I am finally happy again. I lower my head down and we snog some more.
When she pulls back, she gives me a skeptical look. “That’s not what you’re making for dinner, though, is it?”
“No,” I chuckle. “I think we’ve both had enough of yam tubers for quite some time. What I’ll be preparing is a surprise, and it’ll be a nice one, I promise. Hopefully enough to make up for taking off to London, then Italy, then Thailand.”
“Don’t forget, back to Avonia instead of Austria,” she says with a wink.
I feel my jaw tighten a bit with irritation, but then remind myself it’s not her fault that she’s holding a bit of a grudge about that one. After all, she has no idea what I saved her and her family from.
* * *
An hour later, we’re sitting at a table outside on the large deck attached to the house, under the heat of a patio lamp. Gentle waves lap against the shore, and the stars are out in full force as we finish our dinner of grilled lobster, roasted vegetables, and garlic smashed potatoes (all recipes I got from Emma). I’m a little on edge, expecting one of her bodyguards to come walking around the corner at any moment, but so far, they’ve kept their distance.
Arabella and I have finally managed to properly catch up. We sipped wine while I cooked, and I gave her the highlights and lowlights of my globe-trotting with Kenneth. Arabella told me all about the conference and we had a few laughs about the horrible Dr. No Brows. Dinner has been a fun combination of flirting, saying annoyingly mushy things to each other, and her telling me what an amazing chef I am. So far, Operation Propose to the Princess is a go.
Arabella sighs happily. “What a perfect evening, out here under the stars, alone. This is exactly what we needed.”
“I want to give you a lifetime of perfect evenings, just like this one,” I say, my heart beating faster.Dammit, I should’ve put the ring in my pocket because this is the exact right moment. Maybe I should run in the house, then come back and just ask her?The thought makes my heart skip a couple of beats. That’s it. I’m doing it. “I’m going to go get dessert. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, let me help,” she says, starting to get up.
“No, you relax right here and enjoy the stars. I want to surprise you.”
“All right. But bring more wine.”
“How about champagne? I think we need to celebrate your success.”
25
How to Ruin the Perfect Date…
Arabella
I lean backin the wicker chair, feeling the warmth of the propane lamp on my cheeks. I turn to look through the window, and see him rushing around the kitchen, with a giant grin on his face.A lifetime of evenings like this. There is nothing I want more. Our big fight when he was in Thailand seems like ages ago, even though technically, it’s only been a week.
Huh, I guess we should probably talk about what happened. I was so relieved to see him and still so high from what happened in Vienna that I completely skipped the bit where we figure out how to avoid this type of fight in the future. And now that I think about it, a lot has gone wrong in a very short period of time, and he still hasn’t explained why he came back to Avonia instead of meeting me in Vienna.
My mind wanders to the auditorium this afternoon, and my words about hearing your own voice make me realize we’ve had a rather fraudulent date so far, including the sex. We’ve put the cart before the horse, and as much as I hate to, I need to right things if I want to be the woman I told all those other women I am. My gut tightens a little at the thought of speaking up. The last thing I want to do is ruin this wonderful evening Will’s put together.
But surely I can find a way to calmly speak my mind, and keep things light and airy, so we come out the other side stronger. Yes, of course I can.
The door opens and Will comes outside carrying a tray with a bottle of champagne, two flutes, and two plates of cheesecake. He grins at me as he crosses the deck. “Your favourite—New York-style topped with blueberries.”
“You remembered,” I say, watching as he sets the tray on the table and sits kitty-corner to me again. “You’ve really pulled out all the stops to make tonight incredible, and I want you to know it means the world to me.”
“Of course I would,” he says, reaching for my cheek. He rests his fingers gently on my skin while he talks. “The last few weeks have been awful for you and I wanted to make up for not being here. You’re the most important person in my life, Belle, and I am always going to put you first.”
“I feel exactly the same way, Will,” I say, taking both of his hands in mine. “Let’s never fight again.”
“Agreed.”
“That was absolutely the worst feeling I’ve ever had,” I say, lifting his hand and kissing his palm. “Being so far away and needing so desperately to fix things. Which is why I think it might be wise to set up some ground rules for our relationship. You know, so we can avoid anything like that again.”
He pauses for a moment and glances at the champagne bottle, then back at me. “Okay, ground rules. What do you have in mind?”
“Nothing crazy,” I say with a reassuring smile. “But I was thinking we should do something Faith Hill and Tim McGraw do. Oh, are you familiar with them?”
“Vaguely.”
