Zoey

With Carter’s help and connections, we started renovating the twenty-thousand-square-foot mansion. It would be at least six to nine months before it was completed and then we’d be ready to open the doors. Two exciting things happened that night Carter and I met with my dads for dinner. The first thing was, they were moving to the city in the same building as me and Carter. They bought a beautiful two-bedroom apartment on the tenth floor. Of course, it was Carter’s idea and he gave them a deal they couldn’t refuse. My dad John quit his job at the hospital in Connecticut when Presbyterian Hospital offered him a full-time position he couldn’t refuse. My dad Scott decided to retire as a fireman and offered to come and help me run the hospice center. He was the person Carter had in mind and had previously spoken to him about it after learning that he wanted to retire.

It was a Saturday night and Carter and I were getting ready to head to the Christmas party he was throwing for his staff at The Plaza Hotel.

“Damn, look at you,” Carter spoke as he licked his lips.

“You like?” I asked as I did a twirl in the middle of the bedroom.

“What do you think?” He grinned as he looked down at his rising cock.

I smiled and patted him on his chest.

“You’ll have to wait until after the party. We’re already running late.”

“I’m the boss. I can be as late as I want.” He pulled me into him.

“It’s not polite to keep your guests waiting.” I pressed my lips against his.

“Have you by any chance seen my cuff links?”

“Aren’t they in the jewelry box?” I asked.

“No. I looked already.”

Suddenly, we heard something fall in the closet.

“What was that?” he asked as he walked over to the closet and opened the double doors.

He walked inside, bent down, and picked up the small black box with the cuff links in it that Angelique had bought him for his birthday.

“Where did these come from?” he asked me. “I thought I got rid of them.”

“You did and I retrieved them.” I lightly smiled. “There was no reason for you not to keep them. And obviously, she wants you to wear them tonight.” I straightened his bow tie.

“Zoey, I—I’ve never worn them.”

“Then tonight’s as good a night as any to wear them for the first time. She bought these for you and never had the chance to give you them. She wants you to wear them, Carter.”

“Is she here?”

“Not now. But, obviously, she was.”

I took the cuff links out of the box and put them on him.

“There. Go look in the mirror.”

He walked over to the full-length mirror and stared at them.

“Thank you.” He turned to me with a smile.

“You’re welcome.”

He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“You have. But I want to hear it again.”

“I love you to the moon and back, sweetheart,” he spoke as his bright and happy eyes burned into mine.

“I love you too, Carter.” He was so sexy and I couldn’t get enough of him. “Fuck it, we can be late.” I pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top of him.

****

 

Carter

It was Christmas morning and Zoey and I sat by our beautifully lit and decorated tree and exchanged gifts.

“Carter, I love it!” She hugged me after opening the new Chanel handbag I bought her.

She handed me a gift with a wide grin across her face. I took the wrapping off and removed the lid to the box, taking out the framed picture of the two of us that Ano took at Sweetheart Rock in Hawaii.

“I love this, Zoey. Thank you. This will be perfect on my desk.”

“It’s a special picture, Carter.”

“I know. It’s of the two of us.” I grinned.

“No. Not just because of that. Look. See the white outlined figure on the rock? That’s Nora.”

Tears started to fill my eyes as I stared at it and then looked up at her.

“Merry Christmas, Carter,” Zoey spoke.

“Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you for this. Merry Christmas. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

We finished opening the rest of our gifts, made love in the shower, and got dressed before her family and Holly arrived for dinner. I nervously paced back as I waited because I had one last gift for her.

“Zoey, are you almost ready?” I yelled.

“Yes. I’m ready. Why? They won’t be here for at least another hour.”

“I have one more gift for you,” I spoke.

“You do?”

“Yes. I have to go get it, so stay right here and don’t move.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

I went into the laundry room where I had a bouquet of purple roses hidden since yesterday. Grabbing them, I walked into the living room where she stood and handed them to her.

“Oh, Carter. They’re gorgeous.”

“You told me that the purple rose symbolizes soul mates, but it also symbolizes love at first sight.” I inhaled a deep breath, took the flowers from her, set them down, and grabbed her left hand. “Zoey, I already told you that I felt this incredible connection to you when I first saw you in Starbucks, and every day, that connection grew stronger and stronger. I was so broken and lost at that time that I couldn’t see what was in front of me. You stood by me even when I put you through hell and I will never forget that. My world was so dark and then you walked into it and you pushed all the darkness away.”

“Carter.” Tears filled her eyes.

“Shh. Let me finish, sweetheart. You took all my broken pieces, and when I thought it wasn’t possible, you put me back together again. You made me whole, Zoey. I was imprisoned in my own personal hell and you set me free. You showed me what it was like to live again and I love you so much for that.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small blue velvet box. Flipping open the top, I held it up in front of her. “You are my soulmate, the love of my life, my queen, and the person I was born to be with for the rest of my life. Will you marry me and become Mrs. Carter Grayson?”

She placed her right hand over her mouth as the stream of tears ran down her face.

“Yes, Carter. I will marry you!”

With a smile, I took the three-carat cushion-cut square diamond with a band of diamonds on each side from the box and slipped it on her finger. Then I brought my hand up to her face and wiped away her tears.

“I didn’t mean for you to cry,” I spoke with tears in my eyes.

“How could I not? You’re so romantic and you make me happy, Carter. I love you so much.”

“You make me the happiest man alive, sweetheart, and I love you.”