Propositioning Love

I don’t know how long he pushes me up against the door, ravaging my mouth, but by the time he pulls away, my eyes are glazed over and my head is spinning.

One hand dropping away from me, he reaches down and fumbles with something in his suit pocket.

It’s a little surprising to see him fumbling, given that almost every little movement his body carries out is done with confidence.

What has him shaken?

Pulling out a black velvet box, he suddenly drops to one knee.

“Bry, what are you doing?” I squeak as my heart starts to pound so hard I’m afraid it’s going to break a rib.

Flipping the box open, he holds up the biggest ring I’ve ever seen. Taking my hand in his, he gives me a gentle squeeze.

Then he looks up at me and asks, “Zoe Adams, will you make this miserable bastard the happiest man alive and marry me?”

Shocked speechless, I just stare down at him.

This can’t be real… this must be a dream… or some kind of prank…

Regardless of that hopeful expression on his face.

After everything that just went down, he wants to marry me? Me?

The seconds drag out as I try to process what I’m seeing. The longer I look at the ring, the more unreal the whole situation seems.

I didn’t even know they made diamonds that big… And when did he even have time to get it? While he was in Singapore?

Did he plan this all out before everything went down? When he still thought I was a whore?

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! The man just poured his heart out to you, Zoe! Say yes already!” Clara calls out through the door.

Uh, yeah, if Clara is eavesdropping in on this, it’s probably not a dream.

Squeezing Bry’s hand back and reaffirming that he is real, that this is indeed very real, I say tentatively at first, “Yes.”

Still in disbelief.

But once I get that first ‘yes’ past my lips, they just start pouring out of me. Each one louder than the last as my love for him bursts inside of me like fireworks.

“Yes, Bry. Yes, yes, yes!”

With a look of relief that quickly transforms into pure joy, he slips the ring onto my finger and then gets to his feet.

Sweeping me up into his arms, my feet leave the ground as he proceeds to kiss me until I nearly pass out from a lack of air.

At this moment, I don’t need air to live though.

All I need is Bry and his love for me.

Epilogue

Zoe

Three months later…

“Isn’t this exciting?” I smile at Bry for like the millionth time today.

His arm tightens around me, squeezing me closer as he chuckles indulgently. “It is, baby.”

The set for the SpinToLove.com premiere is nothing like I imagined it would be. It’s so much bigger, better, and grander than anything I mentally pictured.

The lights, the glitz, the glamor, just the enormity of it all is a little overwhelming.

There’s just something incredibly thrilling about seeing your ideas coming to life. Everything I’ve worked so hard on is finally coming to fruition.

And none of this would have been possible without the man standing beside me.

None of this would have been possible without his love and faith in me.

Once things settled down in the office after the whole Chad incident, I threw myself back into my work and had an epiphany. The answer to saving the company seemed so obvious I was a little worried at first that it was too obvious. But once I ran the idea by Bry, he was one hundred percent on board. In fact, I believe he called it fucking brilliant.

It’s taken a couple months, a whole lot of money, and Bry’s connections, but SpinToLove.com is now back in the black. We’re pulling in bigger numbers than ever before with our newest marketing campaign.

Turns out there’s millions of people out there that are eager and willing to be on television for a chance at love.

Who knew?

Bry’s phone rings and he pulls away just enough to retrieve it out of his pocket.

Lifting the phone to his ear, he answers expectantly, “Yes?”

He’s quiet and then a dark look crosses over his face. “Hold on a minute.”

Lowering the phone, he looks down to me and says, “Sorry, baby, this is important. I’ll need a couple of minutes.”

I nod my head in understanding. I get it. He usually doesn’t take business calls when we’re on personal time, but this is technically a work event.

He gives me another squeeze like he can’t bear to leave me then pulls away. Walking towards the other end of the set, he lifts the phone back to his ear and I hear him say, “Okay. Give me all the details.”

I watch Bry for a couple of minutes then find myself drifting towards the giant SpinToLove.com wheel that dominates the middle of the set. The thing is over a story tall and covered in thousands of multi-colored lights that blink in a programmed pattern.