“Luckily, she forgave me. But I still want to prove to her that she’s the most important person in the world to me. That I’ll love her for eternity and don’t want to spend any more time without her.”
Tears were glistening on Olivia’s cheeks, and I almost hopped down off the stage to run over and make her stop crying. But I reminded myself they were “happy tears,” as she called them—which made no sense to me.
I lifted my chin toward the back of the room, and the low rumble of a drum began, then others joined in until the whole line was playing. A second later, a group of men and women in kilts came strolling in while they began to play the tune to “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Holding the microphone, I hopped down onto the dance floor just as two ballet dancers came in—one female dressed as the swan princess; the other, a male dressed as a British Lord—and danced up to do a routine right in front of Olivia before lowering themselves into an elegant curtsey and bow.
“Olivia, will you come here, please?”
Delia elbowed her in the side when she didn’t move right away, and she threw her friend a disgruntled glare. Then she stood and walked toward me, her face still covered with shock.
When she was close enough, I took her hand and drew her close. “If I could have brought you everything in the song, I would have. But the hotel would only put up with so much.”
Olivia laughed, but her attention was diverted when she spotted the manager wheeling a large cake up to us. The rest of the days in the song were depicted in the frosting over three tiers. On the very top sat a golden pear.
I lifted my chin again and the music stopped. “Don’t think I’m not aware of how damn cheesy this is,” I told her with a self-deprecating laugh. “But I also know that you love it, even if you don’t want to admit it and lose cool points.”
She laughed and held her hands out in a helpless gesture. “Fine. You got me. This is awesome.” Her mouth formed a wide smile as she looked over the detail on the cake, but when she got to the pear, she tossed me a curious look.
“Ten minutes to midnight,” the manager said quietly before walking away.
I set the microphone down because, while I didn’t care who heard me propose, this was for Olivia, and I wasn’t going to broadcast the actual question. It would take away from the intimacy of the moment. I took the pear from the cake and dropped to one knee.
“Olivia, you are the single most important person in my life, and to live the rest of it without you would be like living without air. Impossible. I promise to love you until the end of time, to be your best friend, a devoted husband and father, to give you twelve days of Christmas every year, to learn how to decorate a cake”—I winked at her, and her face flamed bright red, making me grin—“and to be completely honest with you unless you ask me if you look fat.”
Olivia giggled, and her eyes danced with joy before going wide again when I flipped the top of the pear open. A diamond ring was nestled inside, and I pulled it from the velvet bed, then set the pear down and took Olivia’s hand. “Will you marry me, baby?” Dropping my volume so that only she could hear me, I added, “Keep in mind that this is a gesture. You don’t really have a choice.” I slid the ring on her finger to emphasize the point.
She put her other hand over her mouth, but it didn’t completely muffle her laughter. When she uncovered her face, she beamed at me so brightly I felt the heat on my skin. Or maybe it was the desire burning inside me.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she announced loudly, then she bent over and whispered, “Just a gesture. I was always going to marry you.”
I laughed and surged to my feet, my lips meeting hers as I wrapped my arms around her and spun in a circle.
The countdown started while we were kissing, and I broke away only long enough for us to shout, “5...4...3...2...1! Happy New Year!” Then I kissed her again as the bagpipes and drums began to play “Auld Lang Syne.”
Someone nudged us, and I dragged my mouth from Olivia’s to glare at them. It was Delia, handing me a party horn—or, more accurately, shoving it in my mouth. I rolled my eyes, but before I could spit it out, Olivia grabbed the thing and started blowing.
I laughed until she grabbed my neck and brought me close enough to whisper in my ear, “Just practicing for later.”