11. Raine

CHAPTER 11

Raine

I can't believe that he said he loves me. He wants to marry me!

What strange universe did I just fall into because there's no way in hell that a man that told me to get away from him would all the sudden decide that I'm the one for him.

But Knight turns around and drops to one knee like a knight of old, holding out a box with a single, perfect, pear-shaped diamond in it.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Proving to you that I've always intended to win you over, raindrop. You mean so much to me. I cannot wait any longer to tell you that. You're the moon, stars and entire galaxy to me. I'm just some dust in space but if you let me, I'll spend every minute taking care of you for the rest of our lives. And I'll do my best to make sure that you never regret taking a chance on me. On our love."

I rub my eyes and pinch myself, wincing when it hurts. "I'm not dreaming?"

"Nope. I really mean it."

I nod my head and then a slow smile creeps across my face. "If I tell you that I love you too and I want to marry you more than anything else in this world, would that be enough for you?"

"I'm going to win you over. Just takes a little time. But for now, although I want to celebrate so hard by kissing every inch of your gorgeous body, we have something to talk about. Or rather…someone."

I stiffen, staring at him and then at the house he steps out from in front of.

"Do you recognize this?"

I nod my head, mesmerized and so confused. "What's it doing here? I threw it away." I lean closer. "And what's that inside?"

I pale when I see that it's me. And a blue rose."

"Blue roses?" I think back and almost immediately, I see him in my mind. The next-door neighbor from hell that insisted on following me even when my parents told him to stay away. Colt told him to stay away. He should have been running the other way. But instead, he kept on following me and trying to give me the roses.

"Jack. Jack Jenkins."

"That's what Colt thought. Who is this guy?"

"I don't really know. I wasn't that close to him. But he started running this weird house with all these weird kids and I just couldn't stand to be around him. He gave me the creeps."

"Well, we think this is him. The blue rose on your chest is the clue."

"So what do we do about it?"

"Colt doesn't like it but we both kind of think that we're going to have to lure him out."

"With me as bait." It's not a question. It's a certainty.

"Yeah."

"Do you think that it will work?"

"I think that it will. And we'll be taking control back."

I nod my head. "Let's do this."