Page 45 of Beauty and the Nerd
“Picked, hmm? That makes it sound like you had a choice, here I thought it was inevitable that you’d fall in love with me,” Ben returned and she leaned over, giving him a soft kiss.
“I think it was both, inevitable that I’d fall but I let myself get close enough to do it,” she suggested, sinking into the new kisshe gave her that wrapped her in the sweetest joy that lasted all through their meal and long into the night.
She rested against his side, exhausted as the sun started to come up, and sighed happily as his hand ran through her hair, her ring catching the tiniest rays from the light coming through the window. “Did my parents know you planned to propose while we were here?”
“No, I showed them the ring when you went to call Megan to tell her about the trip and invite her up to stay after your mom asked if there were any other surprises I had planned. Seems she’d told your dad that it was likely coming but I didn’t have firm plans set for the proposal yet. Most of my mind was on trying to find a way to make our first time together special after Lyle mentioned coming, and then after your parents gave their blessing, I actually started to think more about it. They might suspect that I intended to do it while here, but they don’t know for certain, why?”
“Just wanted to make sure they weren’t waiting for a text from us about it anytime soon. It’s almost noon back home,” she said, her eyes fluttering shut as his lips pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Get some sleep, baby, I’m sure they’ll be okay if we don’t tell them until we’re back,” Ben assured her, holding her tight as they took a nap until nearly eleven.
They made their way out to the beach, playing around in the surf and lounging on the chaises until dinnertime. They spent it by themselves under the stars before having an early night, even if not an early sleep.
Emerson pulled her into the car as soon as they arrived at the front for check out, and she laughed when her phone went off with the arrival of photo after photo of their engagement. She loved every single one of them but there was one that stood out just a bit more. The ring was on her finger in it, her hand restingon the back of Ben’s head, as his forehead rested against hers. They were both smiling in it, her body leaning into his, and she knew it was the perfect one to send her parents.
She waited until they were in the air to connect to the plane’s wi-fi, then texted her parents the photo as she snuggled into Ben’s side. A FaceTime request popped up on her tablet almost immediately and she answered it, grinning at the smiles on their faces.
“If you sent that to say you have a date in mind already, we’re going to have to have a talk here Ben,” her dad joked, and she laughed, shaking her head at them.
“No discussions of that yet or even real thoughts on it. Emerson,” Emma said, picking up the tablet to turn slightly so her parents could see her and Lyle in the seats across from them, “sent me the photos the photographer did, and I couldn’t wait to share that one with you all.”
“It’s beautiful sweetheart, an amazing shot,” her mom said.
“It’s easy to get an amazing shot with Emma, we’re getting ready to push the new line out, but it’s been taking me days to narrow down the photos to use because they’re all incredible,” Emerson said, and her dad grunted a bit pulling laughs from both of them. “You’ll have to stop by my studio with Emma when you’re in town. I don’t think your husband will mind if you come home with something he can enjoy with you that’s entirely different than what Emma will be in.”
“Okay, and we’re wrapping up this conversation for now,” her dad said, but the look he gave her mom spoke volumes. “Have a safe flight home, honey. I’ll see you in a few weeks. Ben, take care of my little girl.”
“Always, Mr. Watkins,” Ben stated.
Her mom elbowed her dad prompting him to add, “I suppose you can call me Jack.”
“Thank you, sir,” Ben responded, and Emma laughed as they hung up the call, his hand cupping her cheek, his eyes beaming down at her. “There’s no rush to make decisions on anything. If you want to wait until we’re finished with school to get married, I’ll be okay with it. I’d simply prefer to call you my fiancée than my girlfriend so everyone else knows this is more than just dating to me. So they’re fully aware that we know what we want, and when we go to our favorite Thai place, they can start calling me Miss Emma’s fiancé.”
“I like the sound of that, at least until you can be Mrs. Emma’s husband,” she mused smiling beneath his new kiss.
After lunch, she and Emerson settled in to look over the ads and webpage mockups while Ben and Lyle went over some work they would be handling come Monday. She was glad he had tomorrow to get used to New York time again before then and hopefully they could go by their place because it sounded delicious.
Ben was in full agreement the next afternoon and they made their way into the little shop with his arm wrapped around her waist. Their waitress settled them into a table, catching sight of her ring and Emma laughed when half of the staff came over at her announcement. She could only understand about half of what they were saying as they mixed English and Thai together, but the happiness they showed them made it completely worth it.
She hated that Ben had to get up early and leave her on Monday morning and by Wednesday, she was ready to go crazy with nothing to do. Every time she tried to sit down to write, all she could do was stare at her ring, wanting to tell everyone they were engaged. She just didn’t know if Ben would prefer to tell his parents before someone accidentally saw it if she posted it online and told them first.
A knock sounded on her door late Wednesday afternoon, and she squealed a bit finding Megan on the other side of it again. “I didn’t think you were coming until Monday!”
“I know that was the plan but then Ben sent me a message last night asking if I was busy this week because he knew you wanted to talk to me but hoped to do it in person. So here I am, now what the heck is going on? I mean, you look doubly glowy, so I don’t think if the two of you finally did it that it was bad,” Megan stated as she closed the door behind them while Megan pushed her suitcase to the side before turning to stare at her expectantly.
“Try complete and utter opposite of bad,” she said, unable to keep the smile off her lips or out of her eyes.
“Damn girl, it just doesn’t seem fair for you to be this gooey and swoony after losing your v-card,” Megan said giving her a mock glare. “You know I’m happy that it apparently was so amazing, perhaps jealous, but happy all the same. So, tell me, what do you need to talk about if it was that amazing?”
“This,” Emma stated, holding up her left hand to show off the ring on it.
“Oh my god! Holy shit Emma! He didn’t even tell me he’d bought it,” Megan gasped, pulling her hand up to see the ring better. “That’s gorgeous. When on earth did he propose?”
“Our second to last night in Hawaii,” she admitted.
“So, like a week ago tomorrow? And you’re just now telling me?” Megan demanded.
“I wanted to do it in person. We texted my parents a photo from that night Saturday on our way home and they FaceTimed us, but they’d already seen the ring when Ben got their permission slash blessing for it. I knew you were coming up next week and wanted you to be able to see the ring at the same time rather than just in a picture.”
