Page 116 of In the Same Boat

‘It’s okay,’ I reassure him. But then I see the look on his face. He looks stressed – Nico never looks stressed. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘What? Yes, of course,’ he insists.

He seems frazzled – another red flag.

‘Let me get you a drink,’ I tell him.

‘Yeah, thanks,’ he replies. ‘I just… yeah, sorry I’m late.’

‘That’s okay, I assumed you were on an adventure,’ I joke, but he’s scaring me a little now. ‘Everything okay?’

‘It is now I’m here,’ he replies.

‘Well, now I’m definitely suspicious.’

He laughs.

‘Nico…’

‘Sammie…’ he replies, matching my tone.

‘Are you being weird?’ I ask.

‘Not that I’m aware of,’ he replies. He turns to the barman. ‘A bottle of champagne, please, mate.’

Champagne… Interesting choice.

The barman reappears with a bottle of Ruinart and two glasses.

‘Bloody hell, are we celebrating something?’ I ask him.

Nico always likes to toast his work victories. It makes me smile that he’s more comfortable being proud of himself now.

‘Maybe,’ he says.

‘Maybe?’ I reply. ‘Well, what might we be celebrating?’

Nico takes me by the hand; his thumb moves lightly over my knuckles as he finds the words. I glance down at our hands, then back at his face. He looks even more nervous now and obviously my brain wants to start analysing everything, because I didn’t run a risk assessment for our date tonight.

He lets go of my hands.

‘Nico…’

He reaches into his jacket as he stands up from his bar stool, getting down on one knee as he pulls the ring box from his pocket.

‘Sammie…’

‘Yes,’ I blurt excitedly. ‘Yes, yes, yes – oh my gosh, yes.’

He smiles.

‘I haven’t even asked yet.’

‘You don’t need to,’ I reply. ‘Because yes!’

‘Well, I do feel easier about asking, now that I know the answer, but I want you to know that you’re the love of my life, that my world changed for the better when you entered it, and that I’d love to spend the rest of my life annoying you… if you’ll have me.’

‘And I want you to know… yes!’