was Nate, in full fatigues, on bended knee, holding out a box containing a gorgeous ring.
“My beautiful Danielle, please say that you’ll spend the rest of your life as my wife.”
The tears spilled over my lashes at the beauty of his proposal. It was everything I’d been waiting for. Nodding, since I was unable to speak, I threw myself into his arms, almost knocking him over in the process. He pulled back slightly so that he could press his lips to mine in one of the sweetest kisses we had ever shared. There were catcalls and cheering behind us, but it wasn’t enough to make me break the connection of our lips. It was only when it became a choice between ending the kiss or collapsing from lack of oxygen that I pulled away.
“You’ve made me the happiest man on the planet,” Nate whispered as he slipped the ring onto the third finger of my left hand. It was absolutely stunning. A single round stone surrounded by glittering diamonds set into the platinum band.
“Nate, it’s beautiful,” I said with complete awe in my voice.
Then I remembered the trick he’d played on me and smacked him in the arm.
“Ow, what was that for?” he laughed.
“That was for tricking me and making me think you weren’t coming tonight.”
Nate stood up and offered me his hand to help me to my feet. Before he let me turn around he bent down and whispered in my ear, “Yes, but admit it, it was more romantic that way.”
I had to smile at that. “You’re right, it was.”
When I turned to face our families, I saw the tears in our mothers’ eyes. Marissa looked like she was going to jump out of her skin, she was so excited. Nate’s arm wrapped around my waist.
“Thank you all so much for coming. I wanted to make this day special and I can’t wait to make this beautiful woman my wife.” He looked down at me. “I love you, Dani.”
“I love you too”
Apparently, Marissa couldn’t wait any longer because she started to screech and ran at me.
“Oh my God, honey, I’m so excited for you!” She pulled us both into her arms.
“Thanks, Marissa,” Nate said with a chuckle.
Hugs were passed around from all of our family and friends and in among the melee, I noticed that Colin had joined us. Our mothers oohed and ahhed at the ring, telling Nate what a wonderful job he did picking it out, while our fathers took turns shaking Nate’s hand. Liam gave me a bear hug, practically lifting me off the floor, when Colin came over.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Colin. So did you know he was hiding from me tonight?”
He smiled. “I did, that’s why I came in during his phone call to you. I didn’t want him to ruin the surprise.”
Stepping up on my toes, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you guys,” he said with a smile.
Once the excitement died down we were able to take out seats again. Marissa moved to the other end of the table, with Colin taking the seat across from her so that Nate could sit next to me. He linked his fingers through mine and held on until dinner arrived.
All through dinner the conversation never faltered. We talked about my new job and the types of cases I would be handling. The restaurant had brought out a bottle of champagne for us to toast and even though dinner was delicious, dessert was even better. Although, that was when the questions kicked off.
Everyone wanted to know when we were getting married and I felt like shouting, “For crying out, he’s only just asked me!” I hadn’t had enough time to absorb the idea, let alone think of specifics. The only thing I did know was that I’d been waiting for what seemed like forever to have Nate’s ring on my finger, and I didn’t want to wait too long to put a ring on his. So I told them not to worry, the wedding wouldn’t be that far away.
When dinner had finally ended, Nate and I said our goodbyes to our family and friends. It was a good thing that Marissa had picked me up earlier because I was able to