Love Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (28 page)

"This." I kiss him with the toothpaste, smearing it all over his face.

"Yep, you're gonna pay for that." He turns on the tap and splashes water over me. I squeal and run into the shower, closing the door behind me so he can't splash me anymore from the sink.

"
Truce,
" I yell out.

He laughs and opens the shower door; he quickly reaches in and turns on the tap, the water flowing all over me.

"Ah, Aiden," I scream.

"Now it's a truce," he says wiping the toothpaste from his face.

I shake my head and threaten him with my toothbrush as he walks out of the en-suite. I figure I'm already wet so I might as well have a shower since I'm in here.

***

It's a beautiful warm day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Aiden has a surprise dinner for me tonight. Could a girl be any happier at this moment?

It's getting closer to the evening, and I look up at Aiden, who is still on the phone. He's been on that stupid thing all day. It must be business stuff that he missed out on while I was in hospital because he keeps going out on to the balcony to talk to people while I'm sitting here bored, watching the TV. He finally comes inside, but heads to the bedroom. "Urgh." I sigh. This was supposed to be a happy day not a boring one. He comes back out, all nicely dressed in a suit.

"Jeni, I'm so sorry. I have to take care of a few things, but I'll meet you at the restaurant. Mike knows where to take you. He'll be ready for you in about an hour. Can you be ready and meet him in the parking garage by then?"

I look at him with disdain, and I sigh.
You're kidding me right?

"'K," I say as he blows me a kiss and walks toward the elevator. I roll my eyes at him when he walks away.

"Love you."

"Uh-huh." I pretend to watch the TV.

What a complete jerk! He's been ignoring me all day yesterday and today, and now he wants to take me to dinner. But, no, wait,
Mike's
taking me to dinner. Aiden goes there on his own. What an ass! I'm only going because I'm hungry
.
I decide I'd better go and get ready, as I have only one hour to be down in the parking garage ready for Mike. I pick out a little black dress with the diamante bow black heels that Aiden bought me for the retirement ball. I walk into the en-suite and do my hair and makeup, my hair in its usual long curls, and I decide to go for the smoky-eye look. I look at myself in the mirror. I look good, compared to the last few days.

Finally I'm ready and head down to the parking garage where Mike is waiting with the same pink Cadillac he drove on our first date. I laugh when I see it and walk toward the car.

"Good evening, Miss Taylor. You look stunning," I take his hand and enter the Cadillac.

"Thanks, Mike, I can't believe Aiden got this car again. You must be happy about it too."

"Oh very, Miss Taylor." He closes my door.

At least he gets points for consistency.

"Where are we off to, Mike?"

"You know better than that, Miss Taylor. It's a surprise." I see him grinning in the rearview mirror. I sit back and enjoy the ride.

Chapter 20

We arrive at the botanical park where we had our first date. Mike drives up the long, winding road. I see cars filling the roadside as we make our way through the park. The sun is setting when Mike pulls up next to the cobblestone path, the same one I walked down on our first date. Mike helps me out of the car. I look down at the path and see red rose petals leading the way, and tiny tea-light candles light the path on either side.

"He's outdone himself," I say to Mike, who gestures down the path. I follow it nervously, steadying myself so I don't fall like last time. I put my hands out to touch the ferns on the side of the hill again. The smell of greenery is still encompassing as I hear the sounds of the waterfall up ahead.

My nerves start to get the better of me, I start to feel nauseous; those darn pesky butterflies attack again. I'm not sure why I'm nervous, whether it's the shoes making me unstable or whether it's the memory of our first date, our first touch, or our first kiss that's making me bashful.

I turn the corner to see him standing there with a bunch of red roses, in the suit that he changed into earlier, this time with a baby pink tie on. Behind him is that gorgeous waterfall cascading down the cliff with the lush greenery surrounding us. As I take a step closer, I hear music playing. "Thank You for Loving Me" by Bon Jovi. It's our song. I feel my eyes welling up as all the emotion and love I feel for this man is becoming too much to bear.

His smile is beaming from ear to ear when I approach. Finally I reach him. He holds out his hand for me to take. I take it, and he pulls me into a tight embrace.

"This is perfect," I whisper.

