Page 144 of Let It Breathe
“Congratulations.” Jenna smiled. “And thank you for doing that.” She turned as Kate hustled over with a clipboard.
“Okay, you must be our extras.” Kate pointed them to one of the wine barrel tables. “Let’s have you take a seat right over here and we’ll get you some drinks and charcuterie.”
“On it,” Larissa called, hustling away to the bar. “Reesey, can you clear off that table?”
“What?” She glanced at the surface, then blanched. “Whoops, sorry.” Snatching the paperback she’d left there, she tucked the bare-chested cover under her arm. “I like to sit there and read once the tasting room’s closed for the evening. I wasn’t expecting guests.”
Jenna laughed, though her expression seemed oddly strained. “Your secret’s safe with us.”
Mia tilted her head. “Was that the new G.G. Buckingham novel?”
“Um, yes.” Reese felt her face turn ten shades of pink. “It’s pretty spicy.”
“No kidding.” Mia shot an unreadable look at Jenna. “We know that book well.”
“Right. I guess everyone does.” Reese’s face flamed. “I’ve, uh…been trying to read new authors lately.” Why did she still feel self-conscious about it? “My cousin recommended it and?—”
“Sounds like a fun read.” Jenna’s gaze shifted uncomfortably, and Reese wasn’t sure what that was about. She started to change the subject, but Kate hurried over and saved them.
“Okay, places everyone.” She jumped out of the way as Larissa swooped in with a tray. “Reese, let’s have you stand right over there by the bar. We’ve got just a couple more questions for you.”
“Right.” She walked to the corner, feeling itchy and awkward in her own skin. Even after several of these on-camera interviews and a month of having cameras follow her around the property capturing footage, she still wasn’t used to being the center of attention. “Do you want me holding anything or wiping down the bar or something?”
“Nope.” Kate gave her an odd little smile. “We’ll need you to keep your hands free. Just look natural, okay?”
“Um, okay.” Like it was natural to stand in the tasting room with a camera in her face, but okay. Sliding her gaze to Clay, she felt herself relax again.
Even after all these months of working together, living together, sharing their lives in such intimate ways, she still couldn’t believe how lucky she was. How many women got a second chance with the first man they’d ever loved? How many people overcame the kind of obstacles she and Clay had?
You’re one lucky bitch, she quietly told herself as she smiled at her boyfriend, then slid her gaze back to Kate. “Is this how you want me to stand?”
“That’s perfect.” Kate pointed to a guy with a gigantic bulb on a pole. “Let’s get just a little more fill light over here. That’s good, right there at waist level. Okay, we’re all set.”
All set? Reese turned the words over in her head, not sure if she was supposed to say something or do something or?—
“Reese Clark.”
She turned at the sound of Clay’s voice, then gasped at the sight of him kneeling before her. His eyes held a shimmer of hope.
His hand held a box with a ring in it.
“Oh my God.” She gasped again, looking from him to the ring, then back again. “Is this what I think it is?”
He nodded and gave her a tentative smile. “I know you’ve said you don’t need sweeping romantic gestures or some big proposal, but guess what, Reese?”
Her mouth felt too dry to form words, and her hands had started to shake. “What?”
“You deserve the big gesture.” Slipping the ring from the box, he held it out to her. “You deserve rainbows and romance and someone who sees you for the incredible person you are. A woman who loves fiercely—her family, her friends, her work—even orphaned opossums and squirrels with mange.”
Laughing, she blinked back an onslaught of tears. It was only last week that Clay helped her treat a trio of them with an anti-parasitic ointment. “Nothing says love like mange.”
He smiled and kept going, taking her hand to slide the ring onto her finger. “I don’t know what I did to be the lucky bastard who gets to wake up each morning to a woman as smart and beautiful and kindhearted as you, but I can promise you this—if you’ll let me, I will spend every day of my life making sure your life is full of laughter and love and light and all the good things you deserve. Reese, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ve been in love with you since the first moment I laid eyes on you in that college classroom. Through rough times and fun times, you’ve been my guiding light and the reason I’m excited to wake up each day just knowing you exist. Reese—” He paused, throat bobbing as he swallowed. “Will you make me the happiest man on Earth and marry me?”
“Yes.” Tears slid down her cheeks as she clutched at his arms, hauling him up to his feet. “Oh my God, yes!” She laughed as she threw herself at him, hugging him so hard she heard his back crack.
Holy shit! She was engaged. And the way he’d just done it was so perfect, so right, so?—
Was that applause?
