“If I fall over in this dress, you’re buying me a new one,” I said, walking with the largest steps I could manage.

Being led through the woods blindfolded was more terrifying than anything else I could think of in that moment, even though Devon had me firmly by the hand.

“I think I bought you this one, didn’t I?”

“That isn’t the point.”

He laughed and held my shoulders firmly, walking behind me and guiding me while I panicked. Every step felt like it would end in disaster, and I could only imagine what was going to happen next.

“Can you figure out where we are?”

“Your gravesite if you let me fall.”

He laughed. “No, come on. Surely you can guess.”

We stopped walking, and I paused to listen. The quiet sound of a door or a gate opening ahead of me made me think we were in a park, and then I heard a distinct call. Kind of shrill, but sweet at the end.

“Oh my god. Devon, are we – “

He ripped my blindfold off, and I blinked in the bright sunlight. As my vision returned, he was already leading me by the hand, half-dragging me toward a giant cage ahead of us.

A man in a blue uniform stood holding a gate open, smiling as he watched us approach. Devon slapped him on the back as we walked through, and I stopped him from pulling me any further along so I could take in the view.

“It’s only been a year,” I said, breathlessly turning in circles to take in the view. “You said it would take at least a year just to clean up the soil. I can’t believe it’s finished.”

“Well, the cage where they’ll spend the first year of their lives is finished. The buildings are still a few months away, but I figure the cage is the important part. We’ll populate it quickly, and the rest of the land will be ready to release them into when they’re old enough. That part’s easy – it’s just some shelters for them to hide from predators so they can start breeding.”

Birds fluttered around us, filling the area with color. Their calls were louder now that we were invading their space, and I was almost overcome with emotion.

This land that was destined to be houses or stores was now home to endangered birds, and by the sounds of it, they were happy to claim it.

I finally stopped turning and looked toward the middle of the land, gasping when I saw the lake. Small benches dotted the edge of it, and a large gazebo sat right beside the water. Wait a second – that hadn’t been in the plans.

“We put those benches in so people on the walking trail can stop and rest. And the gazebo will make a nice place to get pictures.”

Devon began walking toward the gazebo, and I followed behind. The path we walked on wasn’t finished yet, but it was smooth enough that there was no threat of me falling over. Well, not much of a threat.

We stopped at the edge of the gazebo, and Devon tapped a spot high on one of the posts holding up the roof. I had to stand on my tip toes to see what he was pointing at, and I felt my myself melting when I saw the letters “DC”, a heart, and then “NB”.

“You’re such a softy,” I laughed. “Devon Carell loves Nicole Blythe.”

“Daniel made me write it,” he joked.

I playfully pushed him away. “No, he didn’t. You wrote it because you’re a softy, and because you love me.”

He held my gaze as he stepped a little closer. “I’m not a softy, but I do love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered, closing my eyes and waiting for those lips I was so deeply in love with.

I would never get tired of the way he kissed me.

When Devon pulled back, I tried to prevent him, but he wasn’t having it. He was determined to show me the gazebo.

“It looks pretty good,” I said, touching the wood.

“That’s what I think. But Daniel thinks it’ll fall down.”

“Why would it fall down?”

“It won’t, he’s just an idiot. I built it myself, and he thinks I can’t build at all. It’s really not hard.”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, even though I could tell it offended him a little. “You built it? You? Mr. I-pay-people-to-hang-shelves? God, I wish I could have seen you. Did you wear a toolbelt? I bet you did. And I bet you were topless, too. Except, of course, you would have kept your tie on, because you can never take that off.”

I was almost falling over with laughter, and Devon was trying to remain straight-faced. He would have succeeded, except that I knew his expression-filled eyes by now, and I could see he was on the verge of laughter.

“That’s enough, Nikki,” he finally said, his face nearly breaking up. “Keep it up, and I’ll put you on the banned visitors list.”

When I was finally able to stop laughing, Devon stepped into the gazebo, motioning for me to follow.

“I hope it’s sturdy,” I said, reaching out to touch one of the edges.

“You’re supposed to be impressed by my manly building skills,” he said with a laugh. “Daniel makes things all the time, so it’s not like it was hard. Just hammering a few nails into wood.”

“I hope you used more than a few nails.”

