December

 

“ it, I’m done. Fuck these stupid apps.” She swiped through her phone to the last screen, where she’d stored all the new apps together. Deleting them one by one gave her such relief that she marvelled that she hadn’t thought of it sooner. She deleted the goal-setting app, too, and even the list of her perfect man. As each one disappeared from the screen, she felt a weight lifting off her shoulders.

“There!” she announced when they were all gone. “I’m free. Single, but free.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Now I can go back to trying to woo you in a distraction-free environment.” Luke looked at her from his spot on the couch.

“Don’t you dare start with me, Luke Turner. I never want to hear another word about dating. I’m done, totally done.” She threw her phone onto the coffee table and lay on the couch. As usual, Rex was giving all his doggy love to Luke.

“Except for your upcoming date with Richard.”

“It’s not a date. It’s just coffee.”

“You should tell him to take a flying leap.”

“I probably will. I need to see him first.”

“What if I told you some juicy secrets about me? Would that increase my chances?”

“Nope. I’m done, remember? A relationship is plain, old hard work, and I need a rest. No more surprises—that’s what I’m in the market for, right now.”

“Oh, damn.” He flicked through the channels and settled on a replay of the original Cape Fear. “This looks good. Hope it doesn’t dredge up too many memories of surprises.”

“If I wasn’t feeling so lazy, I’d throw something at you.”

“Guess we can stay on this one, then.” He slipped the remote onto the table, but she felt him watching her, instead of watching the screen.

“What?”

“What do you mean?” His eyes skated sideways to the television.

“Why do you keep looking at me?”

He sighed and swung his legs off the couch, so he could sit up. Luke picked Rex up and put him on the floor, much to the dog’s disgust. “We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t. We need to lie here and relax.”

He reached out and pushed a button, and the television flicked off. She groaned and rolled over to look at him. “Alright, hurry up. Tell me what’s so important, so I can say no and we can go back to relaxing.”

“I’m not sure where to start.”

She groaned, “Start at the beginning, Luke.”

“I need a favour again.”

“A favour I can do. Let me guess: you need a lift somewhere?”

“Well, kind of.” She watched him beat around the bush, and his features rearranged themselves.

He looks… almost guilty.

She sighed and sat up, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Tell me what you need.”

“My motorbike is being serviced, and I need you to drop me to get it and then follow me home. There’s a storm predicted, so I’d kind of like someone to make sure I get home in one piece.”

“Your motorbike? When did you get a motorbike?”

“About three years ago.”

“Why haven’t I ever seen it?”

“Because I keep my pushbike at work and use it to ride around town whenever I go out. The motorbike is to get me to and from work.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Where do you work? I’ve always wanted to ask you.”

“Three blocks away, on the main street.”

“Which business?”

“Turner’s Shopfitting. I gave you my card.”

“Oh, that big store? Isn’t there a business next door with the same name? Turner’s Car Mechanic, or something?”

“Yep. Turner’s Auto Tune.”

“That’s it. I’ve always thought it was a coincidence that two different businesses like that had the same first word. I guess ‘Turner’ is pretty common.”

“Guess so.” He was watching her as they had this inane conversation back and forth, and she scowled as she got up to get her bag and keys.

As she was slipping her shoes on, she noticed he hadn’t moved off the couch. “Are we going?”

“Yep.” He finally roused himself and put the dog in the laundry. When he came back, the strained look on his face was still there.

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. Never better.”

“Alright, weirdo. Let’s go, then.”

She drove down the street and parked outside the Auto Tune shop. It was peak hour, and she’d promised to follow him home to drop off the bike. He got out and walked toward the entrance, and a staff member dressed in a yellow polo came out and high-fived him as he walked past.

He disappeared inside, and then came out and walked toward a huge motorcycle nestled around the side of the building. The black beast sprang to life, and she watched as he tightened the strap on his matte black helmet. On the side of the helmet was a shiny gold T. Her eyes glanced back to the shopfront; the T matched the style and colour of the one on the sign. Craning her head, she could make out the Shopfitting sign next door. The same T stared at her in the same gold colour.

