There was no mistaking the eye roll Lauren threw at him. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“I brought you up here so we could spend time together and relax. We’re doing that, so I am happy.” It’s time. They’d already ordered and both had full glasses of wine. Their waiter had no reason to disturb them again.
Pulling at his tie, he slid the knot down a fraction of an inch then reached for his wine, his pulse beating double-time in his head. “I wanted to talk to you about something.” Yep, that sounded real romantic.
“You’ll need to wait your turn, because I want to ask you something first.”
Taken off guard, he blinked a few times. Before he could reply, she went on.
“You’re practically living with me now anyway, so I thought you should just make it official. You know, change the drivers’ license, get whatever is left in your parents’ apartment.”
She wanted him to move in. Good sign.
“What do you think?” she asked
He dropped his free hand into his pocket. His hand wrapped around the ring inside, and his stomach inched a little closer to his throat. “Perfect. My turn.” Nate pushed back his chair prepared to get up. And do what? He didn’t know. Should he drop to one knee like on TV? “I didn’t bring you up here just to relax.” He began picking the words as he went. “Even when we weren’t together, I loved you. I don’t want us to waste any more time apart, Lauren. I know I should have asked you this a long time ago.” At the last minute, Nate dropped to one knee in front of her and held up the diamond ring. “Lauren, will you marry me?”
For the first time in his life, he understood the expression “time stood still.” His hand wavered as he waited and watched. Lauren’s eyes grew wide reminding him of a deer caught in the car’s headlights. The expression then disappeared as teardrops rolled down her cheeks. Thankfully, despite her tears, a bright smile graced her face. When she finally nodded, Nate took in a breath, only to have it almost knocked out of him when Lauren launched herself at him.
“I . . . yes.” She wrapped her arms around him.
He pulled her closer for a kiss, and only when he heard the applause from the restaurant patrons did he pull back. Even in the restaurant’s muted light, he saw the color crawl up Lauren’s cheeks. “I hope you like it.” He slid the white gold and diamond engagement ring onto her finger. Before he had ventured into a jewelry store, he’d spent several hours reading up on diamonds. He now knew more about the different types of cuts and color qualities of diamonds than a man had any right to. Not that it had made the selection process any easier. He’d still spent a good two hours in the jewelry store the day he bought the ring.
“Nate, it’s gorgeous. And it fits. How did you manage that?” Lauren sat back down, but her eyes never left the ring on her hand.
“I brought one of your other rings with me so they could size it. I grabbed it before work one day, and put it back when I came home.”
She looked up and frowned at him. “You sneaked through my things, seriously?”
“It was for a good cause. Besides, you can punish me later. Right now, let’s eat,” he said as their waiter placed their appetizers on the table.
She glanced down at her left hand for perhaps the hundredth time since she’d slipped on the ring. The diamond caught the lights from above and sparkled. The ring was gorgeous. Nate had done a fabulous job picking it out.
Engaged. They were engaged. In high school she had dreamed about it. When he left for the Naval Academy she had buried that dream down deep. Even after they reunited the month before, she hadn’t allowed the dream out. Now the dream was about to become a reality.
From her spot on the lounge chair, she watched him swim back toward her. After dinner, they’d come down to the indoor pool. After only two laps, she called it quits and opted to watch Nate from the comfort of a padded lounge chair.
When Nate reached the end of the pool he pulled himself up out of the water and sat on the edge. “Doing okay over there?” he asked.
Seeing him half-naked and dripping wet, Lauren marveled once again at the changes in his body since high school. Yet despite his size and his strength, he was always gentle when they made love. Thoughts of their time in bed that morning set off a fluttering of desire. “Perfect. Just thinking about you, us.” The other couple in the pool kept her from sharing any more intimate details. “And a wedding date.”
In one movement he stood and joined her on the lounge chair. “What about in June when school gets out?”