Page 91 of Mayfair Madame
I slid off the seat and onto one knee, struggling to get the ring box out of my shorts pocket.
Confusion morphed into realisation.
“Ellie,” she warned.
“No, let me get this out. I need to say it.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, all the ways this could go running through my head.
When I opened them again, she sat with a huge smile on her face, her hands clasped before her.
“Naomi Reeves,” I said. “Before I met you, my life was one boring day after another. Then one callout changed all that. You sat on the bed, so vulnerable and lost, all I wanted to do was protect you and make everything right. That hasn’t changed. All I want to do now is love and protect you, but not just for now. For the rest of our lives.”
The bistro was silent. No sound of cutlery or chatter of people.
“I know it’s soon. We’ve known each other for two months, but they’ve been the best months of my life. I’m not particularly eloquent, so will you marry me?”
I took the ring out of the box and offered it to her.
“Oh, Ellie.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she held out her hand. “Yes, yes. A thousand times, yes.”
I slipped the simple diamond ring onto her finger, and the restaurant erupted. I laughed with them, hardly believing what had just happened.
She said yes!
Naomi cried, I cried, the bistro cried. It was definitely a night to remember, and the panic I’d felt dissolved like mist on a sunny day.
Weate and drank, and all the time she gazed at the ring. “It’s beautiful, Ellie. I’m so fucking happy right now. To think all we’ve been through has led us here.”
“It’s been a wild few months, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, and being here with you, it seemed like the right thing to do.”
“You know I was going to do this when we got home, but you beat me to it,” she said as we set off for home.
“After everything we’ve seen, I didn’t want to wait any longer. I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. You’ve changed my life, Naomi Reeves.”
“And you’ve changed mine. I guess we have something to thank that bastard Godfrey for. If it hadn’t been for him, we’d never have met. I love you, Ellie Sharpe.”
“Ditto, baby.”
Epilogue
Naomi
“How are the nerves, dear girl?” Rupert entered the suite, looking resplendent in his dark grey tail suit, complete with a pale blue tie and pocket square.
A pure white rose intertwined with lily of the valley, nestled neatly in his buttonhole. I’d never seen him looking so handsome.
“You scrub up well.” I fiddled with the lapels of his jacket, anything to stop the tremble of my hands.
“As do you, darling. You look positively radiant.” He took my hands and held me at arm’s length. “And that gown is divine.”
Oscar had totally outdone himself this time. The ivory silk dress was floor length, with a sweeping train, festooned with thousands of sparkling crystals. The gown itself was fitted with thin straps. Not unlike the one I wore the first time I met Ellie. A small gold tiara sat on my head. Simple yet elegant. I wore an ivory bolero jacket to ward off the cool air. February could be so cold.
Not that we’d be outside. The wedding was being held at an exclusive wedding venue a few miles outside of London. Ellie and I had taken rooms here, as had many of the guests, all at Rupert’s expense.
“If my one and only daughter is getting married, then I’ll make sure she does it in style. Hang the expense. I can’t take it with me.”
Ellie and I had chosen not to wait, and just six months from when we first met, we were tying the knot. Neither of us could see the point in waiting when we both knew we’d never find another love. We were it for each other.
We’d both known it from the start, although we’d been reluctant to admit it at first.