Shit.

She suddenly realised that Luke did have a job. His last name was Turner, and both of these businesses were named after Turners. How had she not known this?

Because you lost his business card. This can’t be right, anyway. The man is always at my house—he never goes to work!

 

***

She followed at a safe distance, squinting through the window to see him in the pouring rain. She felt so sorry for him, having to ride in this weather, but he was determined to get the bike home.

Why couldn’t he just agree to come tomorrow? This is bullshit.

The radio announcer stopped talking, and the first chords of her favourite song rang out, so she cranked up the volume. Jordan drove behind him, singing as loudly as she could, and suddenly the rain didn’t seem so awful, anymore. They’d be at his place soon, and she could turn around and get back to the girls before they even realised she was late.

She laughed to herself as she replayed the first time she and Luke had met. She’d dismissed him out of hand that day because he rode a pushbike, and now here she was, following him home on another bike. Why couldn’t this impossible man have bought himself a car and ticked off the last item on her list? She snorted in the darkness as he carefully took a turn on the slick road. That stupid list—she’d thought it was the right thing to do all those months ago, but it had turned out to be one of the worst ideas she’d ever had. If they’d never written that list, she’d probably have gone on a date with Luke.

You probably wouldn’t be friends, though. A date would have messed that up.

It was true. He was so sexy and had such a good heart, as well, that she probably would have fallen for him, if they’d started dating. It was better this way; a girl needed a great guy friend in life, and Luke was hers.

 

***

 

He pulled over to the shoulder and she tucked in behind him, making sure the headlights were pointed toward the bike. The rain had stopped, and she left the car door open as she went to see what was wrong. He was bent over beside the bike, shining a flashlight underneath the tyre as music pulsed out of her car.

“What’s wrong?” She had to raise her voice over the music.

Oops, should have turned it down a bit more.

“There’s something rattling.”

“Oh. Is that bad?”

“Not on a car, but on the bike, it can be a problem. I don’t want you to have to scrape me off the road at the next corner.”

She hummed along to the music as he continued his examination. Every so often, a drop or two of water fell from the sky. He reached into a compartment in the seat and withdrew a couple of hand tools. Tinkering with a screw here and there, tightening each one he came across, he finally satisfied himself that all was well. Luke stood up and turned to her. A new song had started on the radio, and she felt a tug at her heartstrings as she recognised the tune.

He recognises it, too.

He took her hand and pulled her toward him as she grinned at him. “What are you doing?”

His other arm snaked around her waist, and her hand rested on his shoulder as he spoke. “Did you know this is the first song we ever danced to?” He blinked as she stared at him. “The only song I’ve ever wanted to dance to again and again.” He moved against her, swaying in the headlights to the gentle beat of the music.

“Aww… we have a song.” She smiled and moved with him. “Normally, a couple having a song is reserved for when they’re having sex—or for when they’re only sixteen, you know.”

He smiled a sad smile at her. “We are neither of those things.”

She watched him watching her as he pushed her away slightly and twirled her under his arm. Her smile was contagious when she moved back to him, and he took her in his arms again. Tiny drops of rain began to fall on them, and the water beaded on top of their hair as they moved close together. She wanted to close her eyes and enjoy the moment, but she didn’t dare. She didn’t want him to think she felt something for him that she didn’t.

“Cancel your date with Richard tomorrow. Come out with me, instead,” he whispered into her hair.

“Luke, we’ve been through this,” she pulled away, and she felt like a part of her had been lost. The rain felt colder on her skin, now that she wasn’t snuggled up to him. “He meets—”

“All the criteria, yeah, I know. He ticks all the stupid boxes on your stupid list that you wrote when you were stupidly drunk last year.” He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest. “Does he tick the most important boxes for you, though? The ones you forgot to include when you made the damn list? The ones where he makes your heart sing when you see him across the room? The box that says he knows what you’re thinking when he puts a piece of hot toast in your hand in the morning without you having to ask? The box that, when it’s ticked, makes you aware of him in every fibre of your being?” He looked into her eyes, daring her to argue with him. “You know as well as I do that the only one who ticks every single one of those boxes for you,” he ran his finger down her cheek and squeezed her hand a little tighter, “is me.”

