Page 54 of Love in Fine Print

As we made our way down the brick path that led to her condo, I began sweating and my pulse was racing. The ring was pressing into my hip bone, reminding me that it was there. Nerves were popping in my stomach like grease in a hot frying pan. If I felt like this popping the question under these circumstances, I couldn’t imagine how people did it when it was the real thing.

“Is this a bad idea?” I asked Dolly, whose tail thumped against the concrete slab of Olivia’s porch as we reached the front door.

She looked up at me with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She was more concerned with the chicken chow mein I was carrying than she was with my internal crisis.

I took a deep breath, lifted my hand, and knocked on the door.

Within seconds it opened, and Olivia appeared looking more adorable than any person had a right to look. Her blonde hair was piled up on top of her head. She had on a large t-shirt and sweats and her face was covered in a blue face mask.

“Ben!” she said, clearly surprised to see me.

“And Dolly.” I glanced down at the very eager golden retriever at my side.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked as she bent down and greeted Dolly excitedly.

Lamely, I lifted the bag of takeout. “I brought dinner.”

She shook her head and a few hairs fell onto her forehead and stuck to the mask. “No, I mean, aren’t you supposed to be at dinner with someone?”

“I didn’t go. It was a woman I’ve known for a while. She is recently divorced and even though nothing has ever happened between us, I had a feeling her plan was for that to change tonight. It felt wrong to lead someone on.”

Olivia blinked several times but remained silent.

Her blank expression made me question whether showing up like this had been a stupid move or not. It wasn’t like there was a manual on how to date, or fake date your fake fiancée.

“Can I come in?” I asked, figuring I was here anyway, and we did have things to discuss.

“Oh, yes, of course, sorry, come in.” She moved to the side and I walked in. Despite the fact that this was the second time I’d been in the condo, it struck me again just how cozy and warm it felt.

“You can put that down in the kitchen. I’m going to go wash this off.” Olivia motioned to her face.

I walked into her kitchen and opened a cabinet that I thought would have plates in it but it turned out there were glasses. I opened another cabinet and hit the jackpot. I pulled two plates down and went on a search for utensils. I opened a drawer that looked like it was probably a junk drawer. It had pens, batteries, and matches in it.

Matches.

The first time I was here, I’d noticed Olivia had a ton of candles around her house. Candles set a mood. Candles were exactly what I needed. I grabbed the matches and quickly began to light every candle in her front room, there were eleven.

Once I finished, I pulled out my phone and started playing “The Way You LookTonight”by Frank Sinatra. I might have tried to find something better, but it was the only slow song I could think of and I knew Olivia would be back any second.

Dolly, who realized something was going on, was circling my feet and whining, probably thinking this was a game, as I waited in the center of the room.

“Oh, I love this song,” Olivia called out as I heard her making her way down the hallway. “My dad used to play it—” her words stopped up short when she came around the corner and saw me standing in her living room, surrounded by candles. Her facewas scrubbed clean, and she’d put on yoga pants and a gray sweatshirt that fell off one shoulder leaving it bare. She stared at me in shock and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Well, when you mentioned back story, I realized that people were going to ask how I popped the question, so…” I pulled the ring out of my pocket and got down on one knee.

Her hand flew over her mouth. “Ben!”

This proposal might not be a conventional one, but I could still make it special. I thought back to the things I said when Nadia asked me about her and decided to just speak from the heart. “Olivia, I know we haven’t known each other long, but in the short time we have, you have consistently surprised me in the best way possible. I could tell you how beautiful you are, how the atmosphere changes in any room you walk in, how you draw people to you, and it is impossible not to be captivated by you, but I don’t think that’s what you want to hear.

“So instead, I’ll say this, you are kind, thoughtful, insightful, and intelligent. You have an incredible work ethic, and you aredefinitelythe second kind of attorney Walter described.”

Moisture filled her bottom lids as she smiled from ear to ear.

“You keep your cards close to your chest, but there are these moments, these tiny moments, where I see glimpses of you that I don’t think a lot of people get to see and it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world. You are truly a masterpiece, a work of art, and I don’t think even if I spent every day for the rest of my life studying you, I would ever see all the beauty that you are. But I wouldloveto spend the next year trying to. So, Olivia Bradshaw, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

Dolly barked happily beside us.

Two single tears fell down Olivia’s cheeks as she stared down at the ring in the box and reached out to touch it. “Where did you get this?”

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