“I can’t believe you did all that,” Iris gasps out. “You’re insane, Roman. Absolutely insane, in the best possible way.”
I shrug. “Twenty-seven is a big birthday.”
Iris snorts. “No, it’s not. It’s totally insignificant.”
“Not to me. This is our first birthday together. That’s a really big deal to me.”
Iris blushes. “Thank you.”
“Which is why I got youanotherbirthday present, on top of the three horses.”
Iris waves her palms in surrender. “No more. I mean it. You have to stop now.”
“I already did it, though. No turning back.”
Iris shakes her head. “You’ve already done way too much.”
I bite back a smile. “If you really mean that, then I’m in a bitof a pickle, since this next thing isn’t something I can return.” I flash her a playful frown. “I mean, if you’resureI’ve already done too much, then I suppose I could donate the next present to a charity without ever showing it to you ...”
Iris swats at my shoulder and giggles. “Don’t you dare. Fine. I admit it: You’ve called my bluff. I’mdyingto see it.”
It’s another perfect segue.I swear, she’s the perfect straight man for this particular comedy routine. “You’ve actually already seen it,” I offer mysteriously. “In fact, you’ve been looking at it all day long.” My comment begets another blank stare from Iris, so I motion dramatically to our surroundings. “Your final birthday present is everything you see. The whole ranch—all fifty acres and every horse, structure, and piece of equipment on it. Happy birthday, baby.”
Iris looks like the hard drive in her mind is physically glitching. Shutting down. Experiencing a system-wide, catastrophic meltdown. I repeat the gist of my prior comment, and also assure Iris every word of it is true—and, finally, Iris falls into my waiting arms and sobs like a baby against my heaving chest.
“Why is Irish crying?” Maverick asks with concern. “Why doesn’t your present make her happy?”
“Sheishappy,” I assure him. “Sometimes, people cry when they’re really, really happy.” As I say the words, tears prick my eyes, effectively prove my point.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Iris chokes out between sobs.
I kind of can’t believe it, either, honestly. It’s an over-the-top birthday gift, to be sure. One that makes no logical sense, in terms of timing. But the thing is, this ranch isn’t actually a birthday gift, per se.It’s an engagement present. The symbol of my promise to love Iris forever. I mean, what better way to promise eternity to someone than gifting them their dream? To me, that’s an even more irrevocable promise than a simple ring, which can be taken off, lost, or stolen.
Okay, I admit I’m not too far gone to realize, in a perfect world, I probably should have waited a few years to buy Iris this ranch. For instance, it probably would have made more sense to buy it for her as a wedding gift, or maybe for our first wedding anniversary, rather than for our engagement. Surely, my jaded, hard-hearted, pre-Iris self would have been flabbergasted and disgusted to find out aboutanyrandom guy foolishly gifting his simple girlfriend or fiancée with a present of this magnitude. And God help me, if my prior, jaded self ever discovered the foolish, over-the-top gift giver would one day beme, he’d need a crash cart.
But, see, that’s the beauty of the whole thing. The New Roman, the guy who’s in love with Iris Benedetto, doesn’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. He doesn’t want to play it safe. Doesn’t want to hold back or create a single safety net. At least, not when it comes to Iris. With her, I only want to jump in, headfirst, with my whole heart and without a backup plan. With Iris, I’m all in, always. No reservations or doubts. And I wanted this gift to prove that to her, unequivocally.
Also, as a practical matter, I had no choice but to buy this ranch when I did. When I came down here a month ago, it was only to buy a singular horse for Iris’s birthday. But that’s when the owner of the ranch mentioned she was about to put the ranch on the market, so I had to act fast. Properties like this don’t come up for sale very often in Malibu. Hardly ever, my real estate agent told me. If I didn’t pull the trigger immediately, without overthinking it and without hesitation, I might not have had another chance in my lifetime. Literally.
So, fuck it. I followed my heart. Not my head. Not the advice of my business manager and accountant. Not the advice of Cameron, who lost his ever-loving mind. Like I told all the money managers and overseers of my life, when it comes to Iris,I’d much rather wind up regretting something Ididout of love than something Ididn’tdo out of fear.
As Iris sniffles in my arms, I kiss her cheek. “You can do whatever you want here,” I coo into her ear. “You can keep it, as is, and give riding lessons and trail rides. Or you can build a kick-ass equine therapy center. Whatever you’re dreaming about doing here, tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”
“It’s too much,” Iris chokes out against my shoulder.
“Nothing’s too much for you, baby. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Toshowyou. I’d do anything for you. I love you more than there are stars in the sky above Orchard Blossom.”
“Oh my God, Roman. You’ve taken my breath away.”
Here we go.
This is it.
The moment I’ve been waiting for. As I’ve been planning for weeks, my mention of the stars above Orchard Blossom is my cue to pull out the ring, get down on bended knee, and launch into my planned proposal speech.
But suddenly, now that I’m here with Iris’s sobbing frame in my arms and my son still jumping around impatiently and shouting about finding Pepper, it’s suddenly clear it’s not the right time to add even more life-changing, heart-exploding fuel to this already blazing fire. On the contrary, it feels right to savorthisparticular life-changing moment fully before moving on to the next, even bigger one.Goddammit. Nicola was right.
In a beat of my pounding heart, the perfect scenario for a proposal hits me like a ton of bricks. In fact, I can see it all now, like a movie. Me, in my football uniform. Iris in my arms. Cameras all around us. Why didn’t I think of this perfect scenario before now? Probably because my team wasn’t sitting at four and one, and only getting better with each passing week.
