From the time I told Emersyn I wanted to marry her, it was like her Spidey proposal senses went into overdrive for the formal proposal. Every time we got dressed up or went somewhere half-way decent to dinner, she became on high alert for a ring to make an appearance. By the end of the night when I hadn’t popped the question and flashed a ring, she would sigh disappointedly. Of course, since she had the misfortune of dating someone like me, I made it my mission in life to throw her off my trail. Channeling one of my favorite TV characters, Jim Halpert from The Office, I decided I would tease her a little with a few fake proposals. Yeah, I know—I’m an evil bastard.

The first came one day after rehearsals. With the two of us alone on stage and under a perfect beam from one of the stage lights, I dropped down onto one knee before her. She let out a shriek, and her hands flew to cover her mouth. Without taking my eyes from hers, I began tying one of my tennis shoes. “Can’t be tripping over my own feet,” I mused.

Her eyes narrowed on me. “You did not just prank propose to me like Jim did to Pam!”

I threw back my head and roared with laughter. I’d forgotten we often watched reruns together. “Yeah, I believe I just did.”

Jabbing a finger at me, she replied, “Just for that, you and your hand can sleep in your own roost tonight.”

“Wait, I thought withholding sex didn’t happen until we were married?” I countered with a grin.

With a growl, she whirled around and stomped away from me. For the record, I didn’t sleep alone that night. To make up for my assholery, I gave her two orgasms and sat through three episodes of the Real Housewives of LA.

After that, I’d laid low for the next week. I mean, there was an art to this. The next time I put my evil plan to work was last night when we were at an upscale restaurant in Georgetown. Jacob’s Ladder had flown into DC two days ago because we were headlining the Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball for the newly elected President Callahan. We’d been asked to play because of the ties we had to Addison, the girlfriend of the president’s son, Barrett. Her family had been in the same missionary program as ours, and we’d spent time together in Mexico before Emersyn’s family came.

Once our salads arrived at our candlelit dinner, I’d reached across the table and taken her hand. “Emersyn, would you do me the honor—” Emersyn’s eyes had bulged, and she’d sucked in a breath of anticipation. “Of passing me the salt?”

If looks could have killed, I would have been writhing on the floor. Gritting her teeth, Emersyn said, “Eli, if you fake propose to me one more time, I swear, I’m going to have your balls.”

“You can have my balls anytime you want, babe.”

“You know what I mean.” She furiously shook her head. “I don’t know why you’re doing this.” When I opened my mouth, she wagged a finger at me. “And do not say because Jim did it.”

“But that’s the exact reason why I’m doing it.”

“I would stab you with my fork right now if we weren’t in public,” she growled.

With a smile, I said, “You told me at Thanksgiving you were worried about not being able to give me any firsts. In the same way, I’m worried about making this proposal as special as I can. Because you already know I want to marry you, that makes it extremely difficult.”

Emersyn’s death glare slowly evaporated from her face. “Is that really the reason you’ve tortured me with these fake proposals?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Oh Eli, you really are too good to me.” Wrinkling her nose, she added, “Well, except when you’re driving me crazy thinking you’re about to propose.”

I laughed. “Okay, Scout’s Honor I won’t pull anymore fake proposal crap on you.”

“How about a kiss to seal the deal?”

“I’m down for that.” Rising up in her chair, Emersyn leaned across the table. After mirroring her actions, our lips met for a quick kiss. I would have stayed lip-locked even longer, but Emersyn startled me by shrieking slightly and jumping back. Apparently, the candle decided to be a cockblocker by singeing some of the strands of Emersyn’s hair.

“Man, our love is smokin’ hot, isn’t it?” I joked.

Emersyn rolled her eyes as she examined the piece of scorched hair. “Oh yeah, you’re a hunk of burning love,” she mused.

In my best Elvis voice, I said, “Why thank you, darlin’. Thank you very much.”

While Emersyn thought I was being kind to stop the fake proposals, it really was more about the fact I had the perfect scenario planned for the inaugural ball. All along, I’d been searching for something different, not only from what she’d had with Jack, but something completely different from what other couples did. And then the perfect scenario presented itself six weeks ago.

