She lifted her head and looked at him, a mixture of emotions on her face. Amusement, pleasure-and something he really hoped looked a whole lot like love.
"Then, go ahead and make it," she said. She didn't let go of the box, though. Or throw it at him. So he went for broke and dropped to one knee on the grass, taking the hand that wasn't holding the ring box.
"Madeline Holmes, will you marry me? Not saying yes when you proposed to me was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I shouldn't have let you go."
He was pretty sure that they had an audience watching them from the big purple tent-an audience with cell phones. They'd be starring front and center on YouTube, and that was okay by him. He wasn't sure, however, how long he was supposed to spend on bended knee. The magazine article had been annoyingly vague on that part. He settled for tugging her down onto his thigh. She leaned into him and grinned.
"I was moving kind of fast."
He smiled. Maddie only seemed to have two speeds: gung-ho and full steam ahead. She didn't hold back, either, in bed or in matters of the heart. There was a lot he could learn from her. He'd made a mistake when he'd been eighteen, and he'd been scared of repeating it. Instead, he'd made a different mistake, letting go when he should have held on.
"Yes," she said.
"Yes?" He was pretty certain his heart was on his sleeve for everyone to see, and he needed to get this right.
"Yes, you can slide that pretty ring of yours on my finger." She pressed a kiss against his mouth. "Does that mean I don't have to buy you a ring?"
"Hell no." He fished the ring out of the box, praying he didn't drop it. He didn't need a magazine article to know that fishing around in the grass for Maddie's diamonds wasn't the ending he was shooting for. "I insist on a ring."
"All right." Her smile promised the best kind of trouble. "We can negotiate where I put it later. When we don't have an audience."
His heart did a funny little flop. "I love you, sweetheart," he repeated, because he couldn't say it too much. "Tell me you know that."
"I do." She laced her fingers behind his head, hanging on to him for all she was worth. "And I'll say that again anytime you want."
Ladies, this is Maddie's Mr. Fantasy Fodder reporting in. You're going to have to share her with me, because now that my fantasy woman's let me put a ring on her finger, we've got big plans. Maddie mentioned a few fantasies that need filling, and I'm honored to serve. Since she's out wrangling a few wedding cakes for us to taste test, I'm taking over for the day, and I've got your quiz for you.
How do you know you've met the woman of your dreams?
A) You walk up to the bar and order a Honey, I Dew martini in front of your entire SEAL team. Those boys have long memories, but there's no reason not to make her happy. Plus, she ordered up a round of Leather and Lace shots for them.
B) You tell everyone you meet all about her. So much so that your lieutenant commander announces that if loose lips sank ships, you've taken out the entire US Navy. She's basically like a supersmart, really sexy supermodel that took a chance on your dumb ass. Hello, who wouldn't brag about that?
C) You know you need to wake up and kiss her first thing in the morning for the next fifty years-and the 18,000th kiss will be every bit as good as the first.