"Perfection for perfection, my love." He kisses my cheek, and places the bouquet of flowers on the railing. Any thoughts of how much of a jerk he's been for abandoning me the last two days for work is pushed out of my mind. I can't hold back the tears any longer, and they flow freely down my cheeks. He pulls back and he wipes my tears away with his thumb, caressing my face. Then, in one swift movement, he's down on one knee, holding my left hand in his. He gulps and I can see he is breathing quickly. I feel his hands shaking. I realize what's happening. My eyes widen, and my hand shoots up to my mouth in shock when he pulls out a tiny blue box from his jacket pocket.

He lets go of my hand, opens the box and inside is a gorgeous platinum ring; the centerpiece is a sparkling pink diamond with a circle of diamonds around it. The band is encrusted with white diamonds; it's so beautiful as it glistens in the setting sun. It's perfect; exactly what I'd imagined my engagement ring to be. He gulps a lump in his throat and prepares to talk while tears stream my face.

"Jenifer Taylor, from the moment we ran into each other
literally
..."

I can't help but laugh.

"... I knew there was something different, something astonishing and so profoundly beautiful in you that I hadn't seen before in anyone else. You amaze me every day with your brilliance, and I want to be amazed by you every day for the rest of my life. The past few days have shown me that I couldn't be in a world where you weren't with me. Seeing you in that hospital bed made me realize that I want you to be mine forever. Jenifer Taylor, will you do me the utmost privileged honor of becoming my wife?" His eyes, those beautiful blue eyes, well with tears when I stare deeply into them.

I'm holding my breath; I exhale and then inhale sharply, filling my lungs. He starts to look worried, and I realize I haven't said anything yet.

Before another thought fills my head, I scream out, "
Yes,
of course, I'll marry you." Butterflies dance in my stomach as I start to shake.

He briskly jumps to his feet and lifts me in a bear hug, swirling me around. We both laugh as tears stream down our faces. Suddenly, I hear applause erupting from behind me. He puts me down, and I look toward the path to where our friends and family are standing, all dressed up, clapping and cheering.

I see Sarah and Brielle holding hands, jumping around in a circle. Aiden takes hold of my hands and places my engagement ring on my left ring finger.

"C'mon, baby, we have our engagement party to go to."

I look at him, scratching my head. "Our engagement party?"

"Yes, our engagement party. That's what I've been doing the past two days, inviting everyone, and they're all here."

I stare at him, my brow crinkled. "Wait, everyone knew you were proposing tonight?" I finally reach the conclusion.

"Yes, everyone except you."

"But how did you know I'd say yes?"

He winks at me. "Because I know everything, Jenifer." He takes my hand and leads me back down the path.

"Moronic smartass man," I say as he chuckles at me.

I notice our family and friends walking back down the path away from us. I stare down at my engagement ring on my left hand.
Oh my god, I'm engaged.
But we haven't been together for very long
. I quickly remove that thought when Sarah comes running up to me.

"Oh my god, Jen pen, how awesome is this?" She gives me a giant bear hug. I laugh at her enthusiasm.

"I know, and you knew and didn't tell me. What's up with that?"

"Oh, like I'd ruin the surprise. Are you happy?"

I realize I'm beyond happy. I'm ecstatic. The man that I love, this gorgeous man, wants me to be his for the rest of forever, and that's exactly what I want. I love him so much beyond anyone else. He truly is my exception.

"I'm deliriously happy."

"C'mon, baby, everyone is waiting." He pulls my hand to his mouth and kisses it.

I walk with Sarah in one arm and Aiden in the other down the cobblestone path back to the pink Cadillac, where Mike is smiling at me. We continue to walk past the Cadillac and down another path. At the end is a quaint little building, and out in front waits our family and friends. I see Chris as he cheers and starts the crowd in a round of applause.

They all head inside the little building, and we follow in behind. Inside, there are tables set up, with chairs that have pink bows around them; they're very cute. There's a bar at the back of the room, and opposite the bar, at the front, there is a large dance floor with a DJ and a small table with a cake placed on it. I look up at Aiden in awe.

"You organized all this in two days?"

"It's amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it."

