Page 68 of Handsome
“Are you serious?” Sarah squeaked.
We were then given medals, but to be honest, I still can't remember a word that was said.
When dancing with Sarah, all I ever saw was her.
She was shaking beside me. When the announcers moved on to someone else, I leaned close and I whispered to her, “So you just won your half of three hundred dollars.”
She hugged me and said, “Keep it as a down payment on that phone.”
I shook my head. The phone was a gift, given simply because I wanted to make her happy. The announcers went on to the big winners, and I whispered, “Nope. How about we use it to enter another competition?”
She met my gaze as we took a step forward to be in the winner’s circle and said, “It’s a good thing I love you.”
She'd stopped being afraid to be seen with me.
I had something important I wanted to say, but I held back for now.
We took our last bow and then the lights were turned off.
Other competitors all shook hands, and I nodded.
Eventually we made it to the hall where the organizers waited with paperwork. My driver nodded when I signaled that he needed to wait a while longer, and we both took turns standing in line to leave and using the restrooms to change.
Once we were both in our white cotton clothes, the air fizzed now we were together again. Then I said, “I want us to make one call before we go to the plane.”
She tilted her head and said, “Sure. Any reason?”
I kissed her cheek. Everything I did was for her, though all I said was, “I’ll explain later, but if you don't mind signing for us, I’ll be right over there.”
Now I was sure she loved me, I wanted us to be together officially.
So I called the jeweler and talked to them to deliver a ring selection to the plane. I listened while the show organizers told Sarah, “Congrats! You and your partner were great today.”
She signed, and because I still had the phone to my ear, she said, “Thank you. Honestly this is the first time I've ever won anything—ever—so I’m thrilled.”
My heart thumped. She’d been denied so much in life, but now I’d be able to shower her with surprise after surprise for the rest of our lives. I smiled.
The organizer checked the paperwork and said to Sarah, “Honey, it looks like you won a guy who adores you, so I'd say you definitely don’t have bad luck.”
I was obvious. Good. I hung up the phone as she said to the staff, “Thanks.”
And then we were off.
More people took our picture.
She stayed tucked under my arm as we hurried to the limo.
Once we were inside and took off, a soothing quiet surrounded us. We were alone. She took a sip of her water from bottle left on her seat, and once she finished, she asked me, “Everything okay?”
I was surprisingly a little nauseous and praying she would say yes when she saw the diamond I just bought, and my skin prickled with excitement the limo wove through traffic on the way to our plane. I only said, “Sure, just excited to be on our way home.”
We were on the highway when she asked, “Who did you need to call so suddenly?”
I wanted to surprise her. I rubbed the back of my head and said, “I needed to get a gift.”
She waved her hand and took a deep breath as she said, “Oh, of course. I’m excited to meet your brothers.”
Right. She’d fit in with my family. We turned into the private airport, and before our driver could open the door I quickly said, “Soon we’ll be alone. I instructed the onboard staff to give us complete privacy and told them we'll fend for ourselves if we want anything.”