She struggled to breathe as a hot flush crept up her body. Being this close to him always made her feel like this. She’d always thought it was embarrassment, but now she could admit to herself; this feeling had her anything but embarrassed.

“Why are you doing this now? After all this time, why now?” she whispered to him.

“You made it quite clear very early on that you weren’t interested in me.”

“Why didn’t you pursue me, then?”

“Because, by all accounts, you’d already said no. You want someone to love and cherish you, Jordan, but don’t forget that we men need that, too. Why would I want to chase someone who thinks I’m not good enough? You saw me leave on my bike and you put me in a box that didn’t meet your needs. I didn’t feel like proving myself to you; I thought you’d realise who I was and what I stood for by yourself.

“I was mistaken, though, so I’m doing it now. I can’t bear to watch you make plans with that asshole. Don’t make a huge mistake by letting me get away. I don’t think I can be friends with you, anymore, Jordan. Watching you date all year has nearly killed me.

“Let me take you on a date, please. Cancel with Richard and let me have Christmas Eve. If it’s weird, we’ll forget about it and I’ll never mention it again. I’ll be the best guy friend you ever had.” He squeezed her tight against him and she felt a fresh surge of lust pulse through her. “Give me a chance to show you how good we could be together, Jordan.”

 

***

 

picked her up in a yellow Toyota right on seven o’clock on the twenty-fourth. She’d had visions of riding on the back of the motorbike and she’d dressed appropriately, so she was almost disappointed when she saw him walk to the passenger’s side of the car and open the door for her. “What’s this? Did you steal a car for me?”

“I would totally steal a car for you, but on this occasion, I borrowed it from my brother.”

“It’s nice. I like yellow,” she said as she slipped into the seat before he banged the door shut.

As he climbed in his side, he felt obliged to explain the car. “It’s not brand new, but it’s clean and—”

“Stop, Luke. I don’t need the history of the car. I’d have been happy to go on the bike—or to take a taxi, or even the bus.” She put her hand on his leg as he pulled out into the traffic. “I think you’re more obsessed by the list than I am. Let’s relax and have a nice evening together.” He grinned at her and she watched as relief washed over his features. His smile widened further as he relaxed, and she knew they would have a great night together. “Where are you taking me, anyway?”

“It’s a surprise, but I know you’ll love it.” He watched the road, glancing at her every so often when he thought she wasn’t looking. They drove toward the bay, and the car was soon sliding into a parking spot beside the beach. She opened her door to get out, much to his disgust, and banged it closed behind her. He pressed the central locking button as she looked across the water and he started to tell her where they were going for dinner. When she swung around to look at him she let out a loud cry.

He rushed to her side and found her bent over, holding her face and moaning. “What happened? Are you okay? Stand up and show me!”

“I’m fine.” Her muffled voice sounded anything but fine. “Give me a second.” Her voice was thick, like she was holding back tears, and he kept his hand on her shoulder, waiting for her to stand upright and tell him what had happened. She finally took a sobbing breath and straightened, and he gasped as she eased her hand away from her eye.

“Oh God, we need a doctor. You are not fine, Jordan.” He clicked the button to unlock the car, but she stepped away from him.

“No, wait, I think it will be fine. Can you give me a second? We can still go to dinner,” she pleaded. “I’ve been looking forward to it—I don’t want our night to be ruined. What hit me, anyway? Did you see?”

“I didn’t see anything. Did something fly past?”

“No, it was on the roof of the car. I didn’t see it—just felt it whack me.”

