Page 110 of Cakes for the Grump
Luke tells everyone he hates them all.
I privately smile into my hand, wondering whether to defend Luke. Despite his busy work schedule, he seems to make time for me. If we aren’t sharing mornings together, we are messaging throughout the day.
Theo leaps off the couch and wags a finger at Luke. “He hasn’t even gotten our precious Rita her engagement ring. Look at her finger! It’s bare.”
“This is afakeengagement,” I remind the room. “We all know that, right?”
Luke glances at me sideways. “Actually, the ring has come in. The box is in my room. I—was going to give it to you later.”
Too late, Theo is leaving.
“Don’t go in there,” warns Luke.
“Going to the pisser,” he says, jaunting out of the living room.
“He’s not,” says Sistine.
“Definitely not,” says Noor.
“Consider your privacy invaded,” adds Kiren.
Theo comes back with the velvet box in his hand. He goes over and presses it into Luke’s hand. “Go on. Pretend we’re not here. Propose.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I say.
“BOOOOO,” yells my friends in the background.
Luke and I are both sighing as if in mutual agreement we need to reevaluate continuing all our friendships. He comes to stand in front of me.
“Can I have your hand?” Luke cooly asks.
“Pathetic!” yells Theo.
Sistine sticks both her thumbs down. “Don’t half-arse this, otherwise I’ll make sure Rita runs off with Adam.”
“Meddlesome little shits,” mumblesLuke.
“You say the most romantic things.”
He stills and considers me. “You want romance?”
“No, it wasn’t—I’m not asking for it?—“
Luke goes down on one knee. I can see them now, clearly, those stunning blue-gray eyes, and that face of his tilted up at me. His hair is blonde and tousled, worn with a bit more of a wave than usual but shorn shorter at the sides. It—he—takes my breath away. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this moment. Him on his knee for me. How can I?
“The moment you walked into my office,” he says. “My life changed. I don’t think things will ever be the same for us. I didn’t—I never expected someone like you. I didn’t think I deserved it.”
“Why? You do.”
He lifts my hand and rubs a thumb over the skin. “Will you do me the honor of being my fiancée?”
“Yes. Sure. Why not?”
Amusement dances over his face. “As long as you don’t have better things to do.”
“Not at the moment,” I reassure.
“If that changes?—”
