Page 109 of Hypnotized By Love

“I didn’t know you realized what I was doing.”

“Ha. I know you better than anyone,” I reminded him.

“You do.”

The ground beneath my feet shifted from a concrete feeling to a wooden one. We walked along planks while I wondered where he’d brought me. Back to Murphy’s Alligator Emporium and Restaurant?

That would have been sweet of him. Our first sort-of date.

“Okay, sit here,” he said and helped me to sit on the wooden planks. I felt him take a spot across from me, and then he reached for my blindfold.

I kept my eyes closed for a second. My curiosity was driving me bonkers, but if there was anything Mason had shown me over the last few months, it was the power of anticipation. Of waiting for just a moment longer to prolong the excitement.

My eyes opened and I gasped.

We were in Mason’s happy spot.

The dock where we’d talked all night as teenagers. I drew in a big breath, my lungs filling with both fresh air and utter bliss. He was so thoughtful and romantic.

He said apologetically, “There’s no fireflies because it’s not the right season, and no bonfire because no pyromaniac teenagers, but other than that—”

I smacked him on the arm. “Shh. This is perfect.”

There was even a little rowboat tied to the end of it, just like before. It looked exactly the same.

No, it was better. Because I was here with the man I loved.

“This is where I realized that I was in love with you,” he told me.

“I knew a long time before then,” I said.

Now he was the one shushing me. “You don’t have to make everything a competition. I’m doing something here.”

He reached into his pocket, and my heart stopped functioning entirely. I cursed the fact that I hadn’t had a manicure recently.

Which was ridiculous because obviously it was far too soon for him to be asking me to marry him.

Mason pulled out something round and silver that fit in the palm of his hand, and I had to push away the disappointment I felt.

“What is that?” I asked.

“A pocket watch.” He held it by the chain, letting it dangle down. Then he started to sway it back and forth in front of me. “You are getting very sleepy.”

“Am I?” I said with a laugh.

“Yes. You’re falling further and further under my power.”

“Do you hear yourself when you talk? I just want to know if you’re aware of the kinds of things that come out of your mouth,” I teased him.

“Just watch the watch,” he told me.

“See? Nonsense. Plus, whatever you think is going to happen is not going to happen.”

“I’m going to make you quack like a duck.”

“Doubtful,” I said. “I’ve never quacked in my whole entire life.”

“You shouldn’t doubt my powers of persuasion.”

---