We quickly changed and used the shopping bags to hold our wet clothes. By the time we made our way to the front entrance of the hotel, the rain had stopped. I glared at the sky and mentally cursed a blue streak.
“Looks like it’s let up enough for us to get back to the Lennox,” Aurora surmised as she took a tentative step outside. “I think a hot bath is in order.” She threw me a saucy wink, and I almost abandoned my idea for hers.
No, I thought. I promised to sweep her off her feet and that didn’t mean asking her to marry me in a bathtub at home. “I just have one more thing to do,” I told her as I took her hand and set out for the hotel that sported a replica of the Eiffel Tower.
When we arrived, Aurora was looking at me with a speculative stare. I was pretty sure she was debating whether I’d lost my mind. Today had certainly been off, and I hadn’t been myself, so I could understand why she might wonder.
“Trust me,” I murmured as I brushed my lips over her cheek before giving her a soft but promising kiss. She sighed as we parted and nodded her head, then gestured for me to lead the way. I grinned and turned to enter the hotel, heading for the elevator that would take us to the summit. What could be more romantic than asking the woman you love to marry you from the top of the most iconic symbol of romance?
I paid for tickets and thanked the universe for the first thing all day that went my way when we ended up alone in the lift.
The doors slid closed, and I gently enveloped Aurora in my embrace, lowing my head to give her a tender kiss. Cradling her face in my hands, I poured all my love into the kiss. She melted into me, and I felt the same outpouring of emotion from her.
It was a long ride to the top, so I took advantage of the time, backing her into the wall and deepening the kiss, letting it turn a little wild. When the elevator suddenly jolted, it shoved our bodies closer together and I groaned at the heat of her pussy surrounding my cock. The kiss started to get out of control, and I was on the verge of fucking her right there against the wall. In the next moment, there was another jolt, but this time, the lift came to a sudden halt and the lights went out, blanketing us in darkness.
After a couple of beats, the emergency lights flickered on. “Hello?” A tinny male voice sounded from the little speaker above the floor buttons. “Are you alright?” they asked.
I took a deep breath and tried not to snarl when I answered. “We’re fine. What’s going on?”
“We aren’t sure, sir. We’re working on figuring it out. Hopefully, you won’t be stuck for long. Thanks for your understanding.”
My mouth opened to spit out a caustic remark when Aurora’s hand slapped over it and held it back. “Please keep us in the loop. Thank you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Aurora eyed me curiously when I started pacing to exert some of my frustrated energy. “What’s going on with you, Will?” she asked as she leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms under her breasts. It was almost enough to distract me from the disaster the day had turned into. “You’re the most calm and rational person I’ve ever met. I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve seen you this angry and agitated.”
Several vague answers were on the tip of my tongue, but as I drank in the sight of her, it suddenly became clear that I was a fucking idiot.
“I had the perfect day planned,” I explained.
She tilted her head to side and examined my face. “Today has been wonderful, Will,” she said with a genuine smile.
I shook my head and snorted. “Today has been a series of clusterfucks. But the biggest one was my own stupid ideas of what this day should be.”
She lifted her brow but waited for me to continue without comment.
Sighing, I took her hands in mine, my thumbs brushing lightly over the backs. “I wanted to sweep you off your feet. To make this day the perfect fairy-tale proposal.”
Aurora gasped softly. “Proposal?” I nodded, and we stood there in silence for a few moments. My heart was pounding so hard, I wondered if she could hear it. The look in her eyes shifted, and when she started to say something, I had a sense of where she was going and cut her off with a quick, hard kiss.
“Just listen, okay?” She contemplated my request briefly before nodding. “I should have known better. I should have listened to my heart, the part of me that truly knows you, instead of my head.”
I drew her hands up to my mouth and placed a soft kiss on each one before continuing. “I was being a fucking idiot, baby. I should have realized that the only thing you wanted was sincerity, and all this bullshit I had planned were just shallow gestures.”
“It was sweet—” She tried to interject but stopped when I frowned at her. Her eyes rolled so hard I was surprised they didn’t get stuck in the back of her head. She inclined her head in a gesture that encouraged me to continue.
“It was ridiculous. So let me try this again. The right way.” Slowly, I lowered myself down onto one knee and stared up into the gorgeous face of the woman I wanted to spend eternity with. The woman I couldn’t live without.
“Aurora, you own me, heart, body, and soul. You are everything I hoped for in my life, but so much
