And now the sun was setting and the few people left walking the streets of London at this time on Christmas day were all looking at me, too, because I’d stopped dead on the footpath and then stood staring at the very attractive man I’d been walking peacefully with.
“Are you okay?” Andy asked.
“Yes,” I said. “No,” I corrected. “Sort of.”
Andy raised an eyebrow that didn’t hide the genuine concern in his eyes.
I dropped to my knees.
“I… the thing is,” I said. “The thing… is, umm. I love you. Very much. And I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t given you a Christmas present yet…”
Why was this so hard?
“You gave me a vacation,” Andy said, blinking at me. “I figured this was the gift.”
“This was so I could collect the gift in person because it’s too important to risk losing to the vagaries of the post office,” I said, forcing myself to take my hand out of my pocket with my fingers wrapped around the box.
I took a moment to look at it, marveling at how such a small thing could hold so much potential.
Potential for the most complete happiness and the most shattering heartbreak, all contained in one little ancient velvet box.
“This was my great-grandmother’s,” I explained, opening the box to reveal the gold wedding band I’d had father put on a chain for me, since it was never going around any of Andy’s fingers. “And this time last year you gave me this,” I added, pulling my sleeve back to show him the friendship bracelet I still wore every single day.
Andy’s eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them, staring down at the box in my hand.
At the ring, probably.
It said what I meant more clearly than I could manage right now.
“And you promised me forever as friends, and I still want that, I’ll always want that. But I wanted to promise you forever, too. As, umm. As… well, if you’ll have me… as my husband?” I asked, squeaking at the last.
Andy stared.
Snow fell on my head and shoulders, the freezing ground underneath me making my knees ache bitterly. But all I cared about was the pause where I’d offered Andy my whole heart and my whole future, and I was hoping desperately that he’d accept them.
“Kit,” he said after a moment. “I…”
Well, at least the difficulty speaking was a shared problem.
“Please?” I tried, as though this might change his mind if he wasn’t interested.
Andy blinked, shaking his head as though he was just coming back to his senses.
Then, he dropped tohisknees.
The next thing I knew was the warmth of his mouth on mine, our noses bumping together, his body shuffling closer.
“Yes,” he gasped out as soon as he broke off. “Obviously.”
Obviously.
Of course.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes,” Andy repeated, rolling his eyes. “Put it on for me.”
I fixed the chain around his neck with trembling fingers, heart pounding in my chest at the thought of what this meant.
