Page 95 of A Lifetime of Afters
Without moving my face out of his chest, I held my left hand in front of him with my fingers splayed. “It better fit,” I mumbled. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
He slid it over my knuckle and dropped a kiss to my finger. “A perfect fit. Do you like it?”
Laying my palm over his chest, I lifted just enough to see a gorgeous emerald cut solitaire. “I love it.”
“Truly?”
A sense of peace settled over me and I lifted my head to look into his face. “I can’t imagine anything better.”
“You said once that weddings are the ending, the happily ever after.” He wiggled my ring finger. “This is the beginning of our happily ever after, the beginning of a new family, a new adventure.”
Dipping his head, he smiled into my eyes, and captured my lips in the gentlest of kisses before wrapping his arms around my back and lifting me to his chest.
Turning back to the table, he teased, “For all you doubters, she said yes.”
The next ten minutes passed in a blur of hugs and kisses, tears and congratulations. It wasn’t until the evening wound down and I stood at the coat check that it all sank in.
It felt like a thousand suns had set since the last time we’d been there. So much had happened in such a short time, I was surprised to see the same coat check girl.
Hawk turned around to respond to Max as she grabbed our coats. Up close, she was not as young as I first thought.
She smiled at me and lifted her eyebrows in question, dipping her head toward Hawk.
In answer, I held up my ring finger and grinned.
Her answering smile lit up her entire face. “Nice,” she drawled, then smiled saucily. “Was totes hoping you’d bag him.”
Chapter Thirty-five - Three Little Words
Tossing my purse on the table, I hung up my coat and held out my hand. “I want to see the rest of your list.”
He raised his eyebrows as he shrugged off his coat. “Now?”
I shrugged, feigning a casualness I did not feel. “Yeah. I’d like to see it. Did you map out the whole year?”
He blushed. Blushed!
“Oh my gosh. You’re shy about it!”
“I wouldn’t say ‘shy’ exactly,” he hedged. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured.”
I pointed to the pocket that held the paper. “And that might make me feel pressured?”
He shrugged, feigning a casualness I knew he did not feel. What a pair. “Hawkley, pretty please may I see your plan?”
“How about I take you to bed first? Remind you of my finer assets?”
He teased but his eyes betrayed more than a hint of vulnerability. Under all the pain and guilt and grief, he was the same sweet man I fell in love with. With a tendency to want to punish me in all the very best ways.
Stepping forward, I placed both of my palms on his chest and peered up into his face. “I need no reminders. I am yours. Wholly. Completely. Forever. Please, Hawkley. May I see the list?”
The wariness faded from his eyes, and he smiled into mine. “You’re beautiful, do you know that?”
“So I’ve been told,” I whispered teasingly, watching his eyes flash.
“Noelle,” he warned.
“Please, Hawk. Let’s sit down at the table with a cup of Peppermint tea and talk a bit. I need to connect with you before we go to bed.”