Now I had the place, it was down to figuring out how to do it. From the very beginning, I wanted the proposal to have something to do with music. I’d toyed with the idea of proposing on stage, but I felt that was too impersonal. There was also the unoriginality factor in my circle since that’s how Jake had proposed to Abby.

I wracked my brain the entire plane ride into DC. It wasn’t until I watched our luggage, specifically our musical equipment, being unloaded from the private plane that the lightbulb flashed neon bright in my head.

It was because of a fiddle that Emersyn had been asked to join Jacob’s Ladder. It was the first instrument she’d learned to play. And it was a fiddle that was going to hold the engagement ring I’d gotten her.

Even though it was black tie, Stella unfortunately had pulled out all the stops for our outfits to be a patriotic palooza. Gabe and I were both in shimmery navy blue suits. We would have been matching bookends if it hadn’t been for the red tie I was wearing and the white one he had on. Abby had been given a short red dress to wear which was covered in sparkly things. Emersyn’s dress was identical except it was blue.

We’d spent most of the day at the hotel, lounging around and watching the coverage of the inauguration. Around seven, the hair and makeup crews had descended upon our suites to get us ready to perform at ten. At eight, I’d escorted Sonny downstairs on the pretense of checking out the stage. The band had planned on a sound check around nine to make sure we didn’t fuck up in front of the President of the United States.

After we’d taken a look at where our stage placements were, I took Emersyn behind the stage to make sure all our equipment had arrived from the airport. What she didn’t know is while she was getting beautified, I’d slipped downstairs and tied the ring to the pegbox with some ribbon. I’d considered tying it to the strings, but you didn’t mess with a violinist’s violin, so I assumed the same could be said for a fiddler’s fiddle. It was the eleventh commandment I was sure.

I patted one of the cases. “Okay, here’s my guitar.”

Emersyn pointed to a pink case across from me. “There’s Abby’s.”

With a snort, I replied, “Considering it looks like a giant bottle of Pepto Bismol, it’s never hard to find.”

“A sparkly bottle at that,” Emersyn mused.

“I’m pretty sure that big pile over there is Gabe’s drum set. I wonder where Mike’s bass is, or Norm’s keyboard?”

“Oh God,” Emersyn muttered, the color draining from her face.

“What’s the matter?”

“My fiddle case. It isn’t here.” Wringing her hands, Emersyn’s panicked gaze bounced around the remaining stacked equipment. “No. This can’t be happening.” She furiously shook her head. “Not tonight.”

“Babe, take a breath. We’ll find it.”

Wrapping a comforting arm around her waist, I started guiding her around the room, trying not to look like I knew exactly where it was. “There it is.” I pointed to a table across from us.

A relieved breath wheezed out of her. After she wriggled out of my grasp, she rushed over to the table. Grabbing the case, she clutched it to her chest. “Thank God,” she muttered.

“You should probably open the case and check your fiddle. You know, make sure it wasn’t damaged or something since it wasn’t with the other equipment.”

Once again, panic danced in Emersyn’s eyes. She placed the case back on the table and opened it up. Wrapping her fingers around the neck, she pulled the shiny instrument from the case. My breath hitched at she examined it. “It looks okay.”

Fuck me. She hadn’t noticed the ring. It was becoming apparent I was being punished for my fake proposals. “Maybe you should check the sound?”

“Oh, good point.” She brought the body up, and just before she could slide the chinrest into place, she gasped as the ring clinked against the top of the neck.

Emersyn’s gaze spun from the diamond over to me. “That’s a ring.”

“Yeah, babe, it is.”

“Is it real, or did it come from a machine with a claw?”

Oh yeah, I was being punished. “It only came from a claw if Tiffany’s added a game room onto its 5^th Avenue Store.”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh God, it’s real.”

“Yeah, babe, it really is.” I reached out and took the fiddle from Emersyn’s hands. After gently plucking the diamond from the pegbox, I then put the fiddle back into its case. “Whenever I tried thinking of the perfect proposal, my mind always focused on music. Our past and our present are so inextricably bound to it. Our first kiss occurred on the stage of a music festival. Our first passionate make-out session happened on the set of a music video. When I thought I’d lost you to your sorrow and grief, you came back to life through music. Now our future is in music.”

