Page 108 of Heated Takeover

I take a breath, maybe for the first time since leaving the table, as I walk outside. That went differently than I’d expected. Admittedly better. I have a skip in my step as I walk to my car in the VIP lot with every intention of driving straight to Natalie’s. But I stop when I see her car next to mine.

She gets out and smiles over at me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Working?” she asks.

“I told you to take more time off,” I say, standing in front of her. My nerves are buzzing with electricity, and there’s a small box burning a hole in my pocket.

“And I told you that I am going stir-crazy at the house and prefer to be here,” she sasses back and I love it.

I stare down at her. She is very much the same girl from the night of the charity gala with her business yet quirky outfits and her long braid. But she’s different now too. She’s grown both professionally and in her confidence. And that makes her a thousand times more beautiful to me.

And suddenly, I get an idea.

“You’re not going to work,” I tell her, pulling her towards my car.

“Then where am I going?” she asks.

But I just grin. “You’ll see…”

Natalie giggles like a little girl when I put the car in park at the Bayside Marketplace right in front of the Observation Ferris Wheel.

“What are we doing here?” she asks. But I don’t answer. I just get out of the car, open her door, and pull her with me towards the wheel.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to kick everyone off again,” she says.

“No,” I answer. When we reach the ticket booth, I tell them we need the VIP gondola. Luckily, it’s vacant, which is a good thing because I would have absolutely paid more to have it vacated.

I say nothing as we wait for it to circle around to us. Meanwhile, Natalie is fidgeting like crazy. My lips tip in a smirk.

Once we are inside, the door closes, and we slowly make our way to the top.

“This is crazy,” she says.

“Going on a Ferris wheel is crazy?” I ask.

“In the middle of the day when we should be at work without any explanation? Yes. Yes, I think this counts as a little bit crazy,” she says.

We reach the top of the arc and I turn to her, pulling her into a long, heated kiss.

“Ash,” she murmurs with a smile. “We can’t do what we did last time…”

“I know,” I say. “That wasn’t my plan.”

“Then what was your plan?” she asks, her lips still brushing mine, her eyes still closed, and her voice feathery.

I pull back, and her eyes open just in time to see me slowly lower to one knee.

She gasps and covers her smiling mouth.

“Natalie,” I start.

“Oh my God.”

I smile. “I told you I wanted this. That I wanted you and our son and anything and everything that comes with it.”

“Oh my God,” she says again.