Page 61 of The Promposal

I stood on the sidewalk and watched as the limo pulled away from the curb. It was then that I realized I was not at Victor Kim’s house. In fact, I’d been so caught up in my conversation that it hadn’t registered that we’d been driving for a long time.

They’d left me in front of the Alban Havelock Hotel. The one Jake had brought me to a couple of weeks ago when he told me he wanted to be an architect. Only it looked totally different.

The windows had all been replaced, the graffiti had been painted over, and the roof looked brand-new. The murder-death-kill building had been revitalized and no longer looked like it had been rejected as a set for a horror movie for being too scary.

A purple carpet led from the sidewalk to the front doors. Two large men stood by the doors and opened them up for me, allowing me inside.

My prom committee had been here. A table had been placed next to the door to take tickets and stamp hands. I saw the photographer setting up in the lobby, near the front desk. There were lights on everywhere, and the flooring had been replaced. There was no more weird smell. In fact, the scent of fresh paint hit me. Jake had been right. This old gal was beautiful when she was scrubbed clean.

I heard the sound of music and headed over to the ballroom. The walk seemed a lot shorter now that I was no longer worried for my life. The massive ballroom doors had been propped open, and there were too many things happening in the room for me to take everything in at once.

It was completely decorated, with every cheesy and amazing thing we’d picked out from our catalog. The giant carriage was off near the left wall, the massive clock about to strike midnight hung above the middle of the dance floor, and the large cardboard castle was up on the right side. All the restoration in this room had been finished. The wooden floors redone, the ceiling mural fixed, the columns and pillars returned to their original glory, the chandeliers bright and sparkling. It was beyond beautiful. I walked through the purple-and-silver balloon archways to enter the room.

Then I registered that the DJ was playing “If You Leave” by OMD. Just like in the moviePretty in Pink.

Or in my case, pretty in purple.

Then I saw my boyfriend in a tuxedo that had obviously been tailored just for him. It amazed me that after all this time together, he could still make my heart race, my lungs feel too tight for my body, and my stomach flutter just by smiling at me.

I made my way over to him and realized that there were little pieces of candy all over the floor that I had to kick out of my way.

His eyes swept appreciatively over me, from my head to my feet. “Tills, you take my breath away. You are gorgeous.”

I definitely knew the feeling. But before I could say as much, he kissed me, so passionately, so intensely, that it made me feel like my entire body was made out of light.

When he released me, I asked, “How did you get her to come to my house and ride with me?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “My dad knows a guy.”

Of course. “What’s with the stuff all over the floor?”

Jake winked at me and reached down to pick up two foil-wrapped pieces of candy. One was a solid color, the other one striped. “These are Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses because what kind of promposal would it be for you if candy wasn’t involved?”

“I seriously love you. But this is going to be a huge mess when everybody else arrives and steps all over them.”

“We’ll get the underclassmen to pick them up. And if we miss a few, I’ve already paid the cleaning deposit.”

“Sweeter words have never been spoken.”

“Wait, I’m not done.” He put the candy into my hand. “And now that I have Hugged and Kissed the ground you walk on, will you be my date for prom?”

How cute was he? I wrapped my arms around his neck and said, “Well ... I’ll think about it.”

He pulled me in closer. “I think I could probably convince you to say yes.”

“You probably could,” I agreed. “Why is all the prom stuff here?”

His arms went around my waist, and we began dancing slowly together. “Ella told me how upset you were about the prom being at Victor Kim’s house. So I called Mr. Biltmore and talked him into letting us have it here. The thing that finally clinched it, though? Apparently it was that interview you did about your mom. Turns out Mr. Biltmore is a massive fan of your father, and then he gave me his blessing. That’s why we have the security out front. To only allow students in and make sure they’re not destructive while they’re here. And to give you and me some time alone before the dance starts.”

“Yep. Just you, me, and the DJ.”

“He sees nothing. He hears nothing.”

I laughed. “That’s not going to work out too well since he’s in charge of the music.”

Jake kissed me again, with me giggling against his lips.

“And you got the whole prom committee here to set up without me knowing.” That was why Ella had been so excited for me to go to the dance recital. She hadn’t had to lie to me about where she was going or figure out a way to keep me from finding out.

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