He raises a proud eyebrow and nods. ‘Lab grown.’ He clears his throat before raising his voice yet again. ‘What do you say, shnookums? Do we give this a proper go, for eternity?’
The people around us swoon, but I barely hear a thing. I take the ring in again and feel my insides start to churn. It looks so real and official... This all feels too real and official.
‘Say yes!’ a yell sounds somewhere in the distance.
My eyes dart round once more, take in the shocked waiters, the hooked watchers and the stunned face of Timothy. Then, finally, I look to Noah, down on his knee with a smile that could stop my heart right on this spot. I have to look away. I drop my eyes back to his hand and the most beautiful ring I have ever seen in my life.
‘Don’t leave him hanging!’
‘Say something!’
The hecklers continue. I watch as Noah struggles to stifle his laughter, before raising the ring even higher.
‘Well, sweetie, what will it be?’ he asks.
That’s when I catch it – his all-too-familiar smirk. This is a game to him. Thisshouldbe a game to me. Noah is a friend who’s helping me in my hour of need. I shut my eyes, take a gulp, and remember who and where I am.
‘Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!’ I say.
The spectators break into raucous applause, a bottle pops and, before I know it, there’s a champagne glass in my hand and a ring on my finger. Noah rises from the floor, still clearly committed to his character, and whisks me into a sweepingly heartfelt hug.
‘Kiss!’ the crowd starts to chant, over and over again.
Noah brings his mouth to my ear and chuckles softly, sending a tingle directly down my spine. ‘What do you think, Am? Break the rules just this once to keep the crowd happy?’
His lip graces my earlobe as he says it and with that contact, every single rule flies straight out of my head. I can’t focus on anything but the strong arms around my frame and the deep voice in my ear.
‘Go on, then.’
His hand slips down my back, sweeping me off my feet and into a dramatic dip. I feel my glass of bubbles spill over onto my wrist, but I have no time to address that before his lips crash into mine.
The room swells into cheers right in time with his tongue as it slips through my teeth and grazes my own. He moves tenderly, pressing our bodies as close as they will go, lips moving softly but firmly on mine. He knocks the wind from my lungs with each motion, coaxing me with every slide of his lips and flick of his tongue. I move my hand to his hair, gripping his curls as the room grows still and nothing exists but Noah and me.
Then it all stops. He pulls back, brings me up to my feet and grabs a napkin to dab at my champagne-soaked wrist. Some people are still clapping and cooing, but most have alreadygrown bored, retiring to their meals and their old conversation. I blink myself back to life and focus on Noah’s hand as it dabs at the droplets on my wrist. He meets my eyes and winks, before turning to Timothy who is sitting gobsmacked in his seat.
‘Sorry to hijack your lunch.’ Noah is relishing in the moment, but trying to keep it cool with a shrug. ‘It’s just when you know, you know. You get me, right? And I wasn’t gonna let her go twice.’
Timothy doesn’t speak – he barely moves – just bites his tongue and nods back at Noah wordlessly. A small part of me feels a little bad for him... But a bigger part is relieved that he’s finally stopped talking.
I feel Noah grab my hand and squeeze it twice over, a silent ask that we leave this place once and for all. So I slap on a smile and say goodbye to Timothy one last and final time.
. . .a night alone
‘That was mortifying,’ I say.
Noah grins. ‘It was hilarious.’
‘Everyone was staring at us!’
Noah ran off almost immediately after we left the café as he was going to be late for his afternoon meeting, so this is the first chance we’ve had to debrief since the incident earlier today.
He looks up. ‘And so they should. Watching you get engaged to me is like witnessing someone win the lottery.’
‘You think you won the lottery with our engagement?’ My lip starts to curl.
‘No, I thinkyoudid. I’m a catch and you should be so lucky,’ he says.
I throw a balled-up pair of socks at him and giggle as they knock against his temple. He shakes his head back at me with a bemused smirk.
