Maybe if I look good, I can fool myself into feeling good?Apparently the answer to that is no.
As we walk out of the elevator, my stomach is doing flips. I go to turn left to walk outside, to the restaurant, but Liam tugs my arm and leads me into the hotel bar.
“I thought we could have a drink first,” he suggests, nodding to a table at the front.
“Great idea,” I say, panicking. I can’t drink. “You sit down, and I’ll order.”
He laughs. “No way. You sit down—”
“Is that my mother?”
I cut Liam off and stare right past him, down to the back of the bar. There’s a dance floor, and right in the middle of that is my mother, doing the dance from Pulp Fiction, complete with eye action. A group of random people surround her, cheering her on. When she gets down onto the floor to do a back spin. I turn around. I can’t watch anymore.
Yep. I’m done.
“I’m pretty sure she’s the only almost seventy-year-old woman in the world who thinks she can channel Uma,” I mutter.
I stalk down there, my anger rising with every step. They followed me here? Why would they do that? What the fuck is she thinking? I’m so annoyed. Shit is about to hit the fan.
I grab her by the hand and yank it.
“Hey—Becca,” she says enthusiastically.
“What are you doing here?” I growl.
“Liam invited us.”
Her eyes dart behind me. Liam? I spin around, my hands clenched into tight fists ready to take out all my pent-up anger on him. I’m so angry at him right now that I could punch him in the…
Holy crap.
I stare at Liam as he bows down onto one knee and stares up at me.
“This is much harder than I was expecting it to be,” he mutters. “I had this all planned out, but now I’ve forgotten everything I wrote down.”
“Fail him, Becca. He obviously hasn’t studied hard enough,” a voice calls out.
Laughter ripples through the crowd. I turn in surprise, recognizing faces everywhere. These people aren’t strangers. They’re our family and friends. I smile at Luke and Laura; Annie is there too, along with Matt. Even Amy made the trip over. I’m stunned. I put my hands to my face as the tears start to roll down my cheeks. He hasn’t even asked me yet and I’m losing it.
I turn back to Liam and gasp. Still on bended knee, he clutches Grammy’s engagement ring in his hands. He looks terrified. I smile at him.
“Becca. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe who you are, or what you mean to me. You’re the most selfless, caring, loving woman I’ve ever met. The moment I saw you, I thought to myself, ‘she’s the only one I ever want beneath these strong, masculine, pussy-saving hands.’”
He pauses, just to allow me to laugh at that.
“The fact that you chose me still stuns me. I wake up every day and pinch myself, because I have to be dreaming. So what I want to ask you is, Becca Chambers, will you marry me?”
I let him take my hand and slide the ring onto my finger. Tears roll down my cheeks as I stare at the stunning row of sparkling diamonds.
“You take care of that.”
I turn around to face Grammy. Her voice is hard, like usual, but I’ve never seen tears in her eyes. Until today. I step forward and hug her.
“Are you sure, Grammy? I know how much it means to you—”
“If you knew that, you’d know how much I want it on your finger. So get back over there and let my grandson finish his damn proposal.”
Laughing, I step back over to Liam. He stands up and tilts my chin so I’m staring into his eyes.
“Well?” he prompts.
I have to tell him.
I can’t say yes until he knows.
I take a deep breath. “Liam—”
Oh God.
I lurch forward, hurling my guts up all over his shoes and neatly pressed pants.
My eyes are wide as they meet his.
Oh God, no.
Let that have been a terrible nightmare that I will wake up from any moment. A hushed whisper moves through the crowd, but my eyes stay glued to Liam’s. His mouth twitches. He’s trying so hard not to laugh, until he loses control.
“Are you okay?” he asks, still chuckling.
“Am I…?” I shake my head, my pregnant, emotional mind not coping with this. “I just threw up on you, mid proposal. I should be asking if you’re okay.” My eyes sting, but I blink the tears back.
“I’m great.” He shrugs and takes my hand, gently stroking it in his. “I just figured that was the baby giving its approval,” he murmurs.
“You know?” I say, shocked.
“You just told me.” He reaches up and touches my cheek. “I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t sure until now.”
“I should have told you earlier,” I whisper.