He turned around to see what could have hit her, and his eyes fell on the roof racks. His brother did a lot of extreme sports, and his roof racks stuck out from the edge of the car. She must have leaned in too far and walked into the edge of the nearest one—with a lot of force, judging by the enormous egg now growing on her eyelid.

“It’s the roof rack. It must have hit you. God dammit, why didn’t I bring the bike?” He stamped his foot like a small child, and she heard him bang the side of the car. “Of all the stupid ways to ruin our night, it had to be about me making the damn list,” he muttered.

“What did you say?” Her hand was over her eye, and she was carefully stepping onto the grass.

“Nothing. Here, don’t move without me. Let me hold your hand, so you don’t fall over. Can you even see out that eye?”

She scoffed. “Of course I can—don’t be silly. Come on, let’s go eat. We’ll get an ice pack and it’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know, Jordan, you haven’t seen it. The wait staff will think we’ve had a fight in the car and I punched you.”

She laughed and a few tears slipped down her cheek. “Don’t be silly. I’ll tell them what happened, and it’ll be fine.”

“You’ve said that a few times, now. I’m unconvinced, but I’ll let you have your way for a little bit longer. Here,” he wrapped one arm around her back and clasped her free hand with the other, “let me guide you. I don’t want anything else happening to you tonight.”

They made their way to the restaurant, and as expected, the staff rushed to get an ice pack. They shot nasty looks at Luke as he tried to explain what had happened to her.

“I’m sure she walked into something, sir. Is this the first time she’s walked into that something whilst in your company?”

“I know how it looks, but I promise you she didn’t want to go to the doctor. This is our first date.”

“Well, it’s sure to be memorable for you both.” He took his disapproving stare back to the bar and returned with menus and water for the table. Jordan had returned from the bathroom, where she’d checked the damage for herself. Luke could tell she was putting on a brave face, but all he wanted to do was get her to a doctor.

“Come on, let’s order.” She closed her menu and addressed the waiter who had taken their drink order. “What’s good here?”

He glanced at Luke, who pursed his lips and nodded in her direction. The waiter then rattled off his three favourite dishes, and she chose one that sounded good. Luke ordered a steak, and they were soon alone at the table. He reached across to hold her hand, and she smiled a watery smile in his direction.

“Thanks for putting up with me. I can’t believe I was so clumsy.”

“I can’t believe we’re sitting here, instead of in the emergency room.”

She sniffed and smiled as best she could as she held the ice pack to her face with her free hand. “We can’t have our first date in a hospital—it’s a bad omen, surely.” She was making light of her injury, but he couldn’t help but watch her with a worried frown. A bruise had started to appear on her cheekbone, inches from where the roof rack had made contact. He worried she’d broken a bone or done some other serious damage.

“We can go on a date some other time, Jordan. You don’t have to be brave.”

“I’m good, really, I am.” She tried to reassure him and might have succeeded, if a woman walking past their table hadn’t skidded to a halt beside them.

“What happened to you?” she asked, throwing an angry glare in Luke’s direction. “Are you alright, dear? That looks nasty.” Jordan pulled the ice pack away from her face. The bright lights of the restaurant hurt, and she closed her eyes long enough to miss the woman recoiling in shock when she saw her damaged eye. “Oh my goodness! Why aren’t you at the hospital?” She turned her steely glare on Luke, “Why the hell are you calmly sitting there when you should be seeking urgent medical treatment, you lazy sod?”

He threw up his hands at this latest assault on his character. “You tell her that. I want to take her to the hospital, but she won’t go. She says she’s fine.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the stranger, who turned back to Jordan.

“Are you certain, dear? It looks painful.”

“It looks worse than it is, I promise. If it doesn’t feel better later, we’ll definitely go to the hospital. Thanks so much for your concern; it’s lovely of you to stop and check.” When she had finally convinced the woman to return to her table, she put the ice pack on her eye again and tilted her head backward. “People are so concerned about me. How nice is that? If you really did hit me, someone would have stepped up and gotten me away from you. I’m quite heartened about the state of the world.” He didn’t answer, and she looked at him sideways, her one good eye focussing on him. His expression would have been comical, if not for the haunted look in his eyes, and she suddenly worried that she’d totally turned him off wanting a relationship with her. “What? Are you going to have nightmares over this?”

