We arrive back at the apartment and I unlock the door for us with my keys. A reminder that I live here too, that this is as much my place as it is his. We make our way up the stairs and Ace seems to notice that I’m a little more thoughtful than normal.

“You okay?” he asks softly, as we go into the kitchen.

I nod. “Just thinking.”

“What about?”

“A lot of things,” I shrug. “But mostly…how glad I am that we met.”

“I’m really glad you walked into my gym too,” he agrees. Then he takes a deep breath, as though there’s something else he wants to tell me.

“Shall I just leave this out to defrost?” I hold up the ice cream and smile at him flirtatiously, letting him know precisely where my mind is right now.

He cocks an eyebrow. “I think that’s the best course of action. Why don’t you jump into the shower while I put the rest of this stuff away.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping…”

“No, really, I’m good,” he says quickly, and I see a little flicker of something in his eyes. I can’t put my finger on what it is, but I figure it is probably tiredness. He’s been working his butt off making sure the gym keeps functioning at maximum capacity, and sometimes I wonder if he isn’t pushing himself a little too hard.

He plants a kiss on my lips and slaps my ass, sending me in the direction of the shower. I shoot him a play-mad look at his high-handedness and head for the bathroom. Slipping out of my clothes, I walk into the enormous walk-in shower. I switch on the jet and close my eyes. The warmth of the water soothes my sore muscles. I’ve been working out harder than usual lately as well as spending later evenings in the office.

I wash my hair slowly, massaging my scalp. Then I scrub my body top to bottom with the fancy soap that Ace picked up for me as a month-anniversary gift. It smelled of rich, sweet jasmine, and he always comments on how good I smell after I use it. Usually, that ends with the two of us in bed together so he can take in the scent from my bare skin.

Not that I’m complaining.

I finish up and wrap myself in the new sweet little silk bathrobe I’d purchased for myself. It’s short and has a slit up the thigh where I can flash a casual little hint of leg if I want to. And, around Ace, I obviously will want to. I think about the ice cream defrosting, about how quickly it’ll melt against my shower-warmed skin, and grin to myself. Oh yeah, this is going to be good.

I head through to the living room, and blink when I see what he has done. The lights are low, a couple of glasses of wine are laid out on the table, and he’s pulled open the blinds of the enormous window that looks out over the twinkling darkness of the city beyond.

“What’s all this in aid of?” I ask as he emerges from kitchen.

He picks up the glass of wine and hands it to me. I take a sip, savouring the fruity, smoky flavours as they spread out on my tongue. Mmm, that’s good. I’ve become quite the wine connoisseur now that Ace will never buy a bottle that cost less than twenty dollars. I know that this is a good one.

“Can we go onto the balcony?” He gestures towards the doors that lead out to the generous balcony that juts from the apartment, giving us this beautiful view of the river beyond. At night, the lights of the city bounce off the water and I sometimes find myself hypnotized by them, able to watch them for hours on end.

I nod, curling up my lips into a smile. He’s so romantic sometimes.

He pulls the door open and lets me step through. Even in this short little robe, I’m not too cold, as it’s one of those beautifully balmy summer nights where everything feels just perfect. I sip my wine again and lean on the handrail. He joins me, running a hand over my back and pulling me in close. I lean my head on his shoulder and exhale slowly.

“This is perfect.” I sigh, and he turns to me and kisses me softly, sweetly, slowly. When he pulls back, there’s a softness in his eyes that I’ve come to love. Yes, I like it when he’s rough and kinky and playful, but there’s something so profoundly special about the way he’s looking at me right now. I feel it deep in my heart.

“It really is,” he agrees, brushing his nose lightly against mine. Oh, there’s that look again, the one from before, the one that I can’t quite put a name to, but that I know is significant.

“What is it?” I prompt, as he reaches into his pocket.

My heart stops as I realize a second before he pulls it out, a velvet dark blue box.

“Dawn, I’ve been in love with you since the first night we met.” He smiles at me, but I can barely take my eyes off the box in his hand. Is this real? Is this really happening? Does he think that because we’ve moved in together he has to make it official?

“Ace, you don’t have to do this…” I try to assure him, and the flicker of insecurity that James left in my system comes back. Why would a man like him want to marry someone like me?

“I know I don’t have to,” he says firmly. “I want to, Dawn. I love you like fucking crazy and I don’t want to spend another moment of my life without knowing that you’re going to be in it forever.”

“Ace…”

“No. I love you, Dawn. So fucking much it hurts.”

I feel something inside me give and melt away, some wall that I didn’t know was still standing giving way for good as he looks into my eyes.

“I love you too. So much,” I whisper.

He closes his eyes for a moment as though savouring those words, and then, like the old-fashioned gentleman he is, he drops to his knee, and holds up the ring box. He pops it open and holds it out to me; the ring is stunning, a classic diamond set in platinum.

“Marry me?” he asks.

I’m surprised he even has to phrase it as a question because he knows damn well what my answer is going to be. I grin broadly, unable to keep the smile from my face any longer.

“Of course, I will.”

He takes the ring from the box and carefully slides it onto my ring finger. It fits perfectly. I stare at it for a moment, trying to make the sight of the ring glittering softly in the evening light feel like reality, but I still can’t quite believe this is happening to me.

Then, he stands and, pulling me close and kisses me. All of this is real, all of this is happening, and all of this is mine. Balancing the wine on the edge of the handrail and wrapping my arms tightly around him, I return the kiss. I swear that my feet lift a few inches from the ground as he kisses me, and my head is in the clouds by the time he pulls back.

“You want me to grab that ice cream?” he asks, a filthy smile on his face.

“Out here?” I ask surprised.

“Why not?” He replies. “Start this engagement the way we mean to go on… full of dirty surprises.”

“What are you going to do?”

“It’s a surprise, baby.”

“Okay.” I giggle, more than a little giddy.

He kisses me on the mouth once more and heads inside to get the ice cream. My heart loops with excitement as I take another sip of my wine. We’ve never done anything this public before, but it’s always been a fantasy of mine and I can hardly wait.

I watch as he makes his way inside, and I feel this swell of love for him. “I love you!” I call after him.

He turns and smiles at me. “I love you too,” he repeats the words back to me.

I lean back against the handrail, content. A glass of wine in my hand, a ring on my finger, and my gorgeous new fiancé just about to return to fuck my brains out in no doubt endlessly creative new ways.

Does it get any better than this?

No. It. Doesn’t.