“Here,” I lift her easily and she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses my cheek.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
When we get down to the gazebo, I nod my head in satisfaction. It’s decorated exactly the way it was the first time I brought her here, when I gave her Mom’s necklace.
“Oh, Nate, this is beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it.” I pour her another glass of champagne from the bottle the catering company left down here, and we settle on the plush couch.
“Julianne,” I take her hand in mine, and the nerves are back. Fuck. I take a long pull off the champagne. She’s looking at me curiously, her head cocked to the side.
“Nate, it’s okay.”
My eyes dart to hers, and my stomach immediately settles. That song she loves, I Won’t Give Up starts to play through the speakers, and I know. This is my moment.
I clear my throat and look down at our linked hands, and then back up into her perfectly blue eyes, searching for the words I’d practiced every day in my head for the past two months.
“I love you, Julianne. I’ve loved you for a long time. You and I are a team, in every way. You amaze me with your strength, with your kindness, and the love you show everyone around you, including me.” Tears leak out the side of her eyes and I reach over to catch them with my fingertips.
“Don’t cry, baby,” I whisper. I can’t stand it when she cries. “Jules, we were meant to be. I knew it the minute I first saw you.” I kneel before her and pull the red Cartier box out of my pocket and open it so she can see the vintage-style diamond engagement ring I picked out for her a month ago. More tears fall out of her wide eyes as she stares down at it and then back up at me in awe and surprise and love, and I don’t need to search for the words anymore.
“Marry me, Julianne. Share my life with me. Be mine for the rest of my life.” Her lips tremble before they spread into a wide smile and she launches herself into my arms, holding me tightly around the neck, her face buried against me. “Honey, I need to hear the words,” I murmur with a chuckle.
“Yes.” She pulls back and holds my face in her hands, looking deeply into my eyes. “Yes, Nate, I’ll marry you.”
I rest my forehead on hers and breathe a long sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Can I put this on you now?”
“Hell yes, ace.” She laughs and wipes her tears away as I slide the ring on her tiny finger. She holds it up and admires it. “You did good, babe.”
“I’m so glad you approve,” I reply dryly.
“I do.” She smiles sweetly at me and my gut clenches in love and lust and she hugs me tightly again. “I love you Nate.”
“I love you too, Julianne.”
“Did you say something about chocolate cheesecake?”
The With Me In Seattle Series continues with Will and Meg’s story in the third book, PLAY WITH ME. It is scheduled for release in March, 2013.