Page 108 of Living with Fire

“Hi,” I respond, swiping a finger under my eye to catch a tear. “You’re making me cry.”

His grin ratchets up a notch. “These are the kind of tears I don’t mind, but I could stop what I’m about to do if you’d rather.”

“No!” I cry, and there’s laughter all around us. I think the whole room had fallen away until that moment, but now I remember everyone we know seems to be here. Nate must feel rather sure of my answer for him to invite everyone. He’d be right, and I love that he’s included his family and our friends. “Please continue.”

Nate chuckles, giving me a short nod before he takes a deep breath. He gazes up at me with so much love shining in his eyes that I think I might melt into a puddle.

“I know we’ve only been together for six months, so this might seem sudden, but Savanna, I love you,” he says, his hand squeezing mine. “I think maybe I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you in that elevator and you called me a disgusting, filthy pig.”

I can’t help it; I throw my head back and laugh. I am never going to live that down.

“Christ, I love that sound. I love it more when I know I’m the cause of it,” he beams, a sense of pride mingling with the love in his eyes. “I know I want to hear you laugh for the rest of my life. I want to spend every day getting you to laugh, and smile, on good days, and especially on bad ones.”

He brings my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it before he continues, and yep, I’m a puddle of goo because of this man.

“I want to hold you every night, grow with you every day, have a family with you when we’re ready, then get old with you and chase grandkids around.” I swear his eyes are shining with his own tears, but I can’t be sure because mine are filled with moisture.

“Will you make me the luckiest guy out there, and marry me?”

I could easily scream my yes, jump into his arms, and kiss him until we’re both breathless. And I will. But I’m really impressed with how composed he’s been through this entire proposal. It’s completely different from when he asked me on a date, and it might be a little devious, but I kind of want to make him sweat a little.

I suck in my bottom lip, releasing it a moment later. “You want me to be your wife?”

Confusion clouds his eyes, and I have to bite back a laugh. “That’s generally what happens when a guy marries a woman…”

“Like you’re asking me to be yours forever?” I raise an eyebrow.

He’s going to give me hell later. I can see the panic creep into his eyes, like he isn’t sure this was the right move, something I remember fondly from when he asked me on our first date. It’s adorable he hasn’t clued in yet.

“I am,” he says hesitantly. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows hard.

Biting down on my bottom lip, I know he can see the amusement in my eyes because his start to narrow at me. I think it’s dawning on him that I’m toying with him.

I give him the most innocent smile I can muster. “You’re my boss.”

There it is. The recognition of the first time he asked me out. “If that’s a problem, you’re fired.”

Laughter spills out of me as I throw myself into his arms, shouting what has been in my heart since the second I saw him down on one knee. “Yes! Of course I’ll marry you!”

Nate’s arms wrap around me, his lips capturing mine, and for a moment we stay right there. Then he’s standing up, spinning me around as we kiss each other until we’re both gasping for air and he’s setting me back on my feet.

I’m not sure if the cheers and claps were happening the whole time we kissed, or if they only start as we finally part because the whole world seemed to have disappeared for a time, and it was just the two of us, sharing the moment together.

Though I want nothing more than to stare at this incredible man for the rest of the night, I glance to my side, my smile glowing as I look at our friends and family.

Then do a double take as one face catches my attention.

“Connor?” I shriek at my brother. I realize that Devin is beside him, and my dad is behind them. “Dad? Dev?”

My head snaps back to Nate, my eyes wide, and he grins at me, giving me a nod to go. His eyes convey an ease and happiness that says he knew this would happen when I saw them. He anticipated it.

I’m halfway to them when I recognize one more familiar face standing beside Connor, and I scream so loud I’m sure I scare half the people in here. “Maddie!”

I’m overwhelmed at the sight of my best friend and my family, the four of them enveloping me in a hug that seems like it’s one giant embrace. I think I actually go from one to the next, but the tangle of arms all seems to be the same. When I get to Maddie, she squeals and I shriek while we hug fiercely.

I can’t believe she got time off to come out here. We saw each other at Christmas when Nate and I went to Colorado, but she wasn’t able to get out here to visit.

“Let me see the ring in person!” she says, letting me go.

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