“Oh I know it, don’t you worry about that. I’m crazy foryou. Now open the presents.”
I give him a look. A patient one, maybe. A mildly exasperated one. I don’t know why. Maybe because I don’t know how to act when people give me presents. I’ve never had many. So I start with the biggest one. I untie the white ribbon and open the lid. “What is this?”
“Take it out.”
It’s jewelry. It’s a gold chain with a pendant. I lift it out of the box. “It’s a fleur-de-lis.” Made entirely of gold and diamonds. “Dallas.”
“Do you like it?”
“It’s …” For someone who’s hardly ever cried in my entire life, I find it strange that I can’t stop crying now. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Looking past, just for a moment, the fact that the necklace is made of shiny, real (I’m pretty sure) gold and a lot of fuckingdiamonds… almost more mind-blowing to me is that this gift is incredibly thoughtful.He gets me.The fleur-de-lis might as well be the symbol of my heart.
“Here.” He takes it and eases it over my head. The chain is long and the fleur-de-lis sits directly over—you guessed it—my heart, like the two of them are soulmates who are happy to have finally found each other. “Now I can do this.” Gently, he grips the chain, pulling me closer so he can kiss me.
“I’m never taking it off,” I whisper against his lips. For someone so big and hard all over, he has the softest lips.
“Open the next one.”
I’m getting into the groove of this now. I choose the middle-sized box. “This one?”
“Yes.”
I open it slowly. Inside is a black credit card with my name on it. “What …”
“I know you’ve been hurt, Amelie. I know you don’t fully trust me yet and I understand why. This is so you don’t have to worry about money anymore. Mine or yours. It’s in your name. I can’t touch it. I can never take it away or spend any of it.”
“W-what …” He’s given me a bank account?
“I could only transfer three million overnight but I’ll add more this week. The account is synced to your phone’s wallet app. So, money doesn’t have to be one of your worries anymore. I’ve got shitloads of the stuff. I need to offload some of it.”
“I don’t understand.” Of course Idounderstand, but it’s too much.Three million dollars?This can’t be real.
“Open the next one.”
My head is spinning.
Dallas puts the smallest of the three boxes into my hand. “This is the best one.”
I open it. Inside is the biggest, shiniest diamond ring I’ve ever seen in my life. “Dallas.”
“I know you’re not ready yet. But as soon as you are I’m going to ask you to marry me. Because I love you, Amelie Thibodeaux. You’re the one I want. Yes, it’s too fast. Yes, it’s crazy that we’re taking this at light speed. But I’msure. I fuckingloveyou. So once you’ve worked through all the stuff that holds you back, I’m going to fly you to Paris and I’m going to take you up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and get down on one knee and I’mgoing to ask you to be my wife and have my six babies and live happily ever after with me while we build a life together out of every single one of those wildest dreams.”
“Dallas.” It’s the only word I’m capable of saying, apparently. He’s blurry but he looks so damn beautiful it hurts my heart, which beats steadily against my diamond fleur-de-lis.
He takes the box with the ring in it from my hands and he closes it. Then he places it on the windowsill above the headboard of his gigantic bed. “We’ll leave it right here until you’re ready for it. I know that day isn’t today, but the ring isn’t going anywhere. It’ll sit right here until you say yes.”
36
And so wespend the week together.Or maybe it’s been two weeks, it’s hard to tell. I’m living so fully in the moment, enjoying each one more than the last, that I lose all track of time.
I’m falling deeply, deeply in love with him.Like Dallas said, with the force of a thousand suns. With the combined effects of his love and his lust, his beauty and hisbody, his gifts and his thorough and undivided attention, trying to slow it down would be like trying to swim against a tsunami. I’ve given up trying.
The clothes arrived and Dallas had the delivery people organize all of it into one of his walk-in closets (he has three and two of them are empty) that’s bigger than the entire Hotel Thibodeaux bar. Every time I go in there, I feel like I’m dreaming. And every time I come out, I think about what a gift it is, to become the best version of yourself because when you’re dressed for it, youcanbecome the best version of yourself. Itgives you wings. I’m still adjusting to their feathery, luxurious weight.
We’ve got a schedule now. We go out to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, that always give him the best table and none of them include prices on their menus. We’ve been to two different Broadway shows, Ragtime and Hamilton, which have honestly been two of the absolute highlights of my life. We saw a play about Abraham Lincoln’s wife that had me rapt the entire time, that people can evenbeso talented. We’ve been to two different art museums, the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art. At MoMA, which blew my head off, Dallas told me one of my paintings would be in here one day. When I told him to get real, he said we were adding that to our list of wildest dreams.
We had dinner with Colton and Lila and some of the rest of the Maddox family and they’ve become unlikely friends, especially Dusty, Ivy and Lila—and especially Lila. They said they all know what it feels like to be swept off your feet by … a maniac, is how Lila put it. We laughed and left the description at that.
Sadie and I have kept in touch every couple of days and things are going well for her but she’s still waiting to hear back about the auditions. We haven’t managed to catch up in person yet but we’re planning to soon.
