Page 14 of Perfect Proposal
Lifting slightly back, Carys smiles. “Why?”
“I had it all planned.” I sound like a petulant little boy now that I’m not controlling the one thing I need to control in our lives.
She leans forward and presses her lips against mine gently. “You planned what you thought I should have, what the world expects. Not what we need. This—” She waves a limp arm to indicate the destruction we’ve wreaked on the office. “—is what we needed, my love. Me knowing you’re never going to walk away and…”
A light turns on. God, she’s so damn brilliant on top of being the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. And now, she’s going to be mine. No, that’s stupid. She’s always been mine—since the moment I first kissed her three years ago. “And I know that no matter what, we still have balance in our lives. That money, work, doesn’t define our love. Only we do that.”
Carys beams at me before lowering her head down on my chest. “Exactly.”
I begin to chuckle, softly at first, then full-throated roars. Carys props herself up on an elbow. “Care to share the joke?”
I manage to gasp, “I had candlelight, and…and…”
“And?”
“Violins!” I tip my head back. “I need to cancel the violins!”
Carys begins giggling. Soon, we’re clutching each other, holding on to the only thing that matters during the perfect proposal—the person you love.
* * *
Much later that night,we’re back in our condo. After we’ve made love before gorging ourselves on reheated Italian leftovers I had catered from Daniela Trattoria, I slide a solid white-gold-and-diamond Claddagh ring on her left hand with the heart pointed out—just like the way her father slid a similar ring on her mother’s hand long ago. A ring that symbolizes everything she’s worked for: life, love, and friendship. After all, she named her company after it.
Lifting her trembling fingers to my lips, I murmur, “You have my heart, my love, and my loyalty, Carys. On the anniversary of a day when I knew I’d never be the same.”
“When you walked in my office the first time, I realized I never would either,” she whispers.
“I wish I had recognized it sooner.” I start to apologize for the eight millionth time, but she’s shaking her head.
“We happened the way we were supposed to happen,” she says simply.
A smile breaks out across my face. “Rather like our proposal happened the way it was supposed to happen?”
She nods emphatically. “Demanding, full of heat, and unpredictable. Exactly like we’ve been from the beginning.”
Lowering my head to hers, I kiss her with all the wild passion she stirs in me. “In other words, perfect.”
Epilogue
Carys
“David, I’m pregnant. I’m not an invalid,” I snap at my husband of six months.
“If you think I’m taking you on the floor of your office like some animal, you’re crazy, baby,” he fires back.
“It hasn’t stopped you before!”
“You weren’t eight million months pregnant.”
“I’m three weeks from my due date. Nothing is going to happen except I may die from excessive need.” I run my hands up my silk-encased thighs. David’s eyes darken knowing I’m just wearing thigh-highs with an elastic band underneath since he had to slide them in place this morning. After all, even seeing my feet at this point feels like a memory I’m never going to regain.
But I get hot every time my husband wears that particular suit, and he knows it. It was the one he married me in, damnit.
It was a good thing we got married just a few months after David popped the question. Neither of us had a clue I was close to three months pregnant on Valentine’s Day. My periods—always irregular, requiring me to be on the Pill—had stopped coming. I hadn’t noticed between the stress of the holidays, David’s possible defection to work for Ward, and getting engaged. It wasn’t until I went wedding dress shopping at Amaryllis Bridal with Angie that I noticed a very firm knot where my body was once concave.
“Oh my God!” I shouted, causing wedding dress goddess Emily Freeman to glance up in alarm as she was clipping me into a formfitting mermaid dress.
“Is everything okay, Carys?” her sweetly Southern voice floated between us. “I didn’t pinch you, did I?”
