His wife, holy shit!
Drew reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small navy box with a silver HW on it. Harry Winston oh my God, I think I’m going to pass out. He hands it to me, but I’m shaking too much to open it. Smiling, he takes it back and lifts the lid. Removing the ring he takes my left hand and slides it onto my third finger.
Jeez it’s enormous!
It’s a huge princess cut diamond, at least four carats possibly more, on a platinum band. Simple, elegant and perfect, just like Drew. “It’s unbelievable,” I whisper, unable to say anything else.
Drew stands up and helps me to my feet, giving me one final kiss before leading me off of the field.
“When did you plan all of this?” I ask as we head back into the tunnel.
“This? Probably when I was five years old.” I give him a stern look before I burst out laughing. “Honestly? After you agreed to come with me to Boston. But I was serious when I told you I loved you from the first moment we met. If I hadn’t thought it would scare you off I would have asked you to marry me that first night when we ate sushi at your place.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
Wow.
Ryan is waiting by the metal door that we used to enter the stadium. “Bye. I hope you got what you came for,” he says as we step out onto the sidewalk.
“Oh, I did.” Drew turns and winks at me before helping me into the Suburban.
Sitting next to him on the very back seat, I’m overwhelmed with emotions from his proposal. It was just so very Drew to do it on home plate at Fenway Park.
“Hey,” I say to him quietly so the other guys won’t overhear. “Why the hat?” I reach up and tug lightly on the brim.
He gives me his full blown, dimple-showing, panty melting grin. “For good luck.”
Shivering, I turn to him. “You never needed luck with me.”
“It never hurts to bring a little luck Syd.”
We pull onto the Mass Turnpike and I let my mind wander to all of the things that would need to be done for a wedding.
Shit. A wedding. To ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ Andrew Forrester. It’s going to be a giant clusterfuck of paparazzi and helicopters and front page tabloid articles.
New Sydney isn’t supposed to freak out, but she is. I can feel the panic rising in my chest. My instinct to run far far away is warring with my love for Drew. My skin turns clammy and I face the window so he won’t notice the expression on my face. He always knows when I’m upset because I suck at hiding my feelings.
“Syd, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I choke out. I can’t manage anything else. New Sydney is fleeing, leaving Old, insecure Sydney in her place.
“I know there’s something wrong, what is it?”
Crap, now he sounds upset.
I turn back to him and take a deep breath. “I’m thinking about the … the attention that all of this will bring.”
“Oh.”
Oh? What the hell does ‘oh’ mean?
“Maybe we can, you know, keep this to ourselves until we figure it out?” I’m afraid that Drew’s feelings will be hurt because I don’t want to tell people.
“Okay babe, if that’s what you need. I think it’s a good idea. I don’t want all that shit to rain down on us anyway.”
“Y-you’re okay with it?”
“Sydney, it’s just like I said about the other tabloid crap. As long as we know what’s real between us, I don’t care about anyone else. We could get married tomorrow and not tell a single person and I’d still be ecstatic. I just want you.” He takes my hand and squeezes it gently. He frowns and hesitates before speaking. “I did tell one person though. Well, besides Jane, she picked up the ring for me and brought it here.”
“Really? Who?”
“I sort of called your dad and asked if I could marry you,” he says sheepishly.
“What?” I yell, causing the three big men in the SUV to turn and look at me. “Sorry,” I say, embarrassed by my outburst. “You called my dad?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m kind of a traditional guy and he gave me his number when you were, you know, in the hospital. It felt like something I should do.” He looks afraid of my reaction.
I sigh.
“Are you mad?”
“No. I think it’s kind of sweet. I just … I’ve been putting off calling him because I’m scared. I guess this is the push I need to reach out.” I snuggle up to Drew.
“I’ll be there for you however you need me. If you want me to fly out with you or hold your hand when you call him. Whatever you need, Syd.”
Holy crap.
A blowup with Kiera Radcliff, a lunatic in jail for trying to kill me, a studio trying to break up my relationship, a wiretapping scandal with a tabloid, a secret proposal, a wedding to plan, a father to reunite with and a new life in the public eye to get adjusted to….