“Oh, sweetie. Isn’t it obvious ?”
I think for a minute before nodding because it is obvious. There is only one explanation for it .
“Y ou’re still here,” I say when I exit my grandfather’s hospital room .
Killian is sitting in a plastic chair in the waiting room. He’s still wearing a tux. He must not have found any gift shop clothes that fit him .
“I told you I would stay,” he says, standing and putting his phone back into his pocket. “How’s he doing?” He nods toward my grandfather’s room .
“He’s doing well. He’s a pretty tough old man…although his heart might have just grown a little softer .”
He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t ask about it, and I don’t say anything else about my grandfather .
Instead, I walk to Killian until my lips are just a breath from his, until my body is trembling again, just like it was the last time our bodies were this close to each other. I close my eyes and try to calm my body, but it doesn’t work. I open them again and am faced with his intense dark eyes transfixed on mine .
“Ask me,” I breathe onto his lips .
I watch him suck in a breath, but he doesn’t say anything .
“Ask me,” I say again .
“Princess, will you marry me?” he asks while still standing .
He doesn’t get down on one knee. He doesn’t pull the ring box that is still tucked in his pocket back out. That means, he’s already decided that he knows the answer .
I smile because he’s mostly right. “No,” I say .
His eyes close, immediately blocking me off. His breathing returns. His head drops .
“Now, answer a question for me .”
He takes a deep breath before opening his eyes. “Yes, princess ?”
“You have to promise to be completely honest .”
“I will,” he says .
My heart is racing much too fast. My shaking has increased instead of slowed. My eyes try to close, but I force them to stay open, to stay on him to read his reaction .
I let one more beat of my heartbeat before I ask, “Do you love me ?”
A smug grin forms on his face as he takes a couple of seconds longer to answer me than I anticipated. I was wrong. Him deciding to marry me, no matter what, didn’t mean what I thought it did. It’s part of some other master plan that I don’t know about .
“Maybe,” he says the word as innocently as I have countless times to him before. His smug smile grows larger .
I can’t help the smile that forms on my own lips. “I’ll take that as a yes .”
I launch my lips onto his. It’s been too long since I tasted him, too long since he wrapped his arms around me, like he is doing now, too long since I felt truly loved by someone since my father died .
The kiss is more than a kiss. It’s a declaration of love, a promise of what could be. It’s a chance, a chance to be together because of our choices and no one else’s .
He tries to break away from the kiss when my hands start tugging at the hem of his shirt. “Princess, I love your enthusiasm, but we can’t do that here. There are people watching .”
I smile larger though as I grab ahold of his hand and pull him down the hallway. An old episode of Friends pops into my head as we make our way through the hospital. It’s the one where Chandler and Monica sneak off to an empty hospital room to do it while Rachel is in labor .
I pass a room that looks dark. There are no nurses hovering around this room. I peek through the cracked door. It’s empty .
I tug on Killian’s arm, and he follows me into the room. I shut the door behind us, and my lips attack his again as my hand pulls at the hem of his shirt. It’s then I realize that I don’t need his shirt off. It’s his pants I should be working on .