“Alright, Jen, last stop of the evening. We’ve gotta go.”
“Can’t we just stay in bed?” I posed innocently in my bra and panties. “It’s so cold outside, and I’m sure I could make it worth your while.”
He took an automatic step back toward the bed, before snapping his eyes shut and turning deliberately away. “No, you little demon, get dressed. Come on—we can’t be late.”
He refused to turn around until I’d gotten my clothes on. And even then, he did a quick practice glance just to be sure. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed my hand, and we rushed down the stairs to where the carriage was still waiting. The horse was having the time of his life, standing amidst a throng of carrots and admirers as his driver kicked back and read a copy of Playboy. The second he saw Tom, he stashed the magazine under his seat and put on his most jovial smile. I returned it with a grin. His secret was safe with me.
“Where to now, sir?”
“Back to Times Square.”
I looked at Tom curiously, pulling the scarf higher around my mouth. “Are we going skating again? Not that the first time wasn’t a blast, but isn’t it closed by now?”
He swung my legs over his lap and nestled me back in his arms. “All in good time...”
I should have seen it coming. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. But I had no idea what we were doing back out in the city until I saw the huge tree.
An enormous throng of people had crowded around it, waiting for the annual countdown to fire up the lights. For a second, I just stared in wonder. Despite all my time living in the city, I had never seen it in person before. Rose and I usually just watched from the couch, that is, if we hadn’t passed out already from our holiday bar hopping.
I leaned a little further out of the carriage to get a better look. “Are we going to go right up to the base?” The excitement in my voice made me sound like a child. I turned around to see Tom smiling. He was also holding something out in his hand. A little-wrapped box.
“What’s this?”
“Merry Christmas, Jenna.”
My face paled. “Tom...I didn’t...I didn’t get you anything. I didn’t think we’d see each other today or that you’d want—”
“Relax—the day was my present. Now open yours.”
I still felt outrageously guilty, but he pressed it into my hands with a little coaxing smile. The wrapping came apart easily (despite his other perfections, Tom was a terrible wrapper), and as I opened the box, I literally gasped in astonishment.
Two beautiful diamond earrings sparkled back at me.
They looked like he’d simply taken the falling snowflakes, and fashioned them into art. Each one had a million little curves and facets. A million delicate intersecting lines, woven together to make them look like actual drops of fallen snow.
“Do you like them?”
He was staring at me intently, tense—as if there was a chance his huge gesture might be taken the wrong way. In truth, I didn’t know how to take it. I didn’t know how to take the whole day. We’d made a plan, right? We’d knew that a relationship was against the rules, and we’d decided to get it all out of our systems.
But looking at the man in the carriage beside me, holding these exquisite diamonds in my hand, I wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment forever.
Outside the carriage, the countdown began.
“Ten...nine...eight...”
“Tom, I...I don’t know what any of this means. I don’t know what comes next.”
“...seven...six...five...four...”
“I don’t either, Jenna. I really don’t.”
“...three...two...one!”
The world around us exploded in light. Fireworks shot through the sky as the enormous tree danced in the glow of a billion sparkling lights. Couples started pairing off, kissing each other and wishing everyone Merry Christmas.
“But Jenna?”
Our lips met, for the briefest moment, before he lifted his up to my ear.
“...I can’t wait to find out.”
To be continued...