While there were already tears in Emersyn’s eyes, she began to sob openly when I dropped down onto one knee before her. Taking her hand in mine, I stared adoringly up into her face. “Emersyn, will you do the honor of being my wife?”

“Yes, oh God, yes, Eli!” she cried before launching herself at me. As she smothered my face with kisses, I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face in the silky strands of her hair. There was no greater feeling than having her in my arms. The fact she was now my fiancée made it even better.

When Emersyn pulled back, I stared into her eyes. “Do you like the ring?”

“How could I not? It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She grinned. “Not to mention the biggest.”

Inwardly, I did a fist bump. When I’d asked the jeweler to design the ring, I didn’t have a lot in mind. I knew I wanted it to be platinum, rather than gold, and the reason wasn’t romantic or even honorable for that matter. Emersyn’s rings from Jack were gold. By choosing a different metal, I hoped she wouldn’t be thinking of her other rings, and in turn, her love for Jack. As for the size, I was an even bigger bastard because I wanted her to have a huge rock. At the same time, I wasn’t totally trying to one up what Jack had given her, but it was also about her having the equivalent of what Gabe had gotten Rae.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.” Running her fingers through my hair, she jerked my head closer to hers. “Let me show you just how much.”

After pressing her lips against mine, her tongue swept into my mouth, seeking mine. Her hand that sparkled with the diamond I’d just given her, delved into my hair, her fingers jerking through the strands. As I deepened the kiss, one of my hands slid up her ribcage to cup her breast. At her gasp of pleasure, my dick began to grow.

Tearing my lips from hers, I panted, “If you don’t stop kissing me like that, I’m going to be walking really funny during our sound check.”

Emersyn giggled before running her hand down my chest and over my waist to cup my erection. I sucked in a harsh breath as my cock jumped beneath her fingers. “Maybe I need to kiss you somewhere else?”

I groaned at the mental image her suggestion brought. “Normally, I would welcome your exquisite mouth on my cock, but at the moment, I want nothing more than to be buried deep inside you.”

Emersyn’s eyes flared before her gaze bounced around the equipment room. “Here? Someone could walk in.”

“That’s part of the thrill, babe. It’s past time I initiated you in the rush that’s public sex.”

“Only until it’s a member of the Secret Service doing a sweep, and they arrest us,” she replied with a grin.

“Good point.”

I crossed the room to one of the doors. After jiggling the handle, it opened to a closet the size of a small tomb. I crooked my finger at Emersyn. She glanced left and right before she hurried over to me. I stepped into the darkness of the closet before jerking her inside.

“You think this is safe?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” My tongue licked up her neck as my hand came between her legs. “But that’s part of the fun.”

Her chest rose and fell in harsh pants. “At least lock the door.”

“You really don’t get the whole adrenaline thing of sex in public, do you?”

She laughed. “I have two words for you: Secret Service.”

“Fine,” I muttered as I backed away from her. The moment I clicked the lock on the door, Emersyn pounced on me. Who knew a simple gesture would get her so hot. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, she dropped to her knees in front of me. Her hands came to unbutton and unzip my pants. Her hand dipped inside my pants and briefs to unleash my throbbing cock. After licking her lips, she sucked me deep inside her warm mouth. My head fell back against the wall as she bobbed up and down on my dick, her hand adding delicious friction.

“I didn’t need any foreplay, babe. It’s you who should be getting the oral attention,” I said in a gravelly voice.

Letting my dick fall free of her mouth, Emersyn tilted her head at me. “Is that a remark or an invitation?”

“Oh, it’s an invitation all right.” I grabbed her underneath her arms and hoisted her back up onto her feet. After turning us around, I placed her hands on the wall with her facing away from me. I then knelt down on the floor in front of her glorious ass. I couldn’t help being grateful that her dress was considerably shorter and less poofy than the one she’d worn to the CMA’s. That one had been a pain in my ass to deal with when I was trying to touch her.

As I slid the material up, my tongue flicked up the back of one of her thighs, causing her to suck in a breath. When I reached the curve of her buttocks, I stopped and then slid my tongue down her other leg. After pulling her panties off, I spread her legs wide and dug my fingers into the gorgeous globes of her ass. Dipping my head, I dragged my tongue over her pussy. I grunted with pleasure when I found her already wet. I loved the idea of her getting off on sucking my dick.

