He clears his throat, as though he’s going to burst with emotion. But he’s not like me. He doesn’t let his tears flow freely down his cheeks. Instead, he pushes them away, his eyes glassy as he stares up at me.
Reaching into his suit jacket pocket, he takes out a small dark blue ring box. When he opens it, I freaking swear the lights get brighter for a second, glinting off the diamond. It’s a chunky elegant rock, a combination that doesn’t always work but completely does in this case. The band is silver or white gold, catching the light beautifully.
“Will you marry me?” he says.
Someone gestures behind the camera. I turn when I see them in my peripheral vision. It’s Lisa giving me a thumbs up, a big smile on her face. So I was right about her arranging me to stand in that exact spot so that my man would be able to stare at me and the camera at the same time.
I quickly turn back to Kayden, a smile spreading across my face, even as tears stream down my cheeks.
“Yes,” I whisper.
And then I say it louder, singing it, cheering it, “Yes, yes, yes!”
“Yes?” he asks, voice shaky, as though he can’t let himself believe it straight away.
“Of course yes,” I yell happily. “I love you, Kayden. It could only ever be yes.”
He cheers as he takes the ring, slips it onto my finger, and then leaps to his feet, taking me in his arms. I collapse gratefully against him, our lips finding each other.
We kiss deeply before he breaks it off, our noses tickling each other as our eyes lock, and we sink deeper into the intimacy, reality drifting away as it becomes just us.
“I can’t believe you were nervous,” I whisper. “This is a dream come true.”
“I love you,” he says, just as quietly, in a voice only for me. “Are you sure you don’t mind that I did it on the show? I wanted the whole world to know who I’d picked, that you were the one for me… and to let any man out there know I’m staking my claim on you.”
“I love it. I love you. Come here.”
We kiss again, and then he breaks it off and lifts me up as though I weigh nothing. He holds me to his chest, cuddling me close as he holds me so tight I can feel his heartbeat drumming through his body. He carries me off the set and through the studio, as I loop my arms around his neck, closing my eyes and settling in.
He's never going to drop me.
He’s never going to let me go.
Epilogue
Weeks Later—Valentine’s Day
Kayden
“The numbers are going up, up, up.”
Jack is grinning as he paces in front of my desk, tossing a baseball from hand to hand. He’s been like a little kid in a candy store ever since I proposed to Kyra on the TV show, resulting in a massive boost to shareholder confidence, spurred by the bump I had to my PR image.
“Seriously, man, you couldn’t have done a better job,” he exclaims, clearly excited.
“You act like I was just thinking about the company.”
I chuckle as I rise from my chair, walking over to the floor to ceiling windows and looking down on the city. It’s a cold February afternoon, but my chest warms when I think about the Valentine’s surprise Kyra has arranged for me later.
She wouldn’t tell me what it was as she perched on my chest this morning, staring at me with those vivacious eyes of hers. Her cheeks flushed red from the sex, her hair gorgeously tousled. Even when I slid my hand down her leg and brought my fiancé to a post-sex orgasm, she still wouldn’t let it slip.
“You have to wait,” she said. “It’s a Valentine’s Day surprise.”
She’s got so much life lately, so much passion. Ever since she officially moved into my penthouse and started her preliminary reading and research for film school, it’s like her passion for life has exploded.
She’s always got this gorgeously determined look on her face, and her stubbornness about the Valentine’s secret is no different.
“Kayden?” Jack says now, walking up beside me.
“Sorry, man. I was miles away.”
“Thinking about the wedding?”
I smile, shaking my head.
We’re getting married in the spring. It’s going to be a grand affair.
Kyra and I both agree we’d get married no matter the circumstances, but I want to show the world how much she means to me.
Most of all, I want to show her how much she means to me.
“Just thinking about later. Kyra said she had a surprise.”
“It’s your first Valentine’s together,” Jack says.
I nod but don’t add the next bit.
Every day feels like Valentine’s with her.
It’s the truth too. Every day since I proposed – hell, since I told her how much she means to me – has been filled with as much brightness and love as any Valentine’s Day ever could.