He burst out laughing and then looked ashamed of himself. “Stop it,” he hissed under his breath. “People are staring at us, and now they think I’m laughing at you. I’m never going to be allowed to come here again. I’m surprised someone hasn’t called the police, already.”

“Oh, you’re making this into such a big deal.” She laid the ice pack on the table and he gasped as he saw the change in her skin. Her eye was now purple and black, and she looked like she’d survived a car accident. Tears continued to trickle down her face, and he couldn’t tell if her eye was streaming or if she was actually crying.

Their meal arrived at that moment, and the waiter put the plates in front of them before turning away. He took one step and then seemed to argue with himself and turned back. He addressed Jordan, even though she couldn’t see him standing there. “Madam, would you please allow me to call a doctor for you? Please!”

“Honestly, what is everyone freaking out about?” She gingerly touched her eyelid and Luke saw her wince. “Let us eat our dinner and we’ll go and find a doctor ourselves, okay? Does that make you feel better?”

“Oh, yes, madam. Thank you. Now I’ll be able to assure the other diners that you’re going to see someone. Please don’t take too long—many people are concerned about you.”

He stalked away to the kitchen, having glared at Luke one last time. Jordan picked up her fork and started eating her pasta. She had trouble rolling it up as her eye continued to stream fresh tears, but she took her first mouthful and smiled at Luke as he cut into his steak and watched her carefully between bites. He didn’t miss the small wince as she chewed and swallowed.

His steak disappeared in record time, and she was surprised when his cutlery clattered onto his empty plate. “Gee, you ate that quick. Reminds me of another date I’ve been on this year. Do you have somewhere to be for date number two tonight?” She laughed and then stopped as he glared at her. “What?”

“That’s not funny and you know it. I’ve waited months to take you out. I watched you go out with every idiot who came along because of some stupid rules and a stupid list. I’ve worried about who you were with and if you were getting home safely, and every time you managed to get out unscathed. No matter how awful the date was, you kept your sense of humour and never gave up.”  He pulled his hand through his hair and the usually-smooth wave stuck up in all directions. “Now, here we are, on what I planned would be the romantic evening of the year, just for the two of us, and you’ve sustained more damage than any other night out. After spending the night with me, you’ll be going home with a possible concussion and the possible promise of plastic surgery. I’m pissed—”

“Wait, what? Plastic surgery? What are you talking about?” She seemed genuinely confused at his words.

“Jesus Christ, Jordan, that’s it.” He leaped out of his chair and removed the cutlery from her hands, throwing it into her bowl. He knew the other patrons in the restaurant were staring at him, and he didn’t miss the gentleman three tables away who stood from his seat. He needed her to understand what had happened to her tonight. “Come on, we’re going to the bathroom,” he said more gruffly than he’d intended. “I’ll get your bag.”

She didn’t move, but stood there with her head bowed. He held out his hand to her. “Come on, Jordan, I need you to see your face in the mirror.” She didn’t take his hand, but lifted her head slightly, so he could see that she was crying real tears, now—big, fat tears that slid down her cheeks and dripped onto her shirt. “Hey, what’s wrong, now?” He moved closer and took her hand before she let out a racking sob.

“I can’t see you. I’ve tried to be brave, but I can’t go to the bathroom on my own again, because I can’t see at all out of my eye.” She was wailing, now, and he wrapped his arms around her and gently helped her toward the back, where the toilets were located. She continued to sob as they walked together, and she clasped his hand tightly.

“Why didn’t you let me take you sooner?” he whispered into her hair.

“I didn’t want to ruin our date any more than it already was. I wanted this too, Luke—don’t think that I didn’t.”

