Page 70 of Be Less Panda

‘And I found a lovely restaurant down one of the side streets that has excellent reviews but isn’t extravagantly priced, so I’ve booked us a table for 7.30 tonight.’

‘But that’s three hours away. Any thoughts on what we should do to kill time before then?’ she asked, undoing the buttons on his shirt.

‘I hadn’t, but I’m getting the impression that you have.’

‘I thought we could get in some extra practice in case we need that Only Fans account,’ she said, unclipping his belt.

Mark didn’t look too disappointed at her suggestion.

The following morning, Lucy was snuggled up in Mark’s arms as their gondola floated towards the Bridge of Sighs. ‘This is the life,’ she said.

‘Come here, you.’ He turned and kissed her as they passed under the bridge. ‘That’s it now. You’re stuck with me forever.’

‘What do you mean by that?‘ Was he making some sort of proposal?

‘It’s what the legend says. If you kiss someone under the Bridge of Sighs, you will always be together in eternal love. I suppose we should get married now.’

‘You suppose we should get married?’

‘Yeah. I want to marry you. What do you think?’

Was this another one of his wind-ups? But he did sound sincere.Laugh it off, just in case he’s not serious.

‘Only you could propose on a romantic boat trip in one of the most romantic cities in the world and make it sound like a casual invite to the cinema.’

‘Everyone has to have a talent for something.’ He looked her straight in the eyes. ‘So what’s your answer?’

He was serious then. Lucy hadn’t been expecting that at all. But was it that outrageous an idea? Not really. Ever since they’d met, she’d felt he could be ‘The One’, and living together hadn’t changed that.Go for it, Lucy Thomson!‘I suppose we could get married. Yes!’

‘Good. That’s sorted then.’ He sat back in the seat, looking pleased.

‘Is that it?’

‘What else are you expecting me to do? I’d probably fall in the canal if I went down on one knee.’

‘A kiss would be good!’

‘We’ve just done that.’

‘Seriously? Are you rationing them now?’

‘I don’t want to wear my lips out,’ he said, pouting them for effect.

‘I don’t recall you being worried about that at 6 o’clock this morning.’ She leaned over and kissed him again.

‘I thought that was at sunset?’ Em said when Lucy FaceTimed her from a café later.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re only bound together in eternal love if you kiss under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset.’

Lucy grinned at Mark. ‘You proposed to me under false pretences!’

‘It would’ve been sunset somewhere in the world,’ Mark said. ‘I’m sure whatever god or goddess of love is looking down on us won’t mind. Anyway, we couldn’t do it at sunset - we won’t be here this evening.’

‘Ooh. Where you off to next?’ Em asked.

‘Unfortunately, we’re off to see the olds,’ Lucy said.

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