She didn’t continue her career in porn, instead she concentrated on her thriving dog grooming business. I was grateful. I wasn’t sure I had another male sex scene in me. I liked to think I did a sterling camera job, but it wasn’t something I was jumping at to do again and anyway, I was settled in my job at Upfront.
“Are you ready?” Stacey asked as she pulled me by the arm. “She’s just nipped to the loo and I thought maybe it would be a good time to do it when she gets back.”
“Shall I just meet her on one knee when she comes out?” I replied.
“Don’t be weird. Does outside a toilet sound like a romantic place to propose?”
“Well, it’s no Eiffel Tower,” I mumbled.
I was so nervous I could feel the ring in my pocket digging into my leg. The ring. That was a whole other anxiety fest. I didn’t know where to start. Square? Round? Oval? One big stone or one stone surrounded by little suckers? I couldn’t help but think that every time I was handed one and held it up to the light – it wasn’t her. She needed something different, unique and special.
Like Skye.
Matt and I trawled the Old Laines and found a jewellery shop that specialised in antique diamonds. I saw it in the window. Emerald green and surrounded with tiny clear diamonds. I’d found it. Unique and distinctive. Perfect for her.
The proposal was a cluster fuck of anxiety. I couldn’t decide if this should be a quiet spur of the moment thing or an in front of family and friends thing. What would Skye want? The grand gesture idea had permeated and landed me here at Matt’s graduation party.
Damn beer and damn Coco.
“Quick!” Stacey shouted, her carrot nose wobbling. I knew she’d picked the outfit to cover the first signs of her bump. “Will!”
I did it on fright. Stacey’s shout made me lose all clarity of thought and here I was, down on one knee in front of a very startled Skye.
“Get up!” she said, her face knotted in confusion. The carrot cake I nabbed before we left fell to my arse. Shit. The crowd behind me started to whoop and surged around us to see why the idiot was on one knee in front of Harley Quinn holding a baseball bat with a face I couldn’t quite read.
“What are you doing? Get the fuck up.” She covered her mouth with one hand, her other holding the bat above her head before she started sobbing. Oh fuck. Was this good sobbing? Or the bad kind? The I-wish-I’d-never-done-this kind or the crap-she-doesn’t-want-to-marry-me kind?
“Put the baseball bat down. You’re unnerving me.”
“Oh my God.” A smile broke through her fingers. I started laughing ridiculously, adrenaline fuelled as I offered her a toothy grin that wasn’t sure whether to break out or stay tucked in. I tried to read her. I failed. She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers at me, and those wiggled fingers allowed me to breathe again.
“Come here,” she whisper-sobbed as she pulled me up.
“Jesus, woman. Why do you try to kill me in every aspect of our life together?” The bedroom, the kitchen (she’s not mastered cooking yet) her penchant for see-through corsets and now as I asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. She smiled as it hit me in the face again that I loved her more than anything or anyone. Every single piece of her I wanted to be mine.
“Skye, I’ve loved you for the whole of my life.”
“We’ve only known each other for eight years,” she replied, rolling her eyes through a smile.
‘Just be quiet for once.” I kissed her softly and she thawed completely. “Will you marry me?”
She peered at the diamond, emerald green sitting on a deep red cushion. She raised an eyebrow. “Good fucking job, William.”
“Thanks, almost grew an ulcer choosing it.”
She kissed the life out of me. “Put it on then, Clark!”
I adjusted my glasses and placed the ring exactly where it belonged.
The end.
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Chapter 1 - One Night Only
If you loved One Take Only, you will love One Night Only, Stacey and Matt’s story.
“Raining again, London. Really?” I said to no one in particular, holding out my hand to feel the splash of raindrops before rooting around in my Gucci tote for an umbrella. “What are you doing to me?”
Exasperation laced my voice. I wanted to look my best. I’d woken up earlier than normal to wash my hair in a bid to ensure my red waves would still be in place, and not drooping around my shoulders by the time I left work. A blast with the hand drier in the ladies’ loo gave it an extra boost of oomph. I added fresh gloss to my lips, and a few spritzes of perfume behind my ears helped me freshen up.
“Hope you have a good night, Stace.” I turned to find Kelly, the new intern—adorable—waving as she breezed out of the office. She was enthusiastic and wanted to squash everything you needed to know about being a fashion journalist into her first hour on the job. Impossible, but still adorable. “Enjoy the show, you lucky cow!”
“I’m sure I will, gorgeous. See you tomorrow.”
We’d arrived at work wearing the same cute shirt dress and as I watched her walk
