AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My agent said the list was long, but there are a lot more people here than I expected,” I said.
Landon stepped closer and put his mouth to my ear. “I’m so proud of you.”
I smiled and pulled away so I could see his eyes. Even after all these months, the warmth of his voice still managed to send a delicious chill down my spine. Our connection was about more than sex now, but the raw physical attraction I felt for him hadn’t faded. “I never would have done any of this without you.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.” His smile broadened. “You were always going to write the book. It was in your heart.”
“You’re the one who believed in me, and who pushed me all those nights when I was struggling with my manuscript.”
“And I was happy to do it. It certainly paid off, Madam Bestseller.”
I gave my head a deprecating shake. Landon was a huge catalyst for the book’s success, and I wanted to make sure he knew that. He’d pushed me to pitch the book to publishers a year earlier, saying my newsletters had all the content needed to make a great anthology book of essays on businesses and personal successes. And on the nights when I doubted myself during the long revision process, Landon had been the one to encourage me to push through and keep going.
“I’m still shocked it debuted at number one on the nonfiction list for theTimes,” I said.
“You earned that too.”
“Poetic, I guess.” I shrugged. “My career hit a dead end at theTimes, and then was revived. Seems fitting in a way. Especially after...”
“After what Robert did to us,” Landon finished in a low voice, and I head a raw edge to his words. The criminal and civil part of that mess was ongoing, and I knew the slowness of that process bothered him. “But I don’t want to talk about or think about him tonight.”
“Me neither.” I gave him a reassuring smile. “Cheers.”
He lifted his glass and polished off the rest of his champagne. When he placed the empty glass on a nearby high-top table covered in black cloth, his expression changed. I couldn’t place exactly what it was—more serious and stonier. He glanced around the crowd, and when his gaze returned to me, he let a smile cross his face again, as if he wanted to reassure me.
“Okay, now for the best part,” he said.
I motioned at our guests. “This isn’t it?”
He shook his head and shoved a hand into the pocket of his trousers. “Nope. The best part is this...the thing I’ve wanted to do for weeks.”
“What’s that?”
“This.”
He took out a small black velvet box and opened it. Inside lay a large sparkling square-cut pink diamond ring framed in tiny square diamonds. It was a ring made for a princess, the kind belonging in a Hollywood film.
And here was Landon, offering it to me.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight as my heart rate quickened and blood rushed in my ears.Oh my God.This was a moment I’d barely allowed myself to dream of as I built my career and forged my way after college.
“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he began. A crowd of partygoers began to drift our way as if they could sense something big was happening, and a few offered exclamations of joy once they saw the ring. “I’ve told you that many times.”
“Over the last year, you’ve challenged me in ways I never expected.”
“Like with Chatter,” I said with a laugh.
“Yes, thanks to your suggestions, there are far fewer trolls there.”
His eyes danced with amusement too, and I made a mental note of that—how much I enjoyed the way we seemed to fit together, challenging each other, but still making sure the other achieved the goals we wanted. That night’s event was a perfect example.
“And you’ve shown me what true happiness is. You took a risk to be with me, and I know it. I can’t imagine going forward without you in my life, Rebecca, without you as my wife. You’re everything to me, and I want to make sure we’re always together. Will you marry me?”
There was only one way I would have ever replied.
“Yes,” I said with a grin. “One hundred percent yes. I can’t wait to start this journey together, can’t wait to be your wife.” I moved closer to him, and he slipped the ring on my finger. “A thousand times, yes.”
We kissed, and the crowd around us faded away. We were transported to our own planet, as if nothing mattered but the two of us together. We were one at that moment.
And I realized, I was happier than I’d ever been. How amazing. Our love life might have started off the record, but I was damn glad it was on the record now.
What a way to end an assignment.
