AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She grinned at his reflection. ‘Sounds like a win-win to me, either way. For everyone concerned.’
He came back to her, one hand hidden behind his back. ‘It will be, if everything goes according to plan tonight.’
‘There’s a plan?’
He nodded. ‘The dinner was just the start.’
‘And the shower sex?’ she asked, teasing him a little more.
‘That was a spontaneous addition to the plan,’ he said, but then the cocky grin sobered. ‘I have something for you. An early Christmas present that I want you to open now.’
So saying, he produced a black velvet jeweller’s box—a ring-sized box—from behind his back.
Her heart stopped beating. Then slammed into her ribs as all the breath squeezed out of her lungs in one gigantic rush.
‘Oh!’ was all she could manage round the huge boulder lodged in her throat.
She took the box out of the palm of his hand, her fingers trembling uncontrollably. As big dewy tears slipped over her lids.
‘Hey.’ He captured one on his knuckle, tipped her face up to his. ‘Don’t cry. You don’t have to say yes right away. I just didn’t want to give it to you tomorrow in front of everyone, in case …’ His shoulder hitched uncomfortably and the tiny flash of vulnerability that still lurked in his eyes even after all these years had her heart swelling to impossible proportions.
I love you so much, Luke Best. You’re the very best thing that has ever happened to me.
The words formed in her head, but she couldn’t say them, her throat was too thick with happy tears.
‘You know, in case,’ he continued, ‘I put undue pressure on you.’
The dam broke, the happy tears cascading down her cheeks as she leaped up and threw her arms round his neck, the ring box still clasped in her fist. ‘Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. You silly bugger.’ She stepped back to cradle his beautiful face in one shaking palm. ‘As if I was ever going to say no.’
He laughed, the relief on his face almost as pronounced as the bright sheen of adoration in his eyes. ‘Perhaps you should check the ring first, before you make a final decision.’
‘Don’t be daft. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, even if there’s a ring pull in here,’ she said as she opened the box.
Inside was a delicate platinum ring with a scattering of tiny garnets surrounding a diamond. She wept some more as he placed it carefully on her finger.
‘I figured it would match your eyes,’ he said.
‘Oh, Luke.’ She admired the ring; it was absolutely exquisite. But really she would have been perfectly ecstatic with a ring pull. ‘This is the best Christmas present ever.’ She peered up at him. ‘I have a confession to make.’
He dragged her closer. ‘Yeah?’ He nuzzled her earlobe, sending shivers of sensation down her neck.
‘I was going to ask you, too, tomorrow,’ she said. ‘But in front of everyone, so you would have absolutely no opportunity to say no.’
‘You are such a ball-buster.’ He chuckled. ‘That must be why I love you to fucking bits.’
She thrust her fingers into his hair, loving the silky feel of it, as she drew his face down to hers for a long-overdue kiss. ‘I’m so happy, I feel like a teenager again,’ she whispered against his lips.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘Except this is better. Because we’re both indestructible now.’
And then he set about proving it, for the rest of the night.
