Falling in Love Again: A Valentine's Day Proposal

Mom t

akes my hand and smiles softly at me. “You don’t need to worry about that. You’ll be fine. You are in a great place, you and Carter, just focus on that. Just focus on how much you love him.”

I glance down at the black dress which clings tightly to my body. My red hair is a little longer now, and hangs down my face in curls. My makeup is also done the best it can ever be by my incredible friend Abbi, who right now is on the phone to her boyfriend, Randall, who she is still very happy with.

“Do I look okay? Do I look like I’m ready for this sort of a posh event?”

Mom beams. “You have never looked better. And I bet you win this award as well, proving that you are beautiful and smart. A kick ass strong business woman who needs to be recognized.”

I smile at her, loving her words. “Thank you, Mom. That means so much to me.”

“Did you speak to Carter? How is he getting on today?”

I check my phone but there are still no messages. “He’s in meetings. I don’t know if he’ll be out until we get there, but that’s fine. I know that he has his suit all ready, anyway. He’s prepared for tonight.”

He looks hot as hell in it too. When he tried it on for me last night, I couldn’t help jumping his bones. I nearly tore it from his body… if he didn’t have to wear it today, it might have no buttons left. Not that Mom needs to know that part! I’m sure that she can see the chemistry between us anyway, without me explaining it.

“Right, guys!” Abbi re-enters the room with the biggest smile on her face. Randall always makes her like this even now. It’s so freaking adorable. I love it. And I love him a lot too. I finally met him four months ago and he was amazing. He really adores my best friend as well. He treats her really well. “It’s time for us to go.”

“I wish you were coming with me into the award ceremony.” I pout out my bottom lip. “It feels weird doing this without you. I’m still sorry that we were only given so many seats.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. You can tell me all about it later. I’m just excited for you. I know how hard you’ve worked and how much you deserve this. And that’s just because of the business part, not what you went through.”

I laugh at that one, remembering how strange it was going back in to the office after all of it. I felt like a different person, like I wasn’t quite sure where my place was in the office. And not just because of the drama that happened. But because of Carter and me as well. Everyone knew and that was weird.

But as it turned out, everyone was fine and very accepting. It was actually really good.

“Well, I really appreciate you giving me a ride. That means a lot to me. I needed to have a drink before to steady my nerves.” I breathe deep, trying to steady my anxiety. “I kinda hope that we don’t win the award because I haven’t had anywhere near enough Dutch courage to speak in front of people.”

“Don’t you worry about that. You just come with me. I will sort you out.”

Abbi slings her arm over my shoulder, and she guides me towards the door. We say goodbye to Mom, hugging her hard, before we head out. If it wasn’t for Abbi, I don’t know if I would be able to get into that car right now. I think my zig zagging nerves would get the better of me and I’d run away.

But she is here, and Carter is going to be there soon, so my support network is all around me.

It’s going to be fine, I try my hardest to convince myself. I will be good. I do deserve this; I work hard…

Cameras flash at us, snapping up our image. It isn’t full on, like you see in the movies, it’s just a bit of business press, but I feel a bit like a celebrity all the same. It’s kinda fun, if not terrifying.

“You look so beautiful,” Carter gasps to me, yet again. He seems to be so struck by the way that I look tonight he can’t stop saying it. It’s actually really sweet. “I’m so lucky to have you on my arm.”

I squeeze his arm tighter, smiling even wider. “I feel lucky to have you on my arm too!”

“I just hope that I get to drag you up on stage tonight. I hope we win the award.”

The cameras stop flashing. At us anyway. They focus on someone else which frees us to go inside. Relief washes over me, I enjoyed it for a moment, but I’m glad that it’s over now.

“It’s just an honor to be nominated, you know. You should be glad about that.”

“I am, I am,” he agrees with me. “But I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to win. After everything that we’ve been through, I just think that we deserve it, that’s all. We’ve worked our asses off, we’ve been through a lot, and we’re still here, standing strong. If that isn’t an award winning story, I don’t know what is.”

“It’s a sob story.” I roll my eyes. “And we don’t want to win on a sob story.”

Carter laughs and shakes his head. “Even now, after all the time, you don’t see yourself like I do.”

“No, I don’t know if I will ever see myself like you do.”

“That’s probably a good thing.” He kisses the top of my head. “Or your ego would be out of control.”