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"You seem oddly badass this evening," Ethan remarked.
"It would seem so," I said and kissed his lips.
"Mmm…banana," he said as he licked his lips. "Thank you."
Sorry, Gabrielle. Another loss for you.
Chapter twenty-three
I Tried Ignoring it but it Didn't Work
Ethan
I paced back and forth in her living room. I was back in Glenn Allen for the party. I had booked the Cultural Arts Center for the night as the venue for the union of our hospitals. Originally, I intended to get The Dominion Club, but I felt like it would give away my plan to propose that night. The Dominion Club has a solid reputation as being the wedding capital of the West End. Anyone who used there would automatically mean he had intentions to marry. The cultural center would have to do for the night.
I continued pacing. I wore a white suit with a black dress shirt and a white tie. The colors of the day were white and black, so this was the best I could come up with. I left my hair messy as usual; Stacy seemed to like it that way. Her father had asked me to pick her up.
He definitely knows.
It felt like it was prom. Surprisingly, neither of my brothers, including myself, actually went to prom.
Ben was studying, I forgot to set a reminder, and Ian didn't tell me his own reason for not going. He seemed excited about it at first but all of a sudden, he was no longer interested.
I had gone to events with several women, but this was the first time I felt this nervous. I pulled out the ring box and inspected it again. The ring was still inside the box. I closed it and memorized my lines for the twenty-third time. I still hadn't found the right words.
"Are you ready?" her voice called, startling me.
I put the box back into my pocket and composed myself. I turned around, "I'm ready."
I watched her descend down the stairs.
"Don't laugh okay?" she pleaded as she continued to descend.
She wore a sleeveless white dinner gown. Judging by how it looked from the front, I could tell that her back was bare. Her neck and ears were adorned with sparkling jewelry that highlighted her complexion and added a little bit of spice to her outfit.
Normally a dress like this in any other color would scream seductress. But all I saw was an angel.
"What do you think?" she asked as she placed her hands behind her back and swayed gently.
She turned around to give me a proper 360° look at her outfit.
"Wow," was all I could say at first. "You look like an angel."
"It was my mother's," she said. "I had it redesigned. Dad loved it, but that was Dad; he thinks everything looks good on me."
So, that's why you asked me to come pick her up. Sly old coot. You won't be sent to the retirement home anytime soon.
"It looks very beautiful," I said as I extended my hand. "How long did it take you to have it redone?"
"A week and…" she replied as she took my hand. "Took me an hour to get ready, and I'm afraid of melting."
"But you barely have makeup on," I remarked.
"Nude," she said.
"Oh, I see," I let out a sigh of relief. "Well, thank you for all the effort you put in."
"I'm still nervous though," she admitted with a chuckle.
