Page 57 of A Holiday Seduction
“Ha, and you spent most of the timetaste testingall of my new recipes,” I retort.
Changing addresses isn’t the only big move I made within the past year. A few weeks after moving in with Neil, I turned in my resignation to the school district. That was two days after I signed my lease to open my bakery,Sweet Seduction.
I finished the school year out and worked evenings and weekends at the bakery, hiring a part-time manager and baker to be there during the day when I couldn’t. My days have been jam-packed as the popularity of the bakery grows right along with my online business. We continue to sell online and ship out orders. Now that I have a staff and an industrial oven, I can fulfill orders as quickly as they come in.
I’m in my happy place.
“And I’m surprised I haven’t ended up in a sugar coma,” he groans, holding his flat stomach as he comes to stand in front of me.
I wave him off, laughing.
He glances at me, grinning.
“What?”
“We’re standing under the mistletoe.”
Looking up, I see that he’s holding up a branch of the mistletoe over our heads.
Rolling my eyes, I say, “If you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask.” Cupping his face, I pull him in for a kiss. He soon takes it over, his lips possessing mine in that unique way that always melts my heart.
“I’m so damn proud of you,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Me? What about you? Happy eleventh anniversary, baby.”
We went to Neil’s Christmas meeting this morning. This was my second year in a row hearing him share his recovery story with all who attended.
“Thanks, but I can’t take all the credit for it. Anyway, you know what would make me even more proud?”
“What could make you more proud than having eleven years sober, successfully growing McKenna Rehabs thanks to winning that lawsuit against Waldrich, and being my hero?”
“If you would call me your husband instead of your hero.” He steps back and goes to his knee before opening a black ring box.
My mouth falls open, and I stare at the center-cut diamond sparkling beautifully. I try to make words come out, but it’s impossible.
Reaching up, I feel for the pearl earrings on each of my lobes, wondering if this morning’s present had been a joke. But they’re still there.
Earlier in the year, I told Neil about the time Dierdre pawned the earrings my mother gave me when I turned thirteen. I don’t know how he did it, but he spent months tracking down the earrings and repurchased them from their owner. I knew what they were as soon as I opened the gift this morning because my grandmother’s initials were engraved in the 14K gold setting.
I bawled like a baby.
Now, hours later, he’s here proposing.
“I was going to wait until New Years’ to propose but I’m impatient when it comes to you. Besides with Jackie and Mark coming to celebrate the New Year with us, I wanted to choose a time where I could propose in private.”
The tears start flowing yet again as I swallow the lump in my throat. I smile widely as I think of my friend Jackie and her new husband, Mark, who’ll be coming in a few days for New Years’. Though she isn’t alive to see it, I believe Deirdre is smiling down on the both of us from wherever she is.
“Desiree Jackson, will you marry me?”
Still unable to find words, I bob my head up and down vigorously.
Neil releases a breath, coming to stand as he places the ring on my left ring finger.
“Thank you,” he says against my lips before cementing our engagement with a kiss right in front of the lit up Christmas tree, the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting around us.
The End
