Page 90 of Hats off to Love

Who would have thought when I woke up today I’d end up engaged to marry the man of my dreams? Certainly not me. Have I thought about marrying Stokes? Absolutely, and definitely more over the last couple of weeks as I found myself wanting to merge our homes. But did I wish for it? No. I think I was worried I would jinx a good thing, and a good thing is what we are—the best thing.

“You always smell so good,” I tell him.

He laughs and pulls back to look at me. “What?”

“You do. I don’t know what it is, but I want to bury my face in it. I can’t get enough.” I run my face across his shirt and inhale.

He chuckles again then says the three little words that have more meaning than any others ever.

“I love you.”

Every nerve in my body responds. Little zings fly every which way under my skin, and those butterflies, the ones who are now grown, large, and watching the show, they flap their wings to stand and cheer.

“I love you too,” I tell him, so happy to be free of these words that have been heavy on my heart.

Shifting us both so we’re sitting and no longer on our knees, my eyes find his just before his lips find mine, and at this moment there is no trace of my broody, grumpy, boring guy. Instead, I find happiness, contentment, and a lightness that is all for me and envelops us in the best way.

“You know it was supposed to be me,” I tell him, my hands greedily clamping on to his forearms, just wanting to make contact with him somewhere.

“You what?” His warm mouth kisses from my jaw down my throat, across my collarbone and between my breasts.

“With the grand gesture. I messed up, and yet here you are, giving me the grandest of them all.”

He pulls back and looks at me, his face is so precious and dear to me it’s hard to believe that I ever thought it differently. “Actually, I haven’t given it to you yet, it’s back at the house.”

“What is?”

“Your ring. I didn’t plan on proposing to you just now, but I felt it and had to ask.” He runs his fingers through my hair and then down my arm to the fourth finger of my left hand.

“You already bought me a ring?” I’m shocked.

Pink dots his cheeks. “Yes.”

“When?” I pull back a little and sit up straight.

“The day after we had dinner together in New York.”

I inhale sharply. “But, that dinner was terrible.”

“Was it?” He tilts his head, and a small smile creeps onto his lips. “I thought you were endearing.”

“Endearing? More like appalling. We were awful together.”

He chuckles and sunlight glitters over us as it peeks through the leaves.

“No, we weren’t. But that night I went back to my hotel room, and I had to force myself to stay there. All I wanted was to be with you at your apartment. We might have argued a lot, but that didn’t change how much I just wanted to be near you. The next morning, I went out for a walk and found myself standing in front of a jewelry store window. I embraced the moment, knowing one day soon this would be happening.”

“Stokes . . .”

I’m at a loss for words. That was over a year ago. This man. Will he ever cease to surprise and amaze me?

Cradling my head in both of his hands, he looks me in the eyes and says, “But you’ve got it wrong. There’s nothing grander than you saying yes to me and giving me your forever.”

“I think we’ll have to agree to disagree about this,” I tell him as he makes my heart pound harder in my chest.

“Won’t be the first time.” He grins. “Or, I imagine, the last.”

“Probably not.” I smile at him as I lay my forehead against his.