They reached the bathroom and he took her straight into the ladies, ignoring the woman who glared at him as they entered. Every patron in this restaurant had glared him at tonight and one more wasn’t going to hurt. He stood her in front of the mirror and she removed her hand from her eye where she’d been shielding it from the other guests. Her gasp as her good eye finally focussed on the mirror told him she’d finally grasped how serious the situation was.

He watched even more tears start the trek down her cheeks as he asked, “Can I please take you to the hospital, now?”

 

***

 

After lunch, she was sitting at the kitchen table as her mother washed up the dishes. Luke and her dad had been banished to the lounge room, even though they kept insisting they should help. Jordan knew her mother wanted to get her alone.

As soon as the dishes were cleaned and put away, her mother joined her at the table. “What’s going on with you two? I saw him holding your hand.”

“It’s early days, Mum. We only went on our first date last night, and look how it turned out.”

Her mother giggled, “You sure did try hard to drive him away.” She squeezed Jordan’s hand and whispered across the table to her. “He’s a good boy, Jordan, and he’d be lucky to have you.”

She looked at her mother through her good eye. A bandage covered the damaged one, and the doctor had advised that it could be several weeks before her sight returned to normal. “That’s different than what you usually say.”

“Oh, take no notice of me—I just want you to be happy. If Luke can make you as happy as you deserve, we’ll gladly keep him. I’m going to take him to the club in the New Year and teach him how to play bridge.”

Jordan laughed out loud, “Have you told him that, yet?”

“Of course! It was his idea. He likes us as much as we like him, you know.”

She smiled at her mother across the table and realised her mum and dad might know Luke even better than she did.

 

***

 

“I don’t want to go. Couldn’t we go to someone’s house, instead?” Jordan contemplated a New Year’s Eve in the same place she’d made her resolution last year. It wouldn’t have been so awful, except that she was sure to see Fish there. She had to wear flat shoes, too, since her balance was off with one eye still covered.

Luke took her hand and pulled her attention away from the mirror, “We can do anything you want to do. If you want to stay home, we will.”

She leaned her head against his chest. She did want to stay home, but she didn’t want everyone to think she was sulking. “Fine, I’ll go. Can we sit in a dark corner, so everyone doesn’t stare at the cyclops?”

He laughed and kissed her on the forehead, “You’ll be the most beautiful cyclops at the party. Now, let me grab a quick shower and I’ll be ready to go.”

She watched him drop his clothes on the bedroom floor and retreat to the bathroom. Her mouth watered as he moved across the room, and if she hadn’t been under doctor’s orders to keep her injury dry, she would have followed him into the shower.

She sighed. That would have to wait for another few weeks. It was definitely something to look forward to, though. She tidied the bed where they’d had a late afternoon nap to prepare for the long night ahead, and she bent down awkwardly to pull a handbag from where it was wedged between her bed and the side table.

I’ve been looking everywhere for this!

She opened the bag to clear out any items from the last time she’d used it, which must have been at least six months ago. She pulled out all the crumpled tissues and napkins and dropped them onto the bed, while she kept digging around. One of the napkins caught her eye, and she picked it up and unfolded it to find the original list from last New Year’s Eve, where they’d documented her perfect man. She smiled to herself as she read down the items. With each one, she couldn’t help but compare it to the man singing a Dolly Parton song in her shower right now.

Luke was everything on this list, it turned out. He was taller than Jordan by several inches, he always made her laugh, and there wasn’t a kid anywhere who didn’t love him. He was already planning their first holiday together for next Easter, and he treated her so well that sometimes she worried it would all go away. Although he’d kept it mostly secret until recently, he did, indeed, have a job—or his staff did. His two businesses both had managers to run the day-to-day operations, so it was no wonder he’d been at her house so much.

He didn’t have a car, but he did have a house that he’d finally let her see inside two nights after they’d dropped off the motorbike. She could make that small concession to him. Above all else, he had that magic, standout item: he looked fantastic in his jeans!

She walked carefully to the end of the bed and sat down as she considered how close she’d come to shutting him out because of a silly list. She couldn’t believe how childish that seemed, now, and it was her one regret about their relationship.

