I looked at him, knowing in my heart that he was right. "I love you, Kyle." Saying it felt so good. "That's what matters to me now."
He grinned. "I love you too, babe. Everything else will be okay. Trust me."
Kyle
Trust me. Of all the bright ideas I'd had, maybe that had been the worst one yet.
I read the latest text message on my phone and groaned inwardly, then I looked over at Lowell. I loved watching her sleep. I loved it as much as I loved watching the 49ers, and that was saying something.
I turned back to the message. Lowell was gonna freak, and it was all my fault.
I shouldn't have come out here. It was selfish. But I shoved that idea from my head. It was probably true, but it was also true that Lowell and I loved each other. We'd agreed that our relationship was more important than everything else.
I really hoped she still felt that way once she'd had a chance to think about it some more. And once I told her what was coming. I sighed and gently nudged her awake.
She opened one eye and squinted at me adorably, a huge smile spreading over her face. "Well, hello, fiancé."
My heart leapt. Then I remembered the text, and my stomach dropped.
"Hello fiancée, yourself." I swallowed hard. "There've been some… uh, developments while you slept."
She sat up and opened both eyes. "What?"
I held up my phone. "Katie from XYZ texted me. She said she had some new information and wanted to verify it before she went to press."
"Since when does she ever verify anything?" Lowell asked skeptically.
"Exactly. Never. So this has gotta be a big deal."
"It can't be good."
"Nope, it definitely can't be good." I rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes.
Just then, Lowell's phone rang. She looked at it suspiciously before picking up. "Hello, Tor." She held the phone away from her ear as Tori screamed a few things. When she'd subsided, a grinning Lowell brought the phone back to her face. "I know, right? He totally surprised me! And yes, it's a real engagement. To be followed by a real wedding. When we're ready." She listened to Tori babble. "No, you can't start planning. No, we're not ready to book a venue. We just got engaged two hours ago!" Her brow wrinkled as she listened to her friend. "Listen, if you want to live to be my maid of honor, you'd better relax."
I heard more squealing through the phone, and I decided it was a good time to grab a snack. I was searching through the refrigerator for the organic peanut butter, when I heard a knock at the door. Uh oh. Lowell was still in the bedroom, so I went to the door and looked through the side glass panel. It was Katie from XYZ, looking smugger than usual, and who I assumed was her assistant.
I cracked the door open and peered through. "I got your text about two seconds ago. Do you mind giving my fiancée and me a minute to talk it through?"
She looked at her watch. "You have about one minute." She was antsy, tapping her foot and fidgeting. "I need to publish this before anyone else does."
"Stay right there," I said, not trusting her enough to leave her alone for more than a second.
I ran back to Lo and stuck my head through the bedroom door. Lowell was on her back, chatting and smiling like a normal newly engaged person. Which she was not.
"Hey," I said, interrupting her, "Barracuda Lady's at the front door. She doesn't seem like she has a lot of patience."
Lowell rolled her eyes and hung up with Tori, promising to call her later for more dissection of the happy news. "She didn't give us much time."
"She's antsy, tapping her foot on your front step."
"Great," Lo said, getting up. She looked down at herself in a rumpled T-shirt. Then she peered in the mirror at her hair, which was mussed and wild. "I totally look like I've been having sex all afternoon."
"That's because you have." I grinned, ridiculously proud.
She sighed and grabbed some clothes. "Let her in while I take a quick shower. But don't let her past the living room! I don't trust her!"
"What do you want me to tell her?" I asked.