Page 77 of Come A Little Closer

“Crap,” I muttered, pretending to get a bit stressed about it. “I wonder what the hell is going on now.”

“Maybe I broke something when I turned it back on earlier?” she said softly, but I could hear the genuine fear creeping back into her voice. “We really need to put some emergency lights in this house. It’s way too dark.”

I gripped her hips. “I’m right here, baby, but you’re right. We probably do need emergency lights, and maybe some security. If you didn’t do this and I didn’t do it…”

I trailed off for effect, and for once, I had a feeling Tallulah was pretty scared. I was still wondering if maybe I’d gone too far when Jake and Sayra jumped out of the shadows.

“Booo!” Jake hollered.

“Congratulations!” Sayra yelled.

Tallulah’s answering scream could probably have been heard from space and she stiffened on top of me until the lights popped right back on again. Dissolving into laughter, she smacked my shoulder and shook her head at me. Still pale, she hopped up to hug her friend.

“How long have you guys been here?”

Sayra chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Tallulah’s shoulders. “From somewhere around the time that you guys were making out like crazy. Seriously, though. Congratulations. I’ve never met two people as insane or insanely perfect for each other. He planned this whole thing around how much he could get your adrenaline pumping.”

“He certainly got that part right,” she said, laughing. She pulled away and gave Jake a quick hug too. “Thanks for scaring me half to death. It was awesome.”

He chuckled. “You’re welcome, but we’re taking off now. We’ve done our part. Congrats and have fun.”

Jake nodded at me, then grabbed Sayra’s hand and dragged her to the door, ignoring her protests that they could at least stay for one glass of champagne. Just before the door shut behind them, I heard him promising to buy her champagne someplace else, but then the door slammed and we were alone again.

Tallulah practically bounced back toward me, offering her hand to help me up as she grinned. “You really outdid yourself tonight, babe. Payback is going to be a bitch, though. I’m going to make you pee yourself.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I said as I stood, sliding my fingers through hers and leading her toward the kitchen. “Can we call a truce for tonight? I’ve got champagne and some plans for guzzling it off your naked body.”

She giggled, nodding. As we passed the dining room, her palms flew up to cover her mouth once more and her eyes went wide as she glanced at me. “When did you do this? I could’ve sworn I checked in here when I was looking for you.”

I pumped my eyebrows at her. “I had everything ready, so I started setting it all up while you were upstairs. Then Jake and Sayra finished it off and lit the candles for us.”

She drifted into the room like she couldn’t help herself, and I grinned. We’d set up her dining room for a gothic-style picnic, with a black tablecloth and white and red rose petals strewn around the table and the floor. Elaborate silver candlesticks were dotted around the room, thick, cream-colored candles adorning each of them.

A bottle of champagne chilled in an ice bucket next to the table and a few platters of snacks took up the space on the actual tabletop. My favorite part of it, however, was the thick black blanket I’d laid out on the floor, covering it with gray, red, and white decorative cushions so that it looked like a little nest just for us.

As Tallulah gaped and finally sank down on the blanket, I poured us each a flute of champagne and then joined her, wrapping my free arm around her waist and pulling her closer until she was practically on my lap again. “I know I’ve already aired out most of my feelings, but you should know that I don’t plan on stopping. At least not tonight. I have so many hopes for our future, like taking our kids trick or treating on Halloween and doing up the house like a European castle for Christmas. I just can’t actually believe I’ve been thinking about any of that stuff or that I’m sharing it with you.”

She giggled and clinked her glass against mine. “I can’t wait to hear about it, but what I can’t believe right now is that you did all this for me. It’s incredible, Niall. Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” I replied softly, leaning in to kiss her knowing that this time, no one was going to jump out of the shadows and make us stop.

37

TALLULAH

My head was spinning with everything that had happened tonight, but the weight of the ring on my finger and the sensation of Niall’s lips against mine kept me anchored. All my life, I’d been mocked and ridiculed even by my very own parents for liking the things I did.

They’d made me feel like there was something wrong with me. Like I was touched in the head for wanting to pursue the fine arts, like being creative and eccentric was some kind of crime. For the first time in my life, I felt so completely accepted and so seen that it was making me all teary and emotional.

Especially because Niall accepted me so completely that he even wanted to marry me. To be with me for me, and then he’d gone through so much effort to make this night absolutely perfect and one that I’d never forget. I still couldn’t believe that anyone would do so much for me, but it was definitely going to take me some time to believe that Niall was mine.

He loved me so much, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and it was the best feeling ever. I kissed him back hard, just as passionately as he was kissing me. More tears streamed down my face as I set the champagne down.

My entire body felt hot with all the adrenaline still coursing through it, the love, and disbelief, and surprise, and shock making for an intoxicating combination. Right now, I couldn’t imagine ever not kissing him again.

Food, drink, sleep, and work be damned. All I wanted to do for the rest of my life was be with this man.

I moaned into his mouth, pushing my fingers into his hair and holding him to me, wishing that I could find the words to express how much he meant to me. I also knew that I didn’t need to come up with them tonight. We would have a lifetime together for me to let him know that I felt exactly the same way he did and that I couldn’t wait for our future together either.