“I was coming here to see you.” He opened his arms. “Nichole, I’m...”
Nichole stepped into his embrace, set her finger over his mouth. She’d owned her newly discovered confidence with Vick and Glenn. Now she had to believe in her heart. “I’ve been thinking quite a lot recently.”
Chase reached up, curved his fingers around hers and pressed their joined hands against his chest. Nichole felt his rapid heartbeat, heard her own—just as rapid. Just as fast. He waited. His gaze fastened on hers.
“We tried the pretend part of a marriage and it didn’t work out.” She’d forgotten they were only pretending. And if she believed in Mia’s photographs like her friends did, Chase had forgotten too. She moved fully into him, stepping right into his personal you-can’t-ignore-me space.
His arm locked around her waist and anchored her in place. Exactly where she wanted to be. She arched one eyebrow and enhanced the challenge in her words. “I’m proposing we try it for real this time.”
“Do you think we’ll have different results?” Teasing. But in the depths of his green eyes, she saw it. Recognition. Tenderness. Affection.
Her reply came in a breathless whisper. “Definitely.”
“So do I.” He released her and dropped onto one knee.
Nichole touched her throat, tried to catch her heart cartwheeling from her chest. She’d come to fight for Chase. For them. Now her entire body wanted to float. To dance on those clouds.
He pulled a ring box from his jacket pocket, opened the lid and revealed a square-cut sapphire, her birthstone, surrounded by sparkling diamonds. “Nichole Marie Moore, I love you. I loved you the day you challenged me to be more than a cheater. I loved you for remembering I liked red licorice. And I love you even more now.”
Tears fell from her cheeks; her hands trembled. Her voice went missing. She struggled to locate even the smallest sound. Something to acknowledge she’d heard him. Something to express the love bursting inside her. But Chase wasn’t finished.
“You showed me how to like myself—every part of myself—and it’s a gift I’ll never be able to repay. But I want to try for the rest of our lives.” He paused, but there was nothing unsteady about the breath he drew. Nothing hesitant in his words. “Nichole, will you marry me?”
“Say yes, Mom!” That familiar exuberant shout came from across the hotel lobby. “I already did.”
Nichole covered her mouth, trapped her gasp against her palm. Wesley stepped into the bar area, his grin wider than Nichole had seen in far too long. More tears soaked her cheeks. She glanced at Chase. How could she possibly love him any more?
“I brought backup,” he admitted.
“You asked Wesley if you could marry me.” A tremor snaked up her legs. The good kind. The kind that anticipated being swept off her feet, then being caught safely.
“He’s part of our team.” Chase’s one-sided grin returned, tripping delight up into his gaze. He tipped his head toward the entrance. “I might’ve asked the rest of the family too.”
Nichole gaped. Brooke, Dan, Ben, Josie and the rest of her extended family walked into the bar. Chase’s family followed, Travis and Elliot included. His mom wiped the tears from her eyes. Wesley helped Nonna, holding on to her arm and beaming with pride.
“Has she said yes yet?” Nonna patted Wesley’s hand, then pushed her glasses up. “I’m ready to celebrate. Haven’t been here in an age, but I recall the bartenders make a delicious Shirley Temple.”
Happiness surged through Nichole, uncontainable like those stardust sprinkles on the clouds. She launched herself into Chase’s arms, confident he’d never let her fall. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you.”
Chase caught her and spun her around. Their kiss ended too soon. He pulled back, touched her cheek. “You should know I’ve drafted my retirement statement and scheduled my surgery.”
“You should know we’ll be there with you every step.” Nichole framed his face with her hands. “Always right beside you. We’re a team.”
Chase set his forehead against hers. “We’re a family. It’s the strongest team there is.”
Nichole fell into another kiss, then leaned back. A tease in her own voice. “Does this mean you can share your grilled cheese recipe now?”
His laughter shimmered around the chandeliers. “I love you more than you can know. And I’m quite fond of you in the color red.”
“I quite like it myself. I think red suits me.” Nichole curved her arm around his waist and forgot about recipes and dresses. She saw only Chase, her family and her future.
EPILOGUE
Three weeks later...
CHASE ADJUSTED HIS shoulder splint and stepped around to put his good side next to Nichole. He reached over with his left arm and stopped Nichole from dumping her cup of flour into the mixing bowl. “You need to scrape off the extra flour from the top of the measuring cup.”
Nichole frowned. “With what?”
Chase handed her a butter knife. “Just a smooth slice across the top.”
“I could slice cheese even better.” Nichole cleared the extra flour from the measuring cup and grinned at him. “I haven’t forgotten about the grilled cheese recipe.”
“We aren’t making grilled cheese.” Chase tweaked the tip of her nose.
“Yeah, Mom. You’re supposed to be making sugar cookies.” Wesley laughed from the far end of the table. He’d pulled up a chair beside Nonna. The pair had decided to devise a kitten-naming challenge to begin after dinner. A dinner that had grown to include more than just them. Nonna and Wesley were currently detailing the rules and regulations of the challenge on a whiteboard.
“Nonna and I already made those last week and ate them all,” Wesley added.
Nichole aimed her measuring cup at the duo. “I have a rule to add. The winner gets full naming rights. There will be no veto powers handed out.”
“That’s two rules.” Wesley frowned at her.
“And we really must reserve the right to veto.” Nonna winked at Wesley. The two had become quite the united front. Nonna continued,
