“A surprise.”
Her hand froze. Was Chance about to pop the question? “What kind of surprise?”
“The life-changing sort.”
This was it, she was sure of it. Chance was going to ask her to marry him. She wondered how he was going to do it. He’d asked her to meet him here, but she had to be back at work in thirty minutes. Maybe he was just going to tell her where to meet him later tonight. She pictured getting all dressed up for dinner at a fancy restaurant, and the engagement ring inside dessert when Chance’s hand snapped around her wrist.
“If you go any lower, we’ll get arrested.” He chuckled.
He pulled her hand up from inside the waistband of his pants, and she giggled, she hadn’t even realized she’d done that.
“Although if you really want to, we can go someplace a little more private,” his husky voice whispered in her ear.
She did want to, but even more, she wanted to know what the surprise was. “Later. Definitely later. You can't tell me you have a surprise and then not tell me what it is.”
Chance threw back his head and laughed. “You are so impatient.”
She punched him playfully in the arm. “What’s the surprise? You can't leave me hanging, that would be cruel.”
“Well,” Chance paused dramatically, “I don’t want to be cruel, so …” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a blindfold. “You have to put this on.”
Surprised and intrigued, Hope nodded eagerly and closed her eyes while Chance wrapped the piece of cloth around her head and secured it at the back. He took hold of her and began to lead her up the street. Had he set up something special nearby? It was a residential area, no restaurants, and not close to the park either. What was he up to?
“Only a little further,” he said.
Just when she thought she was about to burst with excitement and anticipation, Chance stopped. “We’re here.”
“Where?”
“At your surprise.”
He released her hand and untied the blindfold. Hope blinked in the midday sunlight and looked around. They didn’t appear to be anywhere special. They were on a street around the corner from where she’d met Chance. They were standing on the sidewalk, and she spun in a circle, searching for something special, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
“I don’t get it,” she said at last. “What’s the surprise?”
Chance took her shoulders and turned her to face the house they were standing in front of. “This is.”
Confused, she looked up at him. “It’s a house.”
“It’sourhouse,” he corrected.
Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth fell open in shock. “Ourhouse,” she repeated. “We don’t have a house.”
“We do now.”
“Since when?”
“Since about an hour ago.”
“You really bought this for us?” Hope could feel tears welling up. This house was gorgeous. It wasexactlywhat she had imagined. It was perfect. Literally perfect. And to know that Chance had done this for her made it even better.
“I really bought this for us, to start our lives together in.”
Hope threw her arms around Chance’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Tears of pure joy were rolling down her cheeks. “I love you so much.”
“I love you more.”
* * * * *