Page 94 of The Confidentiality Clause
Three months later
I tap my fingers on the balcony railing. The mountains dotted with fall foliage spread before me, and the sky is painted with a fiery sunset, but I can’t enjoy the view. I’m too nervous that something is going to go wrong. Ariel should be here soon, but I have no way of knowing exactly when. Sutton told me when they left Charlotte, but since she’s driving, she couldn’t update me.And I can’t talk to Ariel because she thinks I’m managing an all-day shoot with a magazine that’s featuring the Rockets. I don’t want to make her suspicious.
Right now, she thinks that she and Sutton are heading to the cabin for a girls’ trip while Shaw and I work. In reality, I’m about to propose. I turn around and take in what I’ve set up for her. The room is glowing with twinkle lights and filled to the brim with flowers that Miles’ wife, Ellie, arranged. There’s a pathway through the flowers that leads to the balcony. The place she always goes when she arrives here. The place where I’ll be on one knee.
It looks beautiful, but it doesn’t feel like enough. Sutton assured me that though Ariel is a romantic, she wouldn’t want anything over the top. I trusted her, as well as my instincts, and went with proposing in her favorite spot during the sunset. At least, I hope it will be while the sun sets. If they don’t get here soon, it might be dark out. That would still be romantic, but it’s not what I envisioned.
I push my hands into my hair, then groan when I realize I probably just ruined all the careful styling I did to it earlier. What a waste of time. Tires crunch on the gravel driveway. My heart leaps into my throat. I quickly try to smooth my hair back and double check that the ring box is still in my pocket. Then I press play on the playlist I made of Ariel’s favorite songs. The one we danced to in my kitchen a few months ago, “Willow Tree,” begins to play right as she opens the door.
She looks gorgeous in her signature black dress. It hugs her curves and shows off her legs. Her hair is down in soft curls, and I have to resist the urge to cross the room to her and run my fingers through each one of them. Surprise writes itself all over her features. Her gaze bounces around the room, taking in the lights and flowers, until it finally lands on me. The smile that takes over her face is mesmerizing.
Sutton stands a step behind her, phone in hand as she takes photos and films. Shaw and the rest of our friends are at a rented cabin a few minutes away, waiting to celebrate with us. Assuming she says yes. She could say no. My stomach clenches at the thought.
Ariel rushes toward me and throws herself in my arms. I smile and wrap myself around her. This feels like a yes.
“You tricked me,” she says near my ear.
“I had to. You love surprises.”
She giggles and pulls back to look up at me. “Only when they’re from you.”
I dip my head and steal a kiss. Then I take her hands in mine and gaze into her perfect blue eyes.
“It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I last saw you, and it feels like too much,” I say. She smiles. “I hate being apart from you. I’m better with you.” I squeeze her hands. “I want to say goodbye less.”
I get down on one knee. Her eyes become glassy. The sunset frames her beauty even better than I imagined.
“Ariel, I love you more than anything. I love your smile, your wit, and your loving heart. I want to spend the rest of our lives challenging each other and loving with a love so intense it shakes the foundations of the earth. Will you marry me?”
I let go of one of her hands to pull out the ring box, and open it. She gasps at the sight. Tears trickle down her face, and she uses her free hand to wipe them away as she nods.
“Yes, yes, I’ll marry you,” she says through her tears.
I slide her teardrop diamond ring onto her finger, then spring up to pull her into my arms where she belongs. Our lips crash together and we kiss through tears and laughter. When we finally pull apart, I press my forehead against hers.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” I ask.
“Hm?”
I smirk. “Soon I’ll be able to call youmy wife.”
She fists the fabric of my suit. “How do you feel about eloping?”
Shaw Daniels
Ten Years AfterThe Golden Goal
“All right, boys, you’ve worked hard all season for this. You know what to do, you just have to execute,” I say to the team of gangly little boys in hockey pads staring up at me.
“What does execute mean?” one of the boys, Dylan, asks.
“It means chop off someone’s head,” Carson shouts from the back of the group.
I rein back a smile. “It can mean to kill someone, but it also means to follow through. Which is what I need you to do tonight if you want to win the championship.”
They nod, their helmets bobbing in unison.
“So we shouldn’t kill them?” my son, Griffin, clarifies. Deep brown eyes just like his mom’s stare up at me.
