A look of recognition crossed her face. “Pretty blonde?”
Noah nodded eagerly. “Yes. The most beautiful blue eyes you’ve ever seen.”
“I know exactly who you’re talking about. Come on.” She waved Noah to the center of the store, near the back room where the reading was taking place. When they arrived at the door, she pointed to the front of the jam-packed room. “She’s right there,” she whispered.
Noah scanned the rows and rows of people, and the instant his eyes landed on Lily, his heart flip-flopped in his chest. There she was, as gorgeous as ever, listening intently to the author’s reading. “How do I get in there?”
Several people standing in the doorway turned around and shushed him.
The clerk pulled him aside. “You can wait until she’s done with the reading. It should only take another twenty minutes or so.”
He considered this option, but it didn’t feel right. “I don’t want to wait. I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for her.”
A look of charity and pity crossed the woman’s face. “Maybe text her?”
Noah hated his phone, but it might work. Otherwise, he’d be forced to walk into that room. Talk about scrutiny—getting down on bended knee and popping the question was likely to get healthy critiques from romance readers. He fished his phone from his pocket. Turn around. I’m here.
He watched as she scrambled for her purse. He’d never studied a person’s facial expressions more than at that very moment. When a smile crossed her face, the relief he felt was immense. She turned and their gazes connected. The room of hundreds of people seemed to fade away.
“Come here,” he mouthed.
She got up, but it was no easy task to make her way through this room. Noah watched as Lily had to sneak her way out, crouching down and tiptoeing past row after row of people. By the time she reached him, she practically stumbled out of the room. “What are you doing here?”
The women who’d shushed him turned around again. He knew he had to redeem himself. “I’m here to hopefully make everything better.” He held up the bouquet as evidence.
A wide smile crossed Lily’s face and she took the roses from him and smelled them. “Thank you. They’re lovely.”
“You’re welcome. Can we talk?”
Lily looked around. “Outside? There’s no privacy in here.”
Noah was so relieved. “Yes.”
Out they went onto the street. Lily tugged on her coat and Noah helped her, but every second he had to put this off was grating on him. “Did something happen with the computer and Sawyer and your dad?” Lily asked. “It doesn’t seem like you’d bring roses if there was more bad news.”
Noah told her the whole story, complete with the admission that even Sawyer didn’t know about yet, that he’d called Lyle Hannafort and told him everything.
Lily clasped her hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe you spilled the beans.”
“I had no choice. I didn’t want us to live under the shadow of that anymore. It wasn’t right.”
“And it didn’t jeopardize the deal?”
Noah shook his head. “In the end, the almighty dollar was stronger than a silly story in a tabloid or a fake engagement.”
A contented smile crossed Lily’s face. “If flowers are your way of inviting me back to work, I would’ve come back anyway. I love working for you and Sawyer. I’m so relieved it all got worked out.”
He took Lily’s hand and knew this was his moment. This was his chance to go for everything he thought he’d never have, his one shot to get the girl. Right there on the sidewalk, he dropped to one knee. Lily’s eyes were bigger and more beautiful than he’d ever seen. Her smile grew, too. “Lily, I love you. I love you more than anything in the whole world and I can’t even conceive of a life where you aren’t at the center of everything.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue Tiffany bundle, hoping this was the right thing to do. “Will you be my wife?”
When he popped open the box, Lily gasped. She reached for the ring, her hand trembling. She didn’t even take it. She only looked at it in awe. “Noah. The sapphire. Your mom’s ring.”
“The right ring. The only ring. The one you were meant to wear.”
She gazed down at him, her eyes watery, but it was unlike the other times he’d seen her cry. He saw happiness and joy. He saw everything he’d ever wanted. “Yes, I will marry you, Noah. Yes, I will be your wife.”
Noah rose to his feet and pulled the ring from the box, slipping it onto Lily’s finger. “That other ring looked pretty good on your hand, but this one is perfect.” He took another look at her and didn’t wait, pulling her into his arms and planting a suitably hot kiss on her lips. He couldn’t wait to get her stuff back from her apartment and move her in, again. This time, for real.