AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stopped myself from adding more cologne. I’d been stalling so I wouldn’t be there embarrassingly early, but a few minutes too soon should be fine, right? That just showed punctuality. Lauren liked punctuality; she said it showed respect to her and her time.
I wondered what guesses she’d come up with about where we’d be going tonight. All I gave her was the time and the dress code, so she was totally in the dark. She probably thought we were going to a high-end restaurant or a theater. Whatever she was placing her bets on, she was wrong. I’d made sure she’d never see this coming.
Mom gave me a quick hug at the door, kissing my cheek while Dad gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back at them, nervous in the best kind of way.
Tonight was going to change everything.
EPILOGUE
Lauren
To say I was curious was a total understatement. I’d spent all week coming up with possibilities with Jen, from going to the ballet to taking a candlelit tour of the botanical gardens, and at one point I’d even joked that maybe he was working me up just to take me to a Denny’s or something. I knew that wasn’t what he was doing, though.
If he’d just said ‘dress up pretty’ maybe I’d have put some stock into it, but he’d gone out of his way to take me shopping at the highest-end boutiques in Chicago and had vetoed all but the red-carpet-worthy dresses. Whatever this was, he was serious about it, and I felt butterflies going wild inside of me.
Rich arrived right on time, and I spent the whole ride ogling the scenery to get a better idea of where we might be going.
It was either that or ogle Richard, who—I had to admit—looked even hotter than usual. The bespoke light gray suit fit perfectly, and he’d paired it with a black shirt instead of a white one, which just added to the drama of the look. His tie was white, but he’d tucked a lavender silk pocket square into his breast pocket to match my dress. I was glad I hadn’t fought harder against him getting me a dress this glamorous—I’d feel underdressed in anything else compared to him.
I knew he was watching me scan the buildings we passed, smiling amusedly. I knew he was taking joy in my frustration. I had no idea where we were,
That said, once we were well enough out of the city, I noticed the immaculate garden we were driving past. The wrought iron fence gave a perfect view of the carefully arranged flowers, placed in such a way they almost looked wild, and I was stunned to realize dim lights along the ground lighted the garden. It looked entirely fairytale-esque. I couldn’t stop staring.
“Pretty garden,” Rich said casually. Meanwhile, I practically had my nose pressed against the window to see further. There was a gazebo with fairy lights?
“It is!” I agreed enthusiastically. “It’s like something out of a storybook. I wonder how much they paid their landscape designer.”
“Really, that’s your first question?” Rich chuckled. I pouted at him.
“I really like the aesthetic, okay?” I defended. “We don’t see a lot of organic design in the city.”
“Yeah, yeah, modernism is the death of design, you’ve said,” Rich rolled his eyes. I slapped his leg, struggling not to laugh and break my exaggerated pout. Rich had no such compunction, and for the thousandth time, I felt my chest glow at the sound of his rowdy laughter. I was in so deep.
I was broken out of my thoughts, though, when Rich turned into a driveway—the driveway of the house whose garden I was just drooling over. I yelped.
“Rich, what are you doing?!” I asked, laughing. “It’s 7:30, I don’t need to know their gardener that bad.” Rich just smiled at me, throwing the car into park.
“Nice try, bunny, but this is our destination,” he teased. I blinked at him.
“This?”
“This,” he grinned, self-satisfied. I had to admit the pride was earned. How did he even find this? It looked just like a cottage out of a picture book. It was just… beautiful.
The walk up to the front door was lit, beckoning us in like they were waiting for us, and as we got closer, a well-dressed hostess opened the door from the inside. I couldn’t stop smiling as she led us back to where a beautiful, intimate dining room was set up, with low-lit candles and vases of bouquets from the garden placed artfully around. The entire back wall was an enormous window, giving me the perfect view of the water feature just outside.
What surprised me, though, was that there was only one table. Not because the room felt empty—as I said, it was an intimate room—but because I felt like surely somewhere like this would be incredibly popular with the elite. Then again, rich people loved exclusive things, and if only one table got served at a time, then the demand was probably quite high.
“It’s a set menu,” Rich said, pushing my chair in for me as I gawked at the room. The shining wood floors, the natural stone accent wall, the high ceilings—they’d even placed sheer drapery around the rafters, letting it hang down in some places. It was beyond gorgeous. “There were a few options, but I ordered you the veal. Is that alright?”
“That’s perfect,” I breathed, beaming. I loved veal, and I saved it for nice occasions just so I could keep it special. I didn’t even remember telling Rich that, but clearly, he did. How did I get such an attentive man?
We were served a pear gorgonzola salad, then our entrees—veal for me, chicken for Richard—and a small side of pasta paired with the wine they recommended for our dishes. We were given fresh strawberries to munch on as we talked and let our food run down, and then a decadent-looking chocolate caramel cake was set down in front of us. I was so full by the end but so happy I felt like I might be floating.
Then Richard stood gracefully from his chair and went to his knee beside me, and my heart stopped.
“Lauren,” he said, eyes sparkling in the candlelight and looking so, so hopeful, “I know it hasn’t been very long, but it didn’t take long to fall in love with you in the first place. There was this—this pull; the second I saw you chasing me down in the parking lot, I knew I wanted you to chase me everywhere, forever. But that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me to ask of you, so instead, Lauren Kylin, will you do me the honor of letting me chase you for the rest of my life? Will you marry me?”
I was choking on my tears long before he was finished, totally disbelieving this was happening but not doubting him at all. I had the wherewithal to want to screech out a ‘YES!’ by the middle of the second sentence, but I was so overwhelmed my voice wouldn’t cooperate with me; good thing, too, or he would have never finished his beautiful speech.
