Page 118 of Enchanting the CEO

My first stop was at Target. I needed some markers and huge sheets of paper.

Thirty minutes later, I turned onto my street, parking a few feet ahead of the gate as I didn't want Diane to see me. This had to be a surprise. I’d already written on the posters in the parking lot at Target, so I had everything prepped and ready to go.

Here goes nothing.

I kept the paper rolls under my arm, and as I entered the foyer, I checked the downstairs rooms. They were empty.

She must be in the attic.

I jogged up the staircase, feeling ridiculous with the awkward posterboard.

I realized I'd been too quick to judge that dude in her favorite movie—I totally forgot the name. I'd called him a coward for writing stuff on the paper instead of telling her how he felt, but now I understood. Somehow, it was easier to write things down.

I knocked at the door, and she immediately opened it. Her jaw dropped, and then it closed again when I put my finger in front of my lips. I took the sheets of poster from under my arm and held up the first one.

It said I love you.

She covered her mouth with one hand.

I put that one down.

I don't want you to move away to an apartment or anywhere.

The next one said Unless it's with me in our new home where you can... The paper hadn't been big enough for the whole message, so I lowered it, revealing the final one.

Bring in your reading chair and anything else you want.

She put both hands on her cheeks, splaying her fingers wide as she smiled from ear to ear. I put the papers down.

"I can't believe you did this,” she exclaimed.

“I can't believe you want to move away," I said, my voice almost a growl.

I stepped forward, putting an arm around her waist. She immediately laced her hands behind my neck. I loved that her instinct when I brought her closer was to pull me even closer still.

"Your house is almost ready," she murmured. "And we never..."

"I know that, but I love you, and I want you to move in with me."

She smiled before hiding her face in my neck. "I kind of got that from the posters. That was so amazing. You did like the movie. I will forever remember this moment."

"Good, because so will I. I wasn't kidding, Diane. I not only don't want you to move away—" I pulled back because I wanted to look at her. "—I want us to live together. I know we're not good at talking, but we’ll deal with that in due course. We need to talk in detail about what we want from each other, what we expect, what we dream about. But we'll do that together."

"Together," she agreed, nodding. "Gabe, I can't believe this. I’m so in love with you, I didn't even know what to do with myself. And I tried to gauge where this was going.”

"Yeah, babe. One thing about me? I'm not good with hints—picking up on them, giving them, none of that. So one of the first things," I said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it before putting it back on my neck, "is that when you want us to talk about something, don't beat around the bush."

"Be direct. Got it," she replied.

"That sounds great."

She pressed her hands into my shoulders and lifted herself onto her toes. I smiled when she brought her lips to mine, and I captured her mouth. This kiss was exactly what I needed.

She pulled back. "Oh wait, we didn't talk. How was that property you saw?"

"It was amazing, but I can fill you in later. Right now, I need you to surrender to me completely, Diane."

She bit her lower lip and sucked in her breath, then simply nodded.

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