Page 28 of Forever

"Thank you," Gareth told the woman after we were seated.

"Veronica will be assisting you this evening. She'll be in to take your drink order in just a few minutes. Enjoy your evening." She turned and left, closing one side of the door behind her.

"Gareth, this is wonderful. Thank you so much," I reached across the table for his hand.

"You know I don't ever want you to forget how special you are to me. How much I love you."

My heart soared. "You tell me every day. I could never forget. I love you more than I ever thought possible."

"Happy anniversary, baby." He leaned across the table, and I met him halfway to press my lips to his.

* * *

I sat backin my chair, my stomach full of the most delicious meal I'd eaten in my life

"Oh my gosh, that was so good. I need to try and find a recipe for the chicken, because it was out of this world."

Gareth chuckled. "Are you sure that's something you want to tackle. I mean, it's not that you're a terrible cook, but..." he trailed off with a twinkle in his eye.

I gasped, not entirely in anger, because he and I both knew cooking wasn't necessarily my forte. I crossed my arms over my chest with a mild huff. "I'm not that bad. Just for that comment I'm going to make this and you're going to eat every single bite, or...or, no sex for a week."

He covered his chest with his hands. "You would do that to me? The man you love? Threaten to take away that sweet, sweet pussy of yours?"

"Shhhh, not so loud," I giggled. My cheeks flushed and I glanced around to make sure no one heard him. "What if someone walked by?"

Gareth rose from his seat and circled to my side of the table. He tugged my hands and pulled me to standing. His arms wrapped around me and he nibbled my neck. "Then they would have heard you being a very bad girl, threatening me."

He nipped and sucked at my skin before traveling up my jaw and then my mouth. We swayed back and forth while he slipped his tongue between my lips. Every time Gareth kissed me it was like the first time. Sparks always singed across my skin. He was the perfect lover. Always took care of me. Showed me how much he loved me. I moaned against his mouth. A small cough behind him broke us apart.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you were ready for your dessert yet?" Veronica's cheeks were pink and there was a shy smile on her face, but she didn't make eye contact with us. I wiped my hands on my pants and Gareth and I both returned to our seats.

"I can't eat a single bite more," I said.

He ignored me. "Yes, please. You can bring it now."

Our server nodded and hurried out the door.

"Gareth, there's no way I can eat anything else. I don't want it to go to waste," I implored.

"Whatever you don't eat, I will. Or we can take it home. It's fine."

Within a few minutes, Veronica returned, set the plate in the middle of the table and disappeared without a word. I turned back to Gareth, but his eyes were on the small chocolate cake she'd put between us. "She practically ran out of here."

His gaze lifted to meet mine. The expression on his face gave me pause. "Gareth?"

My eyes dropped toward the table and something caught my attention. Something shiny. I sucked in a breath, and my head jerked up to see him staring at me. My whole body started to tremble. He reached out and plucked up the ring that had been lying on a chocolate candied ribbon. My vision of him became blurry. Then, Gareth was kneeling on the ground next to me, my shaking hand in his. His beautiful toffee colored eyes bore into mine.

"Olivia Louise Perkins, from the moment I saw you at that diner three years ago, I knew, without a doubt, that you were someone special. Someone I wanted to get to know. You carried so much light inside you, that it shone through your eyes. I wanted nothing more than to bask in that light." He took a breath, and I choked back a sob. "You've taught me more about love than I ever thought I could know. Your kind and generous heart is one I wish everyone had. You make me laugh. You make me want to be a better person. I want to grow old with you. Have kids with you. I want to make the world envious of the fact that I get to be with you. For the rest of my life. Livvie, I love you with everything that I am. Will you marry me?"

Inodded, because I couldn't get words out of my throat. Gareth slid the ring on my finger, which loosened them. "Yes, oh, my god, yes. I love you so much."

I clutched his face between my palms and leaned down to press my lips to his. Together, we stood, and the clapping started outside the room. We pulled apart to see several people looking through the door at us, all of them smiling, and a few women wiping tears away. I wiped my own away and waved a little, but Gareth blocked my vision of them. He stood directly in front of me and this time the kiss was more. It was full of his love, his hopes, and his dreams. I answered his kiss back with mine.

Finally, we reluctantly pulled away from each other. I brought my hand up and stared at the diamond on my finger. It was absolutely stunning. The small round diamonds surrounding the large, cushion cut sparkled off the candlelight. The simple white gold band set off the rest of the ring. It was something I would have picked out for myself in a heartbeat. Gareth knew me so well.

"My parents are dying to hear from us. I told them it was happening tonight," he said.

"Oh, we'll have to call them later then."

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