Authors: Terry Towers

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Women's Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Military, #New Adult & College, #Romantic Comedy, #One Hour (33-43 Pages), #Contemporary Fiction

Keeping It Secret (5 page)

BOOK: Keeping It Secret

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Glancing down at Nikki, he noticed tears threatening to escape and it broke his heart. She was crying over him leaving and over their spoiled weekend. He sighed and the thought of the ring entered his mind again. He pushed it back.

No, he had to be firm on this.

It wasn't until they reached the gate for him to board that Nikki finally broke the silence. "You were right, of course, we should have told them," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Grant stopped in his tracks and pulled her into his arms, stroking her silky dark hair. She slipped her arms under his jacket and around his waist, resting her head on his chest. "It's my fault the weekend was ruined. You were right. If we had told them..."

"It's okay." Grant planted a kiss on the top of her head, pulling her tighter to him.

She pulled away slightly to look up into his concerned grey eyes. "When you come home again, I want us to go and tell them. You were right. If we're serious about each other then we shouldn't be hiding it." A single tear slid down her cheek.

Frowning, Grant wiped the teardrop from her cheek. "Do you mean that?" He looked her straight in the eye, he needed to know. He thought about the ring, burning a hole in his jacket pocket. He didn't want to take it back to Washington with him, he wanted it on her finger, but only if he knew for sure.

Nikki nodded and sniffed. "I ruined our weekend. If…if I had just told them, then ma-maybe..."

He stopped her from finishing her sentence by placing a tender kiss on her lips; closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers. His heart was beating so rapidly in his chest he thought it might explode. He'd been tortured, shot, beaten up and a long list of other horrible things, but he'd never been as nervous as he was at this moment.

"Then I have something I need to ask you."

Nikki cocked her head to the side and frowned. "What's wrong?"

Grant grinned and touched her cheek with his palm, then shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart."

Looking around at the hundreds of people coming and going around them, he knew this wasn't the ideal place to propose. He wanted it to be more romantic - special. But at the same time, he knew he couldn't get on that plane without having asked her, and hopefully placing the diamond on her slender finger. When he came home again he wanted to know he'd be coming home to his fiancé, to be married.

Taking a step back from her, he reached into the left pocket of his jacket and pulled out the grey box he'd been carrying around for the past couple of days.

"Another gift?"
Nikki's eyes grew wide and a smile touched her lips.

Grant chuckled. "You could say that." He took her left hand in his, flipped it over and brought her palm to his lips, kissing it lightly.

Nikki closed her eyes and sighed.

"Nikki?"

****

Opening her eyes Nikki's brows furrowed when she saw he had gone down on one knee in front of her. "What are you
doing,
Grant?" She glanced nervously around and noticed that they were starting to draw a small crowd. "What's going on? I think we're drawing a crowd Grant." Considering he didn't like drawing attention this was a tad out of character for him.

Grant's sexy grin - the one that made her heart skip a beat each time she saw it - widened as he brought the little grey box up so it was directly in her line of vision.

Nikki gasped as it suddenly became clear why he was pressing to let their family know and why he'd been distant when she’d refused, not wanting to inform them. "Grant?" she managed to squeak out.

He flipped open the lid of the box to display a diamond solitaire. Nikki's mouth dropped open, and she snapped it shut again and simply stared at it.

"This wasn't exactly where I envisioned doing this..."

Looking from the ring and back into Grant’s eyes she saw a hint of nervousness.
Nervous?
Grant? In the lifetime that she'd known him, she'd never seen that emotion, from him. He was always so confident and sure of himself. It was bizarre to see him down on one knee and nervous of... her?

Looking around she noticed the small crowd had turned into a rather large one, circling around them. Couples were whispering among themselves as they watched and waited for Nikki's reaction to the proposal. She could feel the heat rising up her neck and to her cheeks and tears welling up in her eyes once again.

"I've spent my adult life on my own, doing and experiencing things that some people couldn't even imagine doing or seeing. I’ve had to sacrifice being near family and friends for the life I live, but never regretted it.
Until now.
You've changed me Nikki. You've made me see there is more to life than my job, because now I have you. And I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I think it's time for a different life,
with
you." He pulled the ring from the case and slipped it onto her trembling hand. "Will you marry me?"

A whirlwind of different thoughts and emotions whipped through her as she looked down at him. Was he leaving the CIA? Did he want a family now?
Oh-my-god.
Despite all the questions that rose up within her the one main thought and feeling was how much she loved him and whether he remained an agent or quit was irrelevant at this moment.

"I love you Grant," she whispered. She then became aware of her trembling hand, held securely in his and
a teardrop making its way down
her cheek. She wiped at it with her free hand and sniffed.

A slow, tentative smile spread across his lips. "And?" he prompted, visibly holding his breath.

"Of course I'll marry you."

Before she knew what was happening, he was on his feet again and pulling her fiercely into his arms. She was vaguely aware of the clapping and approving murmurs of the crowd around them. She closed her eyes and basked in the feeling of his warm, hard body pressed tightly against hers and the spicy smell of his cologne. Then his lips were on hers, kissing her with a passion that she'd never experienced from him before.

When he finally released her, he kept an arm securely around her waist. "I just have one condition," he said in a hushed voice so none of the people still gathered nearby could hear.

Still a little awestricken by what had transpired, Nikki nodded.

"When I come back, we're going back to Bar Harbor and telling everyone. No more secrets and no more sneaking around."

Partly laughing, partly crying Nikki shook her head. "No more secrets."

The End

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