I lapped at her center like a cat drinking milk, sucking down the arousal already pooling between her thighs. Emersyn swiveled her hips in time with my tongue, pressing her ass against my face. When I felt her building to come, I pushed two fingers inside her, curving them toward her G-spot. “Eli!” she cried as her walls convulsed around my fingers.

As she started to come down, I shoved my pants and briefs down over my hips. Grabbing her by the waist, I spun her around to face me. After slipping my hands under the backs of her thighs, I hoisted Sonny up to wrap her legs around me. I immediately had a flashback of our video when we were in the pond on the island. Thankfully this time, I was going to get to bury myself inside her.

After guiding my erection to her core, I thrust to the hilt inside of her, causing both of us to groan with pleasure. Well, I was a little louder than her. Emersyn’s hand covered my mouth. “Shh. Not so loud.”

Ignoring her, I pulled out and then slammed back inside her. This time it was Emersyn who was louder. There was no way in hell I was going to chide her for it. I wanted to hear every sexual sound she made, big and small.

I set a punishing rhythm of driving my dick harder and harder into her slick as hell walls. The sounds of our frantic breaths and frenzied movements filled the room. While one arm was wrapped around Emeryn’s back, my other came around to the front where I cupped one of her breasts. I wanted nothing more than to have my lips on the hardening nipple, but I didn’t dare do anything to rip her dress. I knew she would kill me. Not to mention Stella.

Abandoning her breast, I brought my hand to Sonny’s waist. I slid my other hand down to grip her hips. I then began raising her up and off my dick. Each time I plunged back inside her, Emersyn shrieked with pleasure. “I’m close. Oh God, I’m close,” she moaned, her fingers jerking through my hair.

“I am too, babe.”

A few pumps of my hips later, and Emersyn’s walls clenched around me. With a grunt, I began to spill myself inside of her. “Fuck yeah, Emersyn!” I cried out. When I came back to myself, a panicked look had replaced the previously satiated one in Emersyn’s eyes.

“What? Did you hear someone outside?” I whispered.

She shook her head. “You’re not wearing a condom.”

Motherfucking hell. In the frenzied moment of passion, I’d forgotten to suit up. It was a necessity for us since Emersyn hadn’t renewed her birth control after Jack’s death. “Shit,” I muttered. Slowly, I eased myself out of her, trying hard not to get any of myself on the underside of dress. The last thing I needed was to explain to Stella or the rest of the band why there was a cum stain on Emersyn’s inaugural attire.

Once I was free of her, I held up my hands. “Okay, don’t move. I’ll go grab some paper towels.”

“Just where do you plan on finding those?”

I shrugged before turning for the door. “There’s bound to be a bathroom around here.”

“Do you plan to pull your pants up or waddle out there like a penguin?” she teased.

“Smartass,” I mumbled as I shimmied my briefs and pants up my legs. Once my dick was put away and my shirt tucked back in, I unlocked the door and poked my head outside. Thankfully, there was no one out there. I hurried across the storeroom and back into the hallway. Two doors down, I saw a restroom. After grabbing a shit-ton of power towels and wetting some of them, I headed back to Emersyn.

When I got to the storeroom door, a voice called, “Stop! What are you doing?”

I whirled around to see the dreaded Secret Service Emersyn and I had been worried about. “I’m just going to check on my band’s instruments.”

“Do you have identification on you?” one tall guy asked as he approached me.

With my hands full of paper towels, it was going to be a little difficult to fish my wallet out of my pants. Come to think of it, I hadn’t grabbed my wallet. In my mind, I could still see it sitting on the table in the hotel suite. I’d been too wrapped up in my proposal plans to get it.

“I do up in suite 639. You’re welcome to check with the front desk and see that it belongs to me, Eli Renard.”

The shorter, more ripped agent sized me up. “Wait, aren’t you the lead singer of the band that’s playing tonight?”

One of the many times it was nice getting recognized. “Yeah, I am. I’d come down here to check on our equipment before our sound check, and then I—” I glanced at the paper towels. “I, uh, needed to do some cleaning up.”

