Page 37 of Marry Me, Right Now

“You don’t think my best friends could miss this ring?”

“Oh, then we should do this right now.” Taking her hand, I led her to the window, turning the music down on the way.

“Friends, I have a couple of quick announcements, then we’ll get right back to drinking, I promise.” Mia laughed along with everyone, but as I held her hand, I could feel her quaking.

“In a way, this is a housewarming party, to welcome my gorgeous Mia to my home.” A ripple of applause and cheers took over for a moment.

“It’s also a chance for our friends to get together and meet before another event that’s happening next week, and we hope you’ll join us.” A few people glanced at each other curiously, but they obviously had no idea.

Holding up Mia’s right hand, I shook her ring in the light. “This brilliantly clever, creative, kind, gorgeous lady has agreed to be my wife, and the wedding is next Sunday.” There was a moment of stunned silence before the applause and inevitable cheers.

She looked up at me, grinning, obviously thrilled that they were all so happy for us. I leaned in to give her a sweet kiss, trying to hold back a little.

I wasn’t sure whether she would want to say anything, but she held up her hand to quiet everyone. “First off, no, I am not pregnant.” She paused while the laughter subsided. “Some of you know me very well, and you know that I don’t like being the center of attention. For those who don’t know me yet, you’ll find out that I always like to get things done without a fuss. And you might know that some people…” she shifted her eyes back and forth suspiciously while everyone laughed, “Like to make a huge deal over big life events. Having it quickly will cut down on that, and the perfect date presented itself, so there we are.”

She looked up at me with those big, pretty eyes shining. “And since Jacob is the first man who understands me, cares for me while still letting me make my own choices, truly listening to me, you know I need to lock this unicorn down before he changes his mind.”

Stretching up to kiss me, I couldn’t believe how perfect her speech was. She was selling everything brilliantly. She must have written and memorized it within the past day or so.

Turning back, I said, “So drink, eat, meet people you don’t know yet, and save Sunday, September ninth for the little shindig.”

“Actually,” she corrected me, “It will be a hootenanny, not a shindig, because there will be no banjos.”

We walked away amidst laughter and congratulations, and I grabbed us two glasses of wine from a passing server. “You were amazing,” I told her, clinking glasses.

“Laughing and light,” she whispered. “I studied up on convincing speeches and how to make crowds like you immediately.”

“You’ve been working so hard,” I said, suddenly concerned. “Do you even sleep at night?”

“I have all day now,” she shrugged. “I’m used to working an eight to ten-hour shift, so I’ve just been putting that in, plus overtime, but in a different way.”

“Damn. I had no idea.”

“Serious business,” she said with a grin, taking a huge swig of wine. I could see that her hand was still fluttering from nerves. “Now I’m going to calm down with just this one glass of wine, and flash my rock under everyone’s nose. Prepare yourself for the girlie squealing.”

She kissed me on the cheek, taking off to a cluster of my female friends. Sure enough, they clutched her hand and practically screamed in admiration.

A few minutes later I heard Mia squeal, “Liam!” as she ran into the arms of a tall, lanky black haired man. He gave her a long, meaningful hug, and seemed to be a sweet, big brother type of friend. I was touched at how close she was with these people.

Hours later, after the guests had left and I escorted the last couple out, I turned to see her gathering glasses and helping the caterers clean up.

“Please,” I said, “set those down.”

She stuck her tongue out at me before taking a carefully balanced armload of glasses to the kitchen, then came back to me. “Instinct,” she said with a laugh. Her cheeks were glowing from running in circles, and likely from so many compliments all night long.

“Do you want some tea or anything?” I asked.

“I just chugged some water, thanks.” She looked positively exhausted.

“You should likely get to bed, then,” I said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Tonight must have been pretty draining.”

She nodded, but her eyes flashed. “Come on, let me show you something.” Grabbing my hand, she led me to her room. I tried not to think about how that gesture was becoming automatic.

Her room hadn’t been altered much, but the desk was now definitely lived in, featuring the new laptop I had insisted she buy. Opening it quickly, there was a huge spreadsheet with all of our friends listed.

“This is how I could connect everyone,” she said, immediately flipping into business mode. “Everyone’s interests broken down into code words so that I could search, connect people with common interests, and get people talking to each other.”

“I’m so damn proud of you,” I blurted.

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