Page 85 of Resisting Fate
“I love Ben Wright!” she shouted.
“We know!” her friends shouted back. Everyone laughed.
They headed to the bar, where Josh was already hard at work, pouring fresh glasses of champagne. They had a fantastic chaotic toast, everyone talking and laughing all at once before Hailey took control to properly toast to Missy and Ben. She was such an awesome friend.
Clarissa never did show up.
After a private toast with Ben that was more kissing than sipping champagne, she and Ben left, eager to go back to his place. Which would soon be her place too; Ben was moving her in tomorrow.
When they got there, he guided her into the house from the garage, one hand on the small of her back.
She stepped into the dark kitchen. “Turn on the light.”
Ben put a hand over her eyes and turned on the light. “We’re moving, we’re moving,” he said in her ear, guiding her through the house.
“What in the world are you up to?”
“You’ll see.” They moved quite a distance before he finally stopped. “This is why I was late.” He dropped his hand from her eyes at the foot of the stairs. Rose petals were strewn on the stairs, making a path through the upstairs hallway. No one had ever made her a rose-petal path. It was so beautifully romantic. Her throat tightened.
“Ben,” she whispered. That was it. She had no more words.
“I wanted our first night as an engaged couple to be special.”
She turned to him with a smile. “You were pretty sure I’d say yes.”
He kissed her and spoke against her lips. “We both know it was a done deal.” He took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers, and walked upstairs with her. “You can’t resist me. Besides our informal engagement in front of my grandmother is binding in a court of grandmom law.”
She laughed. “I was not aware of that.”
“Oh, yeah, serious stuff.”
They reached the upstairs hallway and he gestured for her to go ahead. She followed the rose petals to the bedroom. The petals made a path to the bed, where he’d put more petals in the shape of a heart. He turned the light on, dimmed it, and then lit white candles set around the room.
She would’ve swooned if she were the type. As it was, she was overwhelmed by the generosity and tenderness of this man. She’d never experienced anything like it, and now she’d have the rest of her life with him. She was so damn lucky she could hardly believe it was all real. She watched him take off his hiking boots and set them to the side, still in a state of shock. How was this her life? The most amazing sexy loving thoughtful man in the world was her fiancé?
She blinked away tears, clearing her vision. He got in bed, lying sideways near the top of the heart and gesturing to it. “Climb on board, the love bed is ready.”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or burst into happy tears.
He let out a loud sigh, sat up and peeled off his shirt, revealing his bulky shoulders and sexy chest. “Fine. I’ll up the ante. Get moving, woman.”
She slowly walked over, feeling like she was in a romantic sexy dream. He stood and stripped off his jeans.
She leaped at him.
“There’s my sexy alligator,” he growled, and they rolled all over the soft petals, wrapped together in a hot tangle of love.
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