The agent nodded at his partner. “Okay. You’re good. We’re just tightening everything up since the president will be arriving in the next hour.”

“I totally get it. I’m glad you guys are keeping him safe as well as the rest of us.”

When I started in the door, the taller agent tapped me on the shoulder. With a teasing grin, he said, “Make sure you use some paper towels on your face. The lipstick you’re wearing really isn’t your shade.”

Fuuuuuck. Apparently, I’d been marked by Sonny’s lipstick. “Uh, yeah, I’ll do that.”

I slipped inside the equipment room and hustled over to the closet. When I opened the door, Emersyn demanded, “Where were you?”

Thrusting the paper towels at her, I replied, “Being interrogated by the Secret Service.”

Even in the dim light, I could see her eyes bulging. “Oh my God.”

I started working one of the paper towels over my face. “They got a big kick out of me wearing your lipstick.”

She snickered. “Oops.” After swiping several times between her legs, Emersyn wadded up the paper towels as best she could. “How much longer do we have until the sound check?”

Glancing at my phone, I said, “Twenty minutes.”

“Okay, I’m going back upstairs to freshen up my hair and make-up.” With a wry smile, she added, “Among other things.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“I can make it just fine.”

I flashed a grin at her. “I know. But I want to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they see the ring for the first time.”

Emersyn laughed. “Considering our bedraggled appearances, I’m not sure they’ll notice the ring.”

“Then you need to flash it at them.”

“I think I can do that.”

After she tossed the paper towels, I slid my arm around her waist and led her out into the hallway. When we ran into my friends aka the secret service agents, I smiled and held out Emersyn’s arm. “We just got engaged.”

“Congrats,” they said in unison.

“Ah, that’s what was up with the lipstick all over your face,” Agent Shortie remarked.

At the allusion to our sexing it up in the closet, a blood red flush entered Sonny’s face, and she quickly dipped her head to avoid looking at the agents. “Well, it was nice seeing you guys again. Hope you enjoy the show,” I said.

As I pulled Emersyn up the hallway to the elevators, she groaned. “I cannot believe he said that about the lipstick.”

“At least he only mentioned kissing. He could have said, ‘So you two were enjoying a post-engagement fuck, eh?’”

Emersyn groaned again. “That would have been even mortifying.” Stepping onto the elevator, she cut her eyes over to me. “We can’t be reckless like that again.” At what must’ve been the confused look on my face, Emersyn said, “The unprotected sex.”

“Oh right. You don’t think…”

She shook her head. “It’s almost time for my period, so the chances are very low.”

“Okay,” I replied. The truth was I would’ve been over the moon to have potentially knocked Emersyn up. Besides her as my wife, there was nothing else I wanted more than a child. Before I could vocalize that sentiment, the elevator doors opened on our floor, revealing Abby, Gabe, and Rae.

“Where have you two been?” Abby asked.

“Working each other over from the looks of it,” Gabe snickered, which earned him a smack from Rae.

At Sonny’s shriek of embarrassment, I grabbed her hand and thrust it at the others. “We’re engaged!”

Just as I’d hoped, my siblings went positively ape-shit at the sight of Emersyn’s ring. There was a round of congratulatory hugs and tears from the girls. “When are you telling Mom and Dad?” Gabe asked.

“We’ll FaceTime them after the show. Thankfully, we can kill two birds with one stone since Sonny’s parents were going over to their house to watch the show.” My parents and Emersyn’s were planning on watching a live feed of our performance since they hadn’t been able to score any tickets.

Gabe laughed. “I would love to be a fly on the wall to see their reactions.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll wake the neighbors up.”

Abby’s expression melted. “Just when I thought this night couldn’t get any better, I hear this news.”

“Speaking of tonight, you two better hurry up if you’re going to get to the sound check,” Gabe said.

“Give us ten minutes, and we’ll be there.”

Abby nodded. “See you downstairs.”

As the others headed down to the elevator, I turned to Emersyn. “See you in ten, my fiancée.”

She grinned. “Same to you, my fiancé.”

Damn, I liked the sound of that coming from her mouth. Almost as much as I loved the taste of her on my mouth.