

She blinked then laughed. "Okay. Go for it."

He opened the box slowly, almost reverently, folding the sections of it down so it became a flat cardboard plate. "Rainbow sprinkles."

"Yes, just for you. It's called a choux au craquelin. It has butterscotch-flavored pastry cream on the inside."

He looked up at her then back down at the treat. "Rainbow sprinkles and butterscotch."

"For us," she said. "Try it."

He did, popping the whole mini-pastry into his mouth and closing his eyes in bliss. "That is the most amazing thing I've ever tasted."

"Good. Because I want it to be a symbol between us. It's time for you to accept my forgiveness. You don't need to keep doing all the things you're doing for me, Colton. I truly do forgive you."

He stared at her for a long moment before finally pushing his box toward her. "I baked this for sort of the same reason. Like yours, I also want this to be a symbol between us."

She couldn't believe they'd done the same thing on the same day, but she loved that they were so in sync with each other.

"Can I try it?"

He nodded, and she folded down the box like he had until it was flat.

It was the ugliest looking mini-cupcake maybe in the history of the world. It looked like someone had spilled an entire bottle of rainbow sprinkles on this poor creation, and the mound of frosting had begun toppling to the side with the weight.

But Ella was a professional baker. She knew that sometimes things could look pretty bad but taste amazing.

"You made this yourself?" It was the most neutral thing she could think to say.

"Yes. Rainbow sprinkles on a butterscotch cupcake with butterscotch icing."

"For us. "

He smiled. "For us. Try it."

Like him, she picked up the mini-treat and popped the whole thing in her mouth.

And immediately wished she hadn't. It was awful .

There was nothing to temper the sweetness, so it was just sugar on sugar on sugar. She tried to keep her face completely expressionless as she chewed.

And chewed and chewed. Was this thing growing?

Finally, she was able to swallow it. "Wow," she managed.

She didn't want to say anything negative. The important thing was that Colton had tried to do something special for her. There was no way in hell she was going to make him feel bad for it.

"What do you think?"

"I think the fact that you made this for me makes me love you even more than I already did."

To her surprise, Colton burst out laughing. And then so did most of the bar. Everyone had been watching her eat that thing.

"You guys!" But Ella laughed too. "You got me. That thing was awful."

"We know!" Bear yelled. "We had to try them earlier when he was making them."

She laughed over at Colton and went to push the box back toward him when something shiny in it caught her eye. She hadn't seen it at first because it had been under the cupcake.

A ring.

She blinked up at him. "Colton?"

He dropped to one knee right there in front of the booth.

"I know traditional wisdom says it's too soon, but I've known you most of my life, Butterscotch. Please tell me you'll marry me and that you'll do it as soon as possible."

She looked around and realized that all her friends were staring at them with smiles on their faces. They had known this was coming.

"I wanted them all to be here to witness this. Wanted them all to know that I can't live without you and I don't even want to try. Wanted them to see me beg if you say no, and then call in that promise you made."

"What promise?" But she already knew.

"I may have gotten shot, but don't think I don't remember that you promised me anything as long as I kept walking that day. I'm using it right here and now to make sure you agree to marry me."

"You don't have to use it. I'll marry you, Colton."

Cheers rang out all over the bar as he slipped the ring on her finger, then stood up and pulled her in for a kiss.

Everyone was hugging and laughing, so Colton pulled her close to make sure she could hear him. "Thank you for forgiving me, but I'm never going to stop doing all the things I've been doing for you. You deserve them."

She kissed him. "I love you. I always have."

He cupped her face. "I love you. And I always will."

·····

Thank you for reading HERO'S PRIZE. The Heroes of Oak Creek series continues with Bear's passionate story— HERO MINE .

Or, looking for something a little darker? Check out the GILDED EMPIRE series by Janie's alter ego MJ Crouch. Mafia reverse harem, complete series available now and ready to binge!

And coming in 2025… the new Princes of Fairytale series—passionate small town romantic suspense developed by Janie and written by Josie Jade (of the Resting Warrior Ranch)! Start with BEAU HERE !