Page 117 of Heartbeat

“No, Sean! I’m not sad. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t believe this is my life. Finding joy. Finding love. Finding you. You keep giving and giving, and all I have to give back to you is me.”

“But darlin’, you’re all I ever wanted,” he said, and kissed her. “Now, my dear fiancée, I’m starving and we’re going to be late. Are you ready?”

“I just need my coat,” she said.

“The gray one?” he asked, as he went to the coat closet.

She nodded.

Moments later, they were going out the door arm in arm.

Music drifted from the dining room out into the lobby as they entered the restaurant, checking their coats at the door.

People were already eyeing the striking couple. The tall man in black. The elegant woman in the little black dress standing beside him.

“Sean Pope. Table for two,” he said.

The hostess looked up at him and smiled. “Yes, sir.Right this way,” she said, and led them into the dining area, winding their way to a table by the windows overlooking the night lights of Jubilee.

Special menus were already at the place settings. A single LED candlestick rested at the center of the table, and nearest the window and below it, a sprinkling of red rose petals lay on the crisp white cloth.

As he seated her, Sean leaned down and brushed a kiss against the side of her cheek, and then took the other chair across the table and reached for her hand, fingering the ring he’d just put on it.

“You are just as beautiful by candlelight as you are wearing nothing in bed.”

She felt the heat of her own blush as she leaned across the table and whispered, “You are a bit scandalous, Sean Pope.”

“I do what I can,” he said, and then winked.

The tinkle of her laugh drifted across the dining area, turning heads and bringing smiles to strangers’ faces. It was the night for love and lovers.

Every course of their meal was orchestrated to perfection, beginning with champagne. After the sommelier filled the flutes, Sean picked up his glass.

“A toast to the night and to my beautiful fiancée,” he said.

“And to you, Sean Pope…the man who holds my heart,” she countered.

Glasses clinked.

Bubbles tickled her nose as she took her first sip; then she glanced out the window.

“Oh, Sean! Just look at that moon. This night is magic.”

He knew the moon was up there, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“Love you forever,” Sean whispered.

Amalie turned away from the moon to look at him, and when she did, he saw that faraway look in her eyes again. “I know you,” she whispered, and then blinked. Her gaze shifted, and she was smiling. “Love you more.”

He nodded and then pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“We’re going to call Wolf and show him your ring. Come sit on my lap,” he said.

Amalie jumped up from her seat, plopped down in Sean’s lap, and then watched her father’s face appearing on the screen.

“Hi, Dad!” Amalie said, and turned her hand toward the phone. “We’re engaged!”

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