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After an afternoon of touring London by bus, I phone Bruce and ask him to pick us up near Buckingham Palace. He arrives shortly after and drives us home.
When we reach our building, Bruce lets us out in front of the lobby, and we walk inside and take the private lift up to our floor.
Kennedy slides her arm around my waist and leans into me. “Thank you for today. It was perfect.”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her close. “It was my pleasure.” I lean down to kiss her. “And it was a perfect day. Not because we were sightseeing, but because we were together. While we’re here, I’d like to show you some of my properties.”
“Someof them?” she asks.
“Well, there are quite a few I inherited, but we don’t need to see them all. Most of them are occupied by family members, but there are a couple I’d like to show you.”
Kennedy shakes her head. “This is all a bit hard to take in. When I last saw you here in London, you were a carefree teenager focused on your weekend plans. Now, you’re one of the rich and famous.”
I laugh as I kiss her temple. “I’m hardly famous.”
“Just rich?”
I nod. “It’s not my fault, you know. You can’t hold it against me. My heritance was an accident of birth. And underneath it all, I’m still just the same bloke who fell in love with you when I was fetching and carrying for Will.”
The lift delivers us to the penthouse floor, and we walk through the door. Kennedy disappears into our bedroom to change into something a bit more comfortable.
I can’t imagine anything better than returning home after a long day with the woman I’m crazy about. Life really doesn’t get better than this.
On my way to the lounge I bump into Sarah.
She runs her hands down the white apron secured at her waist. “Dinner will be ready soon. A Full English, as you requested.”
“Wonderful,” I tell her. “Perhaps it’s a bit odd for dinner, but perfect just the same. And after dinner is served, you can take the rest of the evening off. We won’t be needing anything. I imagine we’ll be turning in early—still feeling a bit of jet lag, you know.”
Sarah bites back a grin. “Of course.” She’s never known me to entertain a lady in my flat before, so she must find this all very intriguing.
“I’d better change, too,” I say, and I give her a parting wink as I head to the bedroom.
After we eat dinner, I ask Sarah and Bruce to sit with us for a minute. We fill them in on our plans to split our time between England and America. “We’d love for you to join us in New York, if that’s something you’d like. You don’t have to, of course. You’re welcome to stay here while we’re away and manage things for us. But, if you’d like to come, we’d love to have you. Why don’t you two talk it over? You don’t have to answer immediately. Take some time to think it over.”
* * *
That evening, as we’re getting ready to retire early, I open the top drawer of my chest of drawers and remove a small ring box that I’ve been holding on to for years. My mother gave it to me when I first started dating Kennedy. I wasn’t able to give it to her then, but I can now.
As she’s sitting at the foot of the bed, I kneel before her and offer up the little black velvet box.
She eyes the box and then me. “Connor.” Her voice is hushed, almost reverent.
I hand it to her. “Open it.”
Kennedy’s hands shake as she pries open the lid and stares at the contents of the box.
“It was my mother’s engagement ring,” I explain. “Now it’s yours, if you’ll have me.”
Tears spring into Kennedy’s eyes as she stares at me. “If? What do you meanif?” She leans close and kisses me. “I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you.”
I take the ring box from her, remove the ring, and slip it onto her finger. It’s a little loose on her, but we can have it adjusted to fit. “Kennedy, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.”
She gazes down at her hand, at the slim gold ring with a perfect sapphire nestled in an oval setting surrounded by tiny diamonds. “It’s beautiful, Connor. I love it.” She kisses me once more, her lips trembling. “Thank you,” she whispers against my lips. “I hope we have a lifetime of happy memories ahead of us.”
I take her hand in mind and kiss her ring finger. “When I called my mother to tell her I was back in London, I gave her the good news. She’s invited us to dinner this weekend.” When Kennedy’s smile falters, I squeeze her hand. “Don’t worry. She’s going to welcome you with open arms, I promise.”
* * *