“I used enough. That’s not really important.”

“It’s lovely and everything, but why build a gazebo? I doubt the birds care, and most people are going to walk straight past it.”

His eyes suddenly lost their laughter, and I watched as he took on a more serious look than I usually saw on him. “It’s not for the birds, Nikki. It’s for me.” He took my hand and squeezed. I squeezed back, looking up into the eyes of the man I loved.

“For you? Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to kneel in the mud when I did… this.”

My eyes were wide as saucers, as he knelt down in front of me. Tears flooded my lower lashes as something appeared in his hand as if from nowhere. He opened the little box to reveal a large, gleaming diamond inside and smiled up at me.

“We met under strange circumstances, my beautiful Nikki, but I’m so glad we did. You make me feel like no woman ever has, and I don’t want that to ever end. You challenge me, and you push me to be better. A better man and a better businessman. A better person. You’re funny, you’re beautiful, you’re smarter than anyone I’ve ever met, and you have the kind of spirit that anyone would fall in love with.”

The tears flowed as freely as during that press conference a year ago, but this time I didn’t care. Staring into his eyes, watching them blink away moisture, too, I knew this was a moment I would always treasure.

Devon took a deep breath but his gaze never wavered from mine. “I never thought I’d ask anyone this, but now I can’t imagine not asking you. Will you marry me, Nikki?”

There was no chance I could even try to talk through the lump in my throat, and it took forever to force my head to nod. He smiled as I succeeded, and he stood up, drawing me to him. Just as our lips were about to meet, there was a loud creaking sound coming from underneath us

I looked around at the gazebo, wondering what the noise had been, and another, louder sound cracked through the air.

“Fuck!” Devon grabbed my hand, and dragged me out of the small structure, holding me steady as I almost fell to my knees. When we were a few feet away, we turned in time to see the small gazebo collapsing, dust flying everywhere.

Birds flew in all directions, screaming and squawking as their home seemed to be exploding.

When the dust and noise finally settled, I looked up at Devon who was staring at the pile of wood. “Enough nails, huh?”

“Don’t.”

“It’s okay, baby,” I said, rubbing up and down his arm firmly. “I remember what you said once when I first started, about learning to walk before you can run. You should build a bird bath first, work your way up.”

He turned and laughed, playfully pushing me away as he did.

“Anyway, weren’t you asking me something?”

“I did ask you something. And you said yes.”

“I nodded, but I didn’t get as far as saying yes. And you didn’t get to a certain part, either,” I said, wiggling the bare fingers on my left hand.

“You’re going to make me get on one knee again, aren’t you?”

“I believe it’s customary.”

“If you want a real yes, you’ll get down on one knee again. Otherwise, I may just think about it for two weeks, call a press conference, say “no”, and then say it’s all a joke.”

“You’re never going to give that one up.” He sighed, lowering himself to one knee.

He held the ring out again, raising his eyebrows expectantly. I stared at it, studying the way it gleamed in the sunlight, forcing myself to remain silent. A girl can have a little fun, especially with a man who teased her mercilessly.

Both in and out of the bedroom.

“The offer isn’t forever, Ms. Blythe,” he said. “It’s strictly contingent on an answer within five seconds. Five. Four.”

“Yes!”

He leapt up and wrapped his arms forcefully around me, lifting me off the ground. His face nuzzled into my neck as I sobbed and held onto him for dear life.

That was something I couldn’t imagine ever stopping.

“Lucky you said yes,” he whispered into my ear. “My next offer was for you to marry Daniel.”

I choked as I tried to breathe through my crying, eventually regaining my breath as he put me down and looked down into my eyes.

“I love you, Nikki,” he whispered, his eyes shining.

“I love you, too, Devon.”

Looking back at him, I couldn’t help but remember the first time I had seen him in his lobby. He still looked imposing, powerful and a little scary, but now I knew the truth about Devon Carell. The dirty, disgusting truth that all those who warned me away from the internship would never know.

Devon Carell was nowhere near as tough and as unforgiving as he looked. He wasn’t the ruthless boss I’d feared on my first day of work.

He was a carrying, loving man who was learning that the bottom line wasn’t everything in business. He was handsome, smart, and he made me happy every single day.

I couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else.