Page 14 of My Fake Neighbor's Valentine

“Give me a second until I stop blushing.” I inhale his scent to further calm myself. “Okay, we can talk now.”

“You are adorable. I can’t believe I can call youmine.” Seth sighs, making my heart flutter.

“I can’t believe it too, but I’m warning you now. I’m never gonna let you go. You pretty much think of yourself as a married man.” I point at him with my index finger.

His smile grows wider before he slides off the bed and runs butt naked to his dresser. I watch him rummage around until he comes back with a bunch of rings. He sits before me, pulling me up to him. He grabs my left hand and starts putting on and taking off ring after ring. He doesn’t stop until he finds the one that fits perfectly.

“What are you doing, Seth?”

“If I’m a married man, then I have to find a ring for you, my wife.”

“Don’t you think that’s too fast? Besides, I was just saying to consider yourself like a married man. I was not implying for us to get married now.”

“It took us years to even confess. If we have communicated more, we would be already married.”

“Gosh, I can’t deny that, but now that we are here, I don’t know if we should rush it.”

“Well, I’m just finding the ring that fits you so I can start searching for a proper ring. In the meantime, we can move in together.”

“I would like for us to move in together when we get married. There are a lot of things I didn’t give to my mom. The biggest one is leaving the house married. I would like for her to have the peace of mind to know her daughter started cohabitation with her husband and not a boyfriend. I also would like to minimize the amount of moves we do.”

“I’m okay with that. We can keep switching between my and your place. We can start looking into areas we would like to live in once we get married.”

“Are you sure you are okay with waiting? Even if you have the ring, it’s gonna take some time to coordinate a wedding.”

He grabs my hands, holding them together. “I’ll always wait for you, Grace. You are worth every second.”

I could have melted right then and there, but he pulls me off the bed and throws me onto his shoulders.

“Seth,” I shout.

“I promise you another round in the shower and I’m a man who keeps all of his promises.”

Let’s just say that Seth not only delivers on his promises, but he over delivers every single time.

Eight

Epilogue

Maggie and Grace’s mom help me set up everything while Grace is out with her dad.

This is the fourth time Mrs. Stewart visits us in Maxwell. She still dislikes the city, but she is more open to visit Grace and check on how I’m treating her daughter and maybe how serious we are. I invited her mid-October to pick the engagement ring from the five rings I narrow it down. I’ve been hiding the ring in my office for months, waiting until the perfect time.

I thought to propose during the same day we confessed our feelings during my company’s Valentine’s dinner, but she was on a business trip during those days and I was in the middle of closing our biggest yet consulting project with a new client. Somehow we are now finishing decorating Grace’s living room on February 14th; one year and a few days later after we started dating. Of course, her mom and her sister think is a third year in a committed relationship. At this point, I don’t think clarifying timelines would benefit any of us. As long as we keep the years straight, we can pull the cat out of the bag years down the line.

Maggie calls Grace and informs us they are on their way back to the apartment. We light up the candles around, turn off the lights, and I stand in front of the decorations with the box in my pocket. Her mom and sister hide in the hallway as we all hear her turning the keys to open her door.

Her hand stops at the light switch the moment she notices the candles surrounding me.

“What is this?”

“What do you think it is?” I ask.

“I’m asking because I’m not sure. Definitely something romantic, but what? I thought we were going to dinner with my parents, baby sister and her boyfriend in like three hours.”

“We are.”

“Honey, can you fully step inside your apartment so I can close the door behind us?” Her dad says.

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