Not the crazy dates, or the life-threatening moments of the last year. I’d do all of those again, and more.

She wished above all else that she’d seen the goodness in Luke months earlier. Her mother had picked up on it, but it had taken Jordan a little longer.

She bent down to pick up his discarded clothes from the floor. She was still being careful moving around the house on her own; Rex had tripped her up twice, and she wasn’t taking a chance on a third time.

Luke opened the door and came out with the towel wrapped around him, at the exact moment she shook his jeans out to fold them up. She saw him frown and then heard something drop onto the floor near her foot. When she reached down to pick it up, Luke jumped forward and snatched it out of her hand.

“Hey, what is that?”

“Can’t tell you,” he said as he hastily tucked it back into the pocket of his jeans.

“Oh, no fair. I found it. Now you have to show me.”

“No, Jordan. It can wait.” He pulled on his jeans and then grabbed a clean shirt from the cupboard as she tried again.

“You can show me. It’s not like I can even see properly—you’ll probably have to explain what it is.” She laughed at the surprised look on his face and his now-obvious worry over what she’d said.

“Oh, crap. This isn’t how I wanted to do this.”

“Do what? What are you rambling about?”

“Shit.”

“Luke, what’s wrong?” She was worried, now. His tone was not his usual cheery one, and dread gripped her insides.

“Stand up,” he said, and she quickly did as she was asked. Whatever this bad news was, she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. He took a deep breath, like he was about to give a prepared speech. “Jordan, do you remember this time last year, you made that list and decided to commit all those dating crimes with the strange men of the world?”

She laughed and relaxed a little. He was back to his old self. “I do remember. I actually found the original handwritten list while you were in the shower.”

“I was only in there five minutes; you sure got busy during that time, didn’t you? He ran his fingers through his wet hair and tried to regain his train of thought. “Anyway, what you wanted above everything else is to be married. Is that still the case?”

“No.”

His face registered his shock at her unexpected answer. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

“Well, now I have you.”

“So, now you don’t need to get married?”

“No, silly. Now I’m not feeling like I’ll end up an old spinster—now I’m happy with whatever develops between us. I feel like I wasted a whole year, and now I need to make sure I do everything to get to know the real you.”

“Oh.” He was frowning again. “Well, that should be easy. I was the real me all year—especially when I was snoring on your couch.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Are you going to get to the point soon? I need to change my clothes.”

“Okay, bossy much? You totally are going to turn into your mother, just so you know.”

“Oh, how to ruin the mood,” she said, laughing and pulling away. “Come on, spit it out.”

“Alright, sorry. What I was trying to say is,” he pulled a ring from the box he’d been trying to hide in his pocket, “would you make me the happiest man alive and marry me, Jordan Parker?”

Her mouth fell open as he held the ring up for her to see. She looked from it to him and was speechless. He laughed and kissed her nose, but she was still silent.

“Well?”

“Why? Why would you ask me that?”

“Because I want to marry you. I want to make sure that we’re together always. I want to wake up next to you and go to sleep with you in my arms. Oh, and I really love your dog—I want us to be a family.”

She frowned as she stared at the ring. “You’re not asking me because you think it’s what I want?”

“No way, baby. It’s all about me. I’m asking you because it’s want I want. Now, come on, I’m waiting for an official answer. I expected a lot more screaming than this.” He smiled at her, but she could see she’d made him uncertain.

“Okay, I’ll accept your offer… on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“We have a very long engagement. I don’t want us to rush into this. After all, we only had our first date a week ago.”

“I can do long-ish, but not too long. Can we get married next year on New Year’s Eve? Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“I do,” she said. His eyes widened as he suddenly realised that she was accepting his proposal. He let out a shout as he kissed her and squeezed her tightly against him, and then he pulled away to push the sparkling ring onto her outstretched finger.

A loud bark from Rex sealed the deal. They really were going to be a family.

 

 

The End