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“You’re distracting me,” I say. My voice has changed as well, now with a hint of hoarseness in it.
“From what?” The question is lost on a sigh as my teeth rake down the tender skin of her throat.
“The reason I brought you here.”
Vienna’s hand has come up between us, and she’s fumbling blindly with the top button of my shirt.
It takes every ounce of restraint I have within me to cover her hand with my own and squeeze it gently, halting her movements.
Instead of responding immediately, I hold her small hand within mine and pull away from her in order to focus on it. “From this.” With my free hand, I reach over and fish around in the basket, revealing a small square box that had been hidden under the rose petals. I use my thumb to push the top of the box upward, revealing a solitaire diamond ring with a textured band.
Vienna is wide-eyed once again, her mouth slightly agape. She’s also not moving. If I only thought I could hear her heartbeat before, I’m sure of it now. “Cohen?” It’s almost inaudible and sounds more like a question than anything else.
I just give her a soft smile and continue, afraid I’ll lose my nerve and mess up what I’m about to say.
“Vienna Anderson, you and I have been through more as a couple in our teenage and adult years than some people ever endure in an entire lifetime. We lost each other, and we were lucky enough to find each other again, too. When you came back into my life, Vi, I found the other piece of myself that I hadn’t completely realized was missing. We’ve seen the good and the bad together, and we’re still here. Still us. You’ve done more for me than I can ever thank you for, but I want to spend the rest of my life trying to. You’ve tamed me, reined me in, and held me exactly where I need to be...where I want to be...with you.” I pause just long enough to set the box down and pluck the ring from it, holding it between my fingers of one hand while my other hand holds her hand within it. “Vienna Janine Anderson, will you be my wife?”
Vienna can barely get words out. She’s choking back tears and sobs and attempting to wipe away the tears as they fall onto the checkered blanket beneath us. Then suddenly, I realize she’s nodding, slowly at first, then more furiously when she realizes that the words she’s trying to utter are coming out as incoherent.
A light chuckle comes from my own throat; not because anything is particularly humorous, but because I’m honestly shocked, and perplexed, and relieved—Vienna Anderson has just agreed to marry me after I pulled off a truly romantic proposal...
Something I first promised her I would do almost half our lifetime ago.
CHAPTER TWO
Vienna
“This engagement has turned into a disaster. An overcrowded, fancy, over-the-top disaster.” I’m pacing back and forth, the rhythmic clicking of my heels making a consistent sound that is somehow soothing to my nerves.
“Not the engagement itself,” Cohen reminds me, straightening his tie. “Just the engagement party. I told you this would happen the moment my mother got her talons into the preparations.”
I roll my eyes. “I told you so isn’t helping me right now.” It’s only been a mere two weeks since Cohen placed the gorgeous diamond ring on my finger, but his mother has somehow managed to pull off a grossly exaggerated version of the little engagement celebration that admittedly would’ve taken me ages to plan.
He offers me a rigid grin, stepping closer to pull me against him. “Hey, easy, all right? I didn’t mean anything by it other than the truth—Mom has blown this whole thing out of proportion.”
“She took a thirty-person guest list and managed to invite the entire dang town.”
I’m whining, and I know it. But damn it, Cohen’s right; his mother did blow this whole thing out of proportion—epic proportion. I’m not exaggerating when I say the whole town was invited. Hell, we had to rent the community hall instead of just having a backyard barbeque at Cohen’s house like we’d initially planned. “I’m sorry, but I don’t even feel like this party is ours anymore, if that makes sense.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” he says soothingly, tugging me closer. I can feel his fingertips tracing small circles on the small of my back, and I sigh from the alleviating effects of his touch. “This is bigger than I expected, too, but there isn’t much we can do, Vi.” His hand comes up to caress the edge of my cheekbone. “We need to make the best of it. So, I’ll make you a deal.”
The corner of my mouth quirks upward. “I usually like making deals with you.”
“You’ll like this one.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Make it through the next four hours of mingling amongst the entire population of Garrison and half the residents of Prendiville—who are here just as much for the free food as they are to congratulate us on our engagement, by the way—and I will promise you...tonight, we’ll have a little party of our own. Guest list: Just you and I.”
I grin against his lips as Cohen kisses me, sealing the promise as though it’s somehow now the gospel truth. “Just you and I, huh?” I nip tenderly at his bottom lip. “I think I’ll like this kind of party.”
“I guaran-fucking-tee you will.” His mouth leaves a trail of kisses down the side of my jaw.
“So cocky.”
“So sure.”
His kisses have turned from light and suggestive to hungry and demanding. His hands make their way to my hips, and he’s running his fingertips up and down the curve of my side. This dress isn’t low-cut or overly revealing, but the fitted bodice and above-knee length of the skirt hug my body in all the right places.
