I tell the hostess I’m here for a party of two, and she guides me to a table right away. I take a seat, smoothing my hand over the white tablecloth, remembering the time I asked him to teach me.
That felt wild and crazy then. I would never have expected to be back here almost a year later, tending a wonderful love that grows stronger and deeper every day.
But it does.
It most certainly does.
“Miss Murphy?”
I look up at the young face of a waiter. “Yes. Good morning.”
“I have something for you.” He hands me another white box, tied with a silver ribbon this time. It’s bigger than the one sent to the house, about the size to hold a shirt or sweater.
Gently, I tug at the bow, letting it fall open. I reach inside to find . . .
A black composition notebook?
My brow pinches as I pick it up and read the front.
A new lesson plan.
I’m flipping it open when a voice I know well lands on my ears. “There’s something I want you to teach me.”
Graham stands next to me, looking as handsome as ever in jeans and a navy blue button-down, rolled up at the cuffs.
“And what would that be? How to order a double order of French toast? Because I can do that, since I’m starving.” I laugh, gesturing to the chair across from me, but he remains standing. “Don’t you want to sit down?”
He shakes his head. “I want to kneel.”
He drops to one knee, and I gasp. My eyes turn to saucers as he opens his palm. Another box. A small, blue velvet one. “Teach me how to cherish you, to love you, and to honor you every day of our lives for as long as we both shall live.”
Tears don’t even have the courtesy to wait. They roll down my cheeks as he takes out a gorgeous emerald-cut diamond.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes,” I say, as he slides it onto my finger and I wrap my arms around him. “But you don’t need lessons in anything. You’re already perfect for me. In every single way.”
Graham
Sometimes I compare my life to the movies. I turn to my favorite heroes for guidance on what they might do in a given situation.
When I think of my favorite films, there’s no question which one I’m starring in right now.
Every chick flick ever made.
And I couldn’t be happier to picture the closing credits rolling over me as I take my seat across from the woman who’s going to be my wife, and prepare to enjoy the best French toast in all of Manhattan and decades of wedded bliss.
THE END
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Coming next from Lili Valente—THE BABY MAKER, a sexy, swoony, baby-making rom com! And you won’t want to miss MOST LIKELY TO SCORE from Lauren Blakely in January, a fun & sexy sports romance about a forbidden love. A sneak peek of each book follows.