Marrying Her Older Billionaire

Richard looked at her, his expression so vulnerable that it was heartbreaking. “You don’t have to just say it back… you don’t have to be the one that… I mean…”

Angie kissed him again and said, “I’m not just saying it back. And I’m really glad that you said it right now. Because you said what I had been afraid to say. You said what I had been trying to avoid saying and you said it only when you felt it. I really appreciate that. I really appreciate that it wasn’t just something you said to fill up silence or something. I really appreciate that you just… said it when you meant it most. And I said it when I meant it most. I promise, Richard. The only reason I said it now was because I really do love you, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’m not ashamed to tell you how I feel, because I’m done with being ashamed of my emotions. I’m done with feeling guilty about how I’m feeling. I’m done with being so constantly afraid of the fact that my father might find out. I want to love you, and I will.”

Richard kissed her hard and said, “Your father is going to be a problem. I don’t think he’s going to like this at all. I just… he’s been through so much and just, I feel like this would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and it’s quite a big straw if you know what I mean.”

Angie murmured her approval. “But my dad never noses about in my personal life,” she said. “He never makes me feel like I need to date people that he approves of. He never asks me who I’m dating unless I actually tell him. The few times he does ask is when he is interested in who I’ve been going out with so much, and even when he does ask in these extremely rare circumstances he is always satisfied with my answer. He never makes me feel like the answer that I have given is deficient in any way. He never makes me feel like I have to gain his approval in any way. Don’t you think… Don’t you think that if we sit him down and talk to him, he’d understand?”

“I understand that everything you’re saying makes sense,” said Richard, “but you also need to realize that you are not counting one very important fact. I am his best friend. I am the one that he has trusted for so long. Things are going to be very different when I’m the one that his daughter is dating. He might just want to put a stop to it. I’m not saying that it’s a certainty, I’m just saying that it’s the kind of thing that he might end up not liking. It’s possible that he might want to put a stop to it.”

Angie groaned and rested her head on her man’s chest. She didn’t like this. She wanted things to be easier, simpler in some way. She wanted things to work out. She wanted to be able to enjoy her man without having to worry about what anyone would think.

“The problem is,” said Richard, “I love you so fu*king much. I just… I’ve never really felt this way about anybody, you know? I just don’t know how much longer I can keep this a secret. I don’t think I’ll be able to enjoy this as much if it is a secret, do you know what I mean? If your father knew, it would be a huge load off of my chest. It would be the kind of thing that would allow me to properly enjoy this as much as I can.”

“So what do we do?” asked Angie. “What can we possibly do, Richard?”

He thought for a long while. He had a look of intense concentration upon his face. It was the same look that he got when he was working. It was the same look that he had on his face while he was cooking for Angie. It was the same look that he had when he had first made pasta. It was the look that he had on his face whenever he was thinking about something that he really wanted to think about as hard as possible. It was the look he had on his face whenever he was thinking about something that he really cared about. She loved him so much in that moment. She loved that this mattered so much to him that he was going to put so much effort into thinking about it. She was relaxed. She knew that he would think of something.

He got up all of a sudden. “I know what we should do!” he exclaimed.

“What?” asked Angie, excited by his enthusiasm.

“Look,” said Richard. He held her hand and looked at her. His gaze seemed to penetrate into her very soul. It was the gaze of a man that was deeply in love, the gaze of a man that did not have anything to fear from the love that he felt. It was the love of a man that was fierce in his passion, the love of a man that did not fear anything at all. It was the love of a man that was about to say something very heavy indeed.

“I want to tell you something,” said Richard. “When I tell you I love you, I mean it. And I think you have an idea of just how much I mean it because you feel the same way about love. You feel the same way about having a partner for the rest of your life. Remember when I told you that I would never look for a partner, that I would simply be happy if a partner turned up but I would never make an active effort to find that partner? Well, I… I guess I just wanted to tell you that you are that partner. You are the one that I have been waiting for all this time. You are the one that I have been waiting for to settle down with. I never looked for you, but here you are now, right before my very eyes. Here you are, talking to me, on top of me. And I am not afraid to tell you that I love you, even though I am very skeptical about the concept of love, even though I know just how skeptical you are about the concept of love.”

“What are you saying?” asked Angie. Her heart was pounding. Was he really about to say what she thought he was about to say? She didn’t think she’d be able to handle the excitement of it. She didn’t think that she would be able to deal with just how intense her emotions would be when she heard him say it.

“I’m saying,” said Richard, “that I have finally found the person that I would want to spend the rest of my life with. I have finally found the person that I want to grow old with. That person is you. I guess what I’m trying to ask is… will you marry me? I feel like Matthew would be more likely to accept us if we are making a commitment to one another. We would be able to enjoy our lives a lot more that way, because he would realize that we are not just fooling around with one another. We are being very serious in our love for one another. He would realize that this is not just a fling. If… if you want this it would be good. But I don’t want you to say yes just because I asked, you know? I just wanted to ask you… and I don’t want you to say yes just so that your father accepts us. Oh fu*k I think I… messed up the whole proposal by ranting on and on. Let me try again. Will you marry me?”