I take in a deep breath looking around the room. The ceiling has a center chandelier with sheer pink material draping out in sections to the walls with tiny fairy lights strung throughout the material. It's truly spectacular.

I start to feel giddy as I take in shallow breaths.
Is this really for me?
He takes my hand and turns me to face him.

"Is everything alright?"

"Everything's perfect."

We kiss and the crowd cheers, making me laugh. I look around the room to see everyone; my Mom, Callie, Blair, Benjamin, Brielle, Adam, Nana, Mike, even Bill is here, but no Alistair. In a way I feel relieved, but at the same time kind of sad for Aiden that his father isn't here to celebrate with him. I continue to look, and I see Chris standing with Mel, John, and Bob from ADF Automotive Repairs.

"Oh my god!"
I yell as I look at Aiden. He smiles at me and lets go of my hand. I race over and give Mel a giant hug.

"Congratulations." Mel says as she hugs me.

"Oh, Mel, it's good to see you, and John and Bob. I can't believe you're all here," I say as tears start to well in my eyes.

"Oh now now, none of that. This is a happy day. No need for tears," John says while he hugs me, followed by Bob and Chris.

"You know you've started something now. Sarah is going to pester me about us getting engaged next."

I laugh at him. "Yeah, sorry about that," I say as I hug him.

"And how am I going to top this, huh?"

I see my mom talking to Callie; I figure I'd better go and say hello.

"Excuse me, guys. I have to see my Mom."

"Of course, it's your party. You have to mingle," Mel says, smiling. I hug her again.

"Hi Mom," I say walking up to her and Callie. Mom lunges toward me and hugs me so tightly I can barely breathe.

"Mom, air becoming an issue."

She laughs and lets me go. "Oh, darling, I'm so happy for you. Are you happy?"

"You have no idea," I say back to her and she hugs me again.

I can't help it as the emotions overwhelm me, and I start to cry.

"Oh, honey, what's wrong?" Callie asks noticing my tears.

"I'm so happy, and everyone is here for us. It's so ... overwhelming."

Mom holds me at arms' length. "Darling, hold back those tears, and let's party."

The music starts, and everyone moves around the room, some sitting at tables, some at the bar—mostly men—and a few stragglers on the dance floor. I look around the room at all these people, and my eyes lock with Aiden's. His bright blue, smoldering eyes stare back into mine from across the room. I walk toward where he stands with some people from work.

"Excuse me, guys," Aiden says walking toward me, our eyes targeted on each other. Our bodies connect, and he holds me tightly, still looking into my eyes.

"I love you, so much."

"I love
you
, more." He leans in and kisses me. It's like time stands still and we are entangled with each other for an eternity. I never want to let him go, ever. He's my one true soul mate, and I want to stay here, in this moment, forever.

I hear wolf whistling in the background as I come crashing back to earth. I smile, still kissing Aiden, and I feel him smile in return. We part our lips from each other to find the whole room full of people looking at us. I feel a sudden wave of embarrassment hit me and I hide into Aiden's chest. He holds me to him.

"Oops!"

"Guess we had better keep on mingling." He takes my hand and leads me to some more of our workmates.

***

The night continues as finger food is served. People dance, and we continue to do the rounds. Brielle comes up to me, looking a little tipsy.

"Now that you're my sister, can I borrow that dress some time? It's epic."

"Sure thing, sis."

She calls Adam over, and we sit talking to them for a while. It comes time to cut the cake. I haven't actually looked at it yet, so I'm excited to see how it looks.

It's gorgeous, a little bit playful, but still elegant. It sits on a white board and written in icing is
Congratulations on Your Engagement
.

Blair comes over and takes photos of us cutting the cake and then continues taking photos throughout the night. A waitress hands out pieces of cake to our guests and we take to the dance floor. He holds onto me tightly as we sway to the music. This is a perfect night. It starts to get late, and people become more and more intoxicated and join us on the dance floor. Sarah comes and takes me from Aiden when the Macarena comes on. I've had a few champagnes myself, so I feel comfortable enough to dance in front of everyone. Aiden and Chris stand back and watch us while they drink their favorite Macallan whisky. Mom drags Callie out onto the dance floor, and they try to follow the dance steps as we do them, making everyone laugh.