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When we finally break the kiss, her cheeks are flushed, and her lips are slightly swollen. I, on the other hand, have a raging problem pushing through the suffering layer between my arousal and my pants.
Harper exhales.
“I needed that. I’ll sleep soundly now. Goodnight, Gabriel.”
“Goodnight, Harper,” I respond, giving in and kissing her on the mouth one last time before walking away.
The door closes softly behind me, and my lips break into a happy grin as I pat my left pocket. I’m still in the Harper—infused happy state as I head to my apartment.
I remove my clothes when I get to my room, grabbing a small box from my pants pocket before heading for the bathroom.
I stand in front of the bathroom mirror and open the box. Inside, a platinum ring decorated with a delicate floral motif with diamonds set within etched vine-like engravings that twine around the band, it sparkles and shines.
It is perfect. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was Harper. Unique, classy, and the echo of two souls intertwined forever. I want nothing short of forever with her.
Taking out the ring, I stretch it to my reflection in the mirror.
“Harper Quinn, you’re the only woman for me. I’ve never been more certain you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love the way you—”
No. I shake my head and clear my throat.
“Harper Quinn. I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time now, and there’s no one I want to keep on loving with all of my heart more than you—”
No. No. No.
It’s not perfect. There’s a lot I want to say, but I can’t get the words to come out right.
I need it to be perfect when the time comes.
“The gala,” I say to my reflection.
Caleb’s suggestion weighed on my mind the entire day until I made up my mind.
With the gala a week from now, the need to make sure nothing goes wrong is twice as heavy as it was before I decided I wanted to ask the woman of my dreams to marry me for real this time.
I return the ring to the box.
“You can do this, Gabriel. Don’t be a chicken now,” I say to myself.
The thought makes me happy, and I go about taking a shower with a goofy smile on my face.
Chapter 25
Harper
"Are you nervous?” Gabriel asks.
“Hmm?” I look up from the thick file in front of me that I’ve been peering over for the past two hours.
Gabriel reaches out to take my hand, and his thumb makes circles in my palm.
“Are you nervous? We have a day left. Less than twenty-four hours.”
“No. Why would I be? We’ve spent the entire day going through everything. Every step and line, and they’ve all passed the checklist,” I respond confidently.
I’m hoping that he buys it because my nerves are shot to hell, and I’ve been surviving on coffee and pure adrenaline.
“Good,” he grins, “because you’ve done well. If you were working for me full-time, I would have given you a promotion. Why don’t you come to work for me?”
