“Okay, it’s happening faster than I thought,” Deb says.
She’s blocking my view, and I start to panic. “Is she out there? Is he out there?”
I grab my phone and frantically tap the screen.
“Actually, I’m going to need that,” Deb says.
I look up at her, confused. She takes my phone out of my hand and moves out of the way.
There’s a red carpet on the ice, a man standing at the end of it at center ice. But it’s not Max Thompson’s future son-in-law. It’s Noel, and the fans are going wild.
“Deb ...” I murmur, feeling dizzy.
She beams at me. “Go, Jules.”
Her hand presses against my lower back, urging me to step out onto the red carpet. I gape at her.
Is this real? It feels like a dream. I’ve been through the full spectrum of human emotions in the past five minutes.
Noel’s gaze is locked onto me. He looks cool and collected, as always, dressed in a dark suit with a blue tie, his hands loosely clasped in front of him.
The noise level seems to triple when I walk onto the carpet and people in the stands can see me. Noel reaches a hand out, encouraging me to come take it.
This can’t be happening. Someone must have slipped some mushrooms into my drink earlier and I’m hallucinating all this. I can’t be on the ice right now, alone with Noel and thousands of screaming fans.
When I reach him and he takes my hand, a surge of warmth passes through me.
“Hey.” He smiles and squeezes my hand, and a nervous laugh bursts out of me.
“Hey.”
“I couldn’t think of a better place to tell you I love you.”
My brows jump with surprise. “You do? Because I do too. Love you, I mean. Not me.”
He smiles and leans closer to me. “I didn’t know I could be as happy as I am when I’m with you, and I wanted to keep that just for us. But I was wrong. I’m proud of you. Proud you’re mine. Hopefully you still want to be?”
My vision blurs with tears, and I nod. “Of course I do.”
He takes half a step back and gets down on one knee. The crowd roars, and my jaw drops. Everything stops as he takes my hand, his expression earnest as he looks up at me.
“I want you to be my wife.” His voice is raw with emotion. “It can be in one year, or ten years. However long you want. This ring has a rare red diamond, because finding a woman like you is rare, and I can’t believe I’m lucky enough that you love me back. So will you marry me?”
Happiness blooms through every part of me, making me feel like my feet aren’t even on the ground. I nod, managing to choke out the word “yes”, and Noel’s shoulders fall with relief.
The cheering of the crowd drowns everything else out as he stands and sweeps me into an embrace, my feet leaving the carpet.
I must be in shock. Deb executed that to perfection. Noel was waiting for me, and he planned a beautiful proposal. I have an engagement ring on my finger.
He sets me down and I murmur, “I can’t believe this.”
Noel cups my cheeks in his hands and kisses me, the crowd cheering madly.
“I love you, beautiful. I have to win a game right now, but wait for me when it’s over.”
I laugh lightly. “You think I’m just going home when it’s over? Afterthat?”
“You’re coming home with me. But first ... he points at a lower bowl section. Blair and the boys are there. There’s a seat for you so you can watch the game with them.”
