“I’m not sweet. I’m a man with an obsession. You’ve gotten away from me twice before. And I never want to lose you again.”
She looks thoughtful. “I’ll make you a deal. Let’s take some time and let things settle. Then I want you to ask me again.”
“Deal. That gives me time to plan a more romantic proposal. If I want to lock this thing down, I guess I’m going to need that orchestra and the fireworks. And a diamond big enough to blind anyone who gets near you.”
She snuggles closer. “You know I don’t care about that. Although…”
“What?” I lean back to find her watching me closely.
“I just have to admit that you being wealthy isn’t entirely a bad thing. You should have never told me about your place in Milan, you know. I’ve always wanted to go there. You’ll never get rid of me now.”
“Good. I don’t want to.” I kiss the tip of her nose.
“Then can we go to Milan? And Tuscany, because it looks so pretty in the movies. Oh, and I definitely have to see Rome, too.”
Holding her close, I kiss her lips and then her neck. “Anything you want is yours, my love. All you have to do is ask.”
the answer
* * *
I’m still that guy.
No, really. I am. Being with Cassandra hasn’t changed me, not in the sense that people usually expect. I’m still living a charmed life. Trips around the world, fast cars and yes, even faster women.
Except now those women all know that my heart belongs to the woman by my side.
Casey accompanies me on most of my business trips now. She made the decision to take some time off while she finishes her degree. I know it made her uncomfortable to put so much trust in us, but being with me isn’t the kind of thing you can do halfway. She’s proven to me that she’s
in it all the way. We’re a team.
And I have no problem admitting that she’s the best part of the team.
She has elevated me. Refined me. Made me more myself than I’ve ever been. If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said I didn’t care what anyone thought of me.
But I did.
There’s an expectation that you have to obtain certain things to have a good life. But money, status and power aren’t the only things that matter and aren’t even the things that make us happy.
For me, it’s her.
Because thanks to her, I no longer feel the need to seek validation. Interesting, isn’t it? That the side effect of being so completely and perfectly loved would be confidence.
Not that I need any more of that, right?
Casey tells me I’m still arrogant. But I still can’t figure out why that’s a bad thing. Clearly I’m pretty damn amazing to convince the most beautiful girl in the world that I’m worthy of her. There are days I still wake up and wonder when she’ll finally discover that she can do better. Then she kisses me and nothing else matters.
That’s the secret I was looking for all along. I kept searching for the meaning of life, trying to understand what the point of it all was. But the answer is the simplest thing in the world.
The point isn’t to have the highest net worth. Or to be the most successful. Or to have the most stuff. No matter how many cars I buy or pieces of property I own, none of it matters.
That’s what my father was trying to tell me all those years ago. Finding the right person, the right puzzle piece, doesn’t change you. It just completes the picture. I don’t have to be perfect. I just need to be perfect for her. And the reward for figuring it out is getting to spend the rest of your life with someone who loves you exactly as you are.
That’s why I’m here.
Haven’t you figured it out yet? That’s why we’re all here.
Now you know.