“I was going to wait until after dinner...” He grabbed both of my hands and my heart stopped. “But...”

Everything around me blurred and I took several deep breaths. “But what?”

“I want you to have this now. I think I’ve been very patient regarding this matter, so—”

“Yes.” I let his hands go. “I say yes...Can I open it?”

He smiled. “Sure.”

I took one last deep breath before opening the box, before pulling out the—

“Earrings?” I asked, trying to keep a smile on my face as I looked over the sparkling diamond pointe slippers.

“Yes.” He nodded, smiling. “You mentioned wanting some of those two weeks ago, so I figured with your news about the baby...”

I tuned the rest of his sentence out and stared at the jewelry.

“Do you not like them?” He tilted my chin up.

“Yes, but I...I thought...” There were tears welling in my eyes. “Yes...Yes, I like them very much, Andrew.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Why does it look like you’re about to cry?”

“I’m not...” I stood up. “Can you please excuse me for a minute?”

I didn’t wait for him to respond. I walked away and grabbed the elbow of a waiter, asking where the restroom was.

Rushing in that direction as quickly as I could, I checked all of the stalls before releasing a pent up, “Is he serious?!” cry. Then I let the rest of the tears fall down my face.

I should’ve known better...

I shook my head, knowing that I wasn’t going to be able to finish tonight’s dinner without showing my emotions. I immediately pulled out my phone and started to type a message for him, but he walked through the doors.

“This is the women’s restroom,” I said. “Get out. Now.”

“So you can send me an email?” He smirked.

“Yes. So I can send you an email.” I stepped back. “I’m almost finished with what I have to say, so if you could just—”

“Why are you crying, Aubrey?” He stepped toward me, making me step backward until I was pressed against the wall. “Was it something I said?”

“I’m about to have your baby, Andrew. We’re going to be parents...”

“I’m aware.” He glanced at my stomach and wiped tears from my eyes. “Although I’m pretty sure your hormones shouldn’t be affected this quickly if you’re only a few weeks pregnant.”

“Are you ever going to propose?” I couldn’t hold that question back anymore. “It’s been six years...”

“I don’t recall setting a time frame.”

“You said after I was settled with my career and...” I sighed as he wiped away another stream of tears. “I just want to know if it’s a yes or a no so I won’t get my hopes up again...If you don’t plan on ever marrying me because of your past, because you think I’ll hurt you like Ava did, or you just have no desire in ever committing to me for the long-term, I just need you to tell me right now so I can—”

I stopped talking once I felt him slipping a ring onto my finger.

“You only had to wait twenty more minutes.” He kissed my forehead, and I looked down at the ring—gasping once I held it in front of my face.

It was a massive princess cut design that featured small bits of blue sapphire around the platinum band. And along the setting that held the main jewel in place, a line of intertwined “As” glimmered beneath the light.

I looked at him in utter shock. “You were going to propose to me here?”

“No.” He kissed my lips. “On the roof.”

Silence.

“Were you going to get down on one knee?” Another tear fell past my cheeks.

He nodded.

“In front of other people?”

He nodded again.

“Can you still do that?”

“Why would I?”

“For memories sake.”

“You already said yes.”

“I know, but I can temporarily take the ring off so I can still hear whatever you were going to say.” I twisted it around my finger, but he stopped me.

“If you take the ring off, I’m going to assume that your answer is no...” He glared at me. “But since I know you’ll never let it go if I don’t actually say the words, I’ll say them for memories sake.” He grabbed my hand and led me out of the restroom and up a set of steps.

Opening the doors ahead of us, he pulled me through the outdoor section of the restaurant, where patrons sat underneath a white heated canopy. He walked me over to the ledge and placed his jacket over my shoulders before picking me up and setting me atop a cold stone.

Then he looked over his shoulder, at the diners who were now eyeing us suspiciously as he got down on one knee.

“Do you want the edited or the non-edited version?” He looked into my eyes.

“Non-edited...”

“Okay.” He took my right hand and held it in his. “Aubrey...The beginning of our relationship was a lie, a huge fucking lie, but for some odd reason, I couldn’t be happier that that was the case.”

He paused. “Over the past six years, we’ve dug our way to the truth, and as much as it hurt sometimes, I can honestly say that it was more than worth it.”

I blushed as the people behind him fell silent, as they strained to hear what he was saying.

“I wanted to propose to you several years ago, but I didn’t want to hold you back or distract you from focusing on your career, so I bought the ring and decided I would wait until you accomplished everything you wanted, until we could actually enjoy some time together.”

A woman stood up and put her hand over her heart, mouthing, “A..”

“And even though you get under my skin like no other, and you continue to push me out of my comfort zone...There’s no one I’d rather be with, and there’s nothing I would rather do than fuck your pussy for the rest of my life.”

There was a collective gasp, a chorus of “What did he just say?”

“So...” He circled his thumb around my ring. “Will you marry me?”

I nodded, feeling fresh tears fall down my face as he stood up and pulled me into his arms.

“Did you really have to say that last line?” I whispered as he claimed my mouth with his.

“Yes.” He trailed his tongue along my lips. “I want you to be well aware that ring or not, I’m still the same Andrew.”

“Or Liam...”

“No, Andrew.” He kissed me again, more passionately this time. “Liam fell in love with the wrong woman...“Andrew” didn’t...”

**The End**

BONUS SCENES

(Before you read this...Did you read the extended epilogue at the end of RD3? YES...It’s there...Go back and read that before this LOL)

When I began working on this series, I was terrified. I’d never written in the erotica genre before, and I was still learning about the romance genre as a whole. Gone were my days of reading Orwell, Didion, and Baldwin; they’d been replaced with the likes of awesome authors who specialized in steamy stories that sent shivers up and down my spine.