Oh my God. I'll freak out later, but Alexis Bodega is here at whatever this is, yelling “Surprise!” at me.
There's also Johnny Prater, A.J. Winters, and Troy Bodine, along with all the people I always loved working with here at this very bar and grille.
It's people I know and people I really don't know but am likely to know pretty well in the future.
And that's when Archer turns toward me. He looks nervous, and it just endears him to me even more.
“I've never been one for big displays or having the attention on me, but I want everyone in this room and in the world to know how much I love you, Millie Monroe. It’s been a complete whirlwind, but even though we’ve only known each other two months, it feels like forever. When you know, you know. And with you? I know. You are everything I want out of life. From Paradise to Vegas to Chicago, we are certainly getting our miles in. And there's nothing I want more than to keep traveling these miles with you as we create our own content for our life together.”
He drops down onto his knee, and tears fill my eyes. He pulls a ring out of his pocket and holds it up. It glitters in the dim light in here.
“Will you marry me?” he asks.
I gasp as my hands fly to my mouth to cover it as emotion plows into me. Of all the things I thought might happen today, this is not one of them, and I could not imagine a greater surprise or a more beautiful gift.
“Yes,” I say, my voice soft and just for him, though everyone in the room hears it and cheers with excitement.
He rises to a stand and pulls me into his arms, his mouth colliding with mine. And then it's a whirlwind of excitement as everyone in the group gathered here descends seemingly at the same time.
I hug my mom first.
“Congratulations, my darling girl,” she says. “We can tell just from him calling us to be here and all he’s done for you that he is such a wonderful young man, and we could not be more excited to welcome him into our family.”
I'm definitely going to cry, and I barely get the thought out as the waterworks start. My dad hugs me next and says something similar about what a great guy he is, and I can only imagine how this all came to happen—how my parents are here, and Chip and Jackie, and how he knew this was where I worked and made all of this happen.
It seems like we're apart for an hour as we greet the guests, give hugs, and thank them for being here to celebrate with us. Eventually, we wind up back together.
“Welcome to your surprise engagement party,” he says, his eyes twinkling.
“How did you pull all this off?” I ask in wonder.
“Oh, I have my ways,” he says, and I just shake my head as I realize all these things that come at me out of left field are going to keep hitting me for the rest of my life.
And then I hear the angelic voice of my favorite singer as Alexis Bodega takes the microphone. “Congratulations, Millie and Archer. Archer asked me to perform a song, and I’m singing ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’ today with a big happy engagement wish for you both.” She breaks into song, and Archer pulls me into his arms as we start to dance. The other couples here join us, and I think it just may be the most romantic, sweetest, most amazing moment of my life.
As we dance, I think about his words and how far he’s come to meet me in the middle.
He hated that I wanted to make viral content, and now he’s telling me that he wants to create the content of our own lives together.
And I’m giving up a lot to meet him in the middle, too. I’m starting over in a new town, with a new career, while I can continue to blog on the side. It can be my hobby again, something I just do for fun instead of trying to find ways to make it my sole income.
Our lives changed forever the moment I couldn’t find my own seat at that restaurant one fateful night in the Bahamas. From sunrise yoga to aquarium dates, from pleasure baskets to massages, it’s been one adventure after another with him.
And now we’ll embark on the greatest adventure of all: our happily ever after.
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Up next in the Bradley Legacy is Liam Bradley! When he runs into a familiar face one night, he never could have expected what would come next…
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What’s next for Archer and Millie? Find out in the bonus epilogue! Click here to download.
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Flip the page to read the first chapter in BACKUP PLAN, the sixth book in THE BRADLEY LEGACY series from Lisa Suzanne.
BACKUP PLAN
