Page 48 of Chilled and Thrilled

I remember the first day I saw her at E&V, over two years ago now. She wasn’t a college student, living in a cramped apartment with my daughter anymore. She was my colleague, the image of professionalism in a silky green blouse that matched her eyes and cuffed trousers that looked as though they’d been specifically designed to make me sweat.

And I did.

I took one look at her, smiling at the woman from HR as they hovered beside her new desk, and ducked right back intomy office. All the wind had been knocked out of me as I got my first taste of how deeply Sophie Nelson affected me. Even as I tried to dismiss it, ignore it, or reason it away, in my heart, I knew the truth; that’s my wife.

Now, after a full three hundred and sixty five days of loving her in the open, I’m long past ready to be her husband.

Not that being ready makes this any easier.

Even if I’m confident she’ll say yes, there’s still the edge of fear. What if she doesn’t want to marry a man twice her age? What if she doesn’t want to be her best friend’s stepmother? What if she would rather start a family with a man who hasn’t already done that? There are a hundred reasons, valid ones, for Sophie not wanting to tie herself to me in this way.

Except, she loves me. Not puppy love, or a crush, or lust. I’ve experienced all that and been on the receiving end of it. This is different. More. Everything.

Pressing my lips to her temple, I ask, “I can’t give you one more thing?”

Sophie’s answering laugh is incredulous, and she glares at me over her shoulder. “Bram! There’s more?”

The box in my pocket seems to weigh much more than it did when I slipped it in there this morning. I crack a smile, my pulse racing so fast that it’s a miracle she hasn’t noticed. “It’s just one more tiny thing.”

Calling it tiny seems like a technicality when the ring cost more than all her other gifts combined. I commissioned the piece months ago by a well-known jeweler in New York, and paid extra to have it completed in time, because it had to be today.

My girlfriend groans, slumping back against my chest. “You’re so extra. Have you ever in your whole life half-assed something?”

I can barely breathe as I reach into my pocket, my fingersfinding the soft velvet of the little box and pulling it out. “I hope you’ll let me get away with it this time.”

Then, before I can succumb to my nerves and fling the thing away for another day, I push the box into her hands.

Sophie stills, gazing down at it. “Bram,” she breathes, looking back at me through wide, shining eyes.

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Open it.”

Her hands tremble as she looks back down and pushes the lid open.

Nestled in the deep blue satin, the ring glitters up at us, stunning and unique, exactly like the woman it’s meant for.

Neither of us speaks as I pull it free and take Sophie’s hand in mine, sliding it into place on her left ring finger. The moment it’s there, some of the anxiety twisting inside me recedes.

It looks right.

“I love you so much, Sophie Nelson. Will you marry me?” My voice is quiet and choked, and the words are a plea rather than a question. I had other things I wanted to say, promises I wanted to make, but I can’t remember any of them.

She doesn’t make me wait, however, and her voice shakes as she responds, “Of course I will.”

Ecstatic relief and joy burst inside me, and the reality that she said yes has barely set in before Sophie is on her knees in front of me, diving for my lips. I can feel her smile when she kisses me.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe this is happening. I love you so much.” She laughs as we break apart, holding her hand up to admire the ring. “God, Bram.” Her voice shakes. “It’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

That’s because there hasn’t been anything like it. “I designed it,” I admit in a hoarse croak, gazing at her beautiful, beaming face, so full of joy there’s not a doubt in my mind she was waiting for this. “Look from the side.”

She does as I ask, tilting her hand to the correct angle, and I hear her breath hitch as she sees it; delicate, platinum snowflakes cradling each of the ring’s three main stones.

Sophie lets her hand fall back to my shoulder, diving forward to kiss me again. All the worry and tension I’ve been carrying for weeks is fading away, overtaken by the brand-new, ecstatic reality.

She said yes.

We’re getting married.

We break apart, panting, and there’s a telltale flush rising on Sophie’s face that tells me exactly how we’re going to celebrate. Maybe fucking her under the Christmas tree will have to become a yearly tradition.

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