Page 120 of The Dance
“I brought plenty of blankets,” I assured her. I’d also told her there were going to be fireworks and it would be cool to have dinner under the stars and watch the show. Little did she know Jimmy and his parents were going to be setting them off.
When we pulled up to their lake house, Stacey looked over at me. “Isn’t this your friend’s place?”
I smiled. “Yeah, baby.”
“Why are we here?”
“Because they have shore access and the perfect view for the show.”
“Are they home?”
“I don’t know, but they know we’re coming,” I half-lied.
We got out of the truck, and I grabbed the blankets and insulated bag that carried our hamburgers and fries from Whataburger. I’d told her I had to run by the club to check on a few things, but really, I was getting everything ready for us, which included buying the first meal I’d ever bought for her.
Lacing our fingers together, I guided her around Jimmy’s backyard and down to the water bank. To our surprise, Adirondack chairs with tiki torches were set up and overlooked the water. I hadn’t asked Jimmy and his folks to do anything, but they had made what was about to happen that much better.
“Did you do this?” Stacey asked.
“No, baby. Must have been Jimmy and his parents.”
“That was sweet of them. Are they coming to watch the show?”
“Don’t know,” I lied again.
Stacey sat in the chair closest to us, and I handed her a blanket before opening the insulated bag and pulling out the fast-food bag. She cracked a smile. “Whataburger?”
My heart pounded in my chest. I had to explain to her why we were eating fast food for Valentine’s Day at the place where I’d first learned her name. I’d wanted it to be the place where we’d first met, but going back to The Wild Pony wasn’t something I wanted to do. I’d hightailed it out of there over two years ago and never looked back.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jimmy and his family, and I cleared my throat as I pulled a burger from the bag. I handed it to her and then pulled the ring out of my pocket and bent on one knee. Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“When you’re in my arms, I feel as though everything in my world is right. You make me happy, make me laugh, and make me so fucking hard I can’t walk sometimes.” She snorted a laugh, and I continued.
“I feel deep in my soul that I’m on the right path now. That I’m finally someone, and I want nothing more than to build a life with you and make you my queen. I want to cherish you and love you and spend every day trying to make babies with you. I want a house full of them and to wake up next to you every morning and go to bed with you in my arms each night. I brought you out here where it all began for us, and I made sure to start our forever with the first meal we ate together because what I’m trying to say is, Stacey McCoy, I fucking love you. You’re the first woman to work her way into my heart, and I never want to be with anyone else. Will you marry me?”
She was nodding before I finished the last line. “Yes. Yes, I will marry you.”
I threw her wrapped burger on the empty chair next to us and reached for her, pulling her out of her chair and into my arms. As I slid the ring onto her finger, “Blurred Lines” started to play from speakers behind us in Jimmy’s yard.
“Really?” Stacey chuckled.
“We have to make it official.” I grinned.
While Robin Thicke and T.I. sang to us, I twirled my fiancée under the stars. Once the song ended, the fireworks began, and I felt like a king with my queen in my arms.
39
Stacey
Planning a wedding was hard.Organizing a quick wedding was probably even harder. For some reason, Blake and I decided to get married only six months after our engagement. We found a venue on 34thStreet in downtown Houston, and it was like something out of the movies. It had a cascading water wall, stylish ballrooms with dramatic staircases, high ceilings, and giant chandeliers. Outside, there were private gardens with cool fountains and lush greenery for pictures, and I couldn’t wait to say I do.
Our relationship had been rocky, to say the least. We’d started as friends with benefits, and somehow, even though I never wanted to admit it, I’d fallen in love with the playboy. I’d never expected to call him my boyfriend, let alone my fiancé, but somehow, all roads led us back together even after many months apart.
“Can’t you come with me?” I whined as I set my bag near the front door of our apartment.
“We’ve been over this. To pay for the wedding you want, I need to work as much as possible behind the bar before we leave for our honeymoon in a month.”
Blake had thought his days of bartending were over, but once we got engaged and he saw the cost of the wedding venue plus a honeymoon in Cabo, he started bartending again on the weekends. I was still working at the marketing firm and the dance studio, but Blake wanted to buy a house and give me “the life I deserved.”
