There had to be close to three hundred people in the ballroom. Still, it didn't feel crowded. The valets and butlers moved about between the tables ringing the room, dispensing champagne and wine and hors d’ouevres from the silver platters they held.

Four massive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling lit the huge room, illuminating the masterful woodwork, the perfect paint, and the large mural that occupied the ceiling.

A small orchestra currently sat at rest while a DJ up on a stage played some new dance hit Gwen didn't recognize.

Despite the grandeur of the room, Gwen's world had contracted to just the few square feet occupying the space around her. More precisely, to the space she shared with Aiden as they held each other close.

"This is such an incredible way to end our trip," Gwen said, resting her cheek against his chest so that she could hear his heart beat and closing her eyes so that she could better feel his presence, smell his cologne, and just be near him.

"I thought so, too," Aiden said.

They'd been dancing and having a good time for a couple hours now, at least. Catching up with old friends, listening to the orchestra when its turn came to play. Avoiding her parents and Aiden's grandmother. Judith sat fuming in a corner somewhere, clutching that folder she'd been hanging onto this whole night.

Gwen didn't let those thoughts encroach any more on her mind. She just wanted to be in the moment, to be happy here with Aiden on their last few nights before heading back to the States.

"So you like it? All this, I mean?" Aiden said.

"Of course! I love it!"

She didn't love how her fancy and adorable pumps had turned into twin torture devices sometime in the last half hour. Her feet burned and panged with every swaying step of their dance, but she (somewhat successfully) ignored the pain.

"Good," Aiden replied, nodding to himself.

"But there's actually something I'd love even more," Gwen said, looking up into his eyes.

"And what's that?"

"You and me alone in that big suite. In that big bed. Just the two of us..."

"That would be nice," Aiden said.

"So why don't we ditch this party and head upstairs? No one will notice... Not for a while, at least." The more she thought about it, the more she wanted it. The more she wanted him. "Come on," she said.

"Not yet," Aiden replied.

Gwen didn't know what to say to that. Was he really refusing her?

"Why not?"

"Just wait a little bit longer, for me, please. I promise you it will be worth it," he said.

Ignoring the pain, she went up on her tiptoes so that she could whisper into his ear, "And I promise if you come upstairs with me right now, it will be worth it." She finished by sucking his earlobe in between her teeth and then slowly letting it pull back out.

Aiden shivered, gooseflesh breaking out on his neck, and she knew she had him. Her body responded to his, heat building deep and low inside of her.

"Not yet," he said, crushing her with his words.

"What is wrong with you today?" Gwen said, dropping back down from her tiptoes. Pain lanced up through her calves, making her wince, making her frustration boil over. "I'm going upstairs right now, whether you come with me or not. And if you don't come with me, then I'll let you know that you shouldn't bother coming at all. I think they have some comfy looking couches out in the lobby." Why did men have to be so unbelievably dense sometimes? Well, this time she intended to teach him a lesson.

She pulled away from him, but he managed to catch her wrist before she could make a clean break. "Gwen, please stay."

"No!" she said, tugging away from him just as an usher in a black suit ran up and whispered to him.

She made ready to storm off through the dancing crowd. Except the crowd had stopped dancing. Now they all stood and watched, a few of them whispering excitedly to each other.

Beatrice stood with a guy Gwen didn't recognize. Her friend's eyes were wide, and she kept glancing between Gwen and Aiden. "Holy..." she started, before clapping a hand over her mouth.

Gwen's skin prickled. What was happening? Why was everyone acting so strangely?

The music had stopped, too. And then the lights dimmed and a spotlight came on.

Gwen could feel everyone's eyes on her. The people sitting at the tables around the room had stood to get a better view.

"Gwen..." Aiden said.

Her first thought was that something had gone horribly wrong. That maybe her dress had ripped without her knowing and she'd been dancing mostly in the nude this whole time. That something awful had happened.

"Gwen," Aiden said again.

"Yes?" Gwen said, her eyes skipping around the crowd, looking for some avenue of escape. She tried catching B's eyes, but her friend still looked too shell-shocked to do anything to help her.

"Turn around."

"What's going on?" Gwen said, turning slowly.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him. The spotlight illuminated a large circle on the floor, its light showing Aiden down on one knee. He held a hand out to her. "Come closer," he said.

She accepted his outstretched hand, her legs barely wanting to move. The pain in her feet tried catching her attention, but she blocked it out.

"Gwendolyn Browning," Aiden said, giving her a small smile to say he'd skipped her middle name on purpose, "I've never met anyone like you in my life. I've never loved anyone like I love you. When you smile, it lights up my life. Nothing makes me happier than being with you, and I can't even imagine a life without you..."

Aiden reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, dark box. Gwen couldn't take her eyes of it. Part of her desperately wanted to blink, to stop the dryness. That part of her lost to the rest of her, which didn't want to miss even a single heartbeat's worth of this moment.

She felt glued to the spot, rooted there. If the fire alarm went off, she wouldn't have moved.

Aiden opened the box to reveal the ring nestled within. The light from the spotlight glittered and scintillated in the diamonds and a bead of light shifted on the white gold band. It was the most breathtaking, the most beautiful, and the most terrifying piece of jewelry that Gwen had ever laid eyes on.

"You complete me, Gwen. Will you complete me for the rest of our lives? Will you marry me?"

The crowd held its collective breath, all the whispering stopped. Even the valets and ushers and butlers had shifted their trays to more comfortable positions. Not that Gwen really noticed any of that.

The first hot blob of a tear rolled out from the corner of Gwen's eye and down her cheek. "Yes," she said, barely whispering the word. When she realized how quietly she'd spoken, she repeated it, louder.

She couldn't hold her hand steady as Aiden plucked the ring from its box. He took her finger gently, calming her, and slid the ring down. It was a perfect fit. Gwen could feel the weight of it on her hand.

Then Aiden stood and pulled her close and kissed her, his mouth so hot on hers. The room practically exploded with cheers and hoots.

"I knew it! Let me see!" Beatrice said, elbowing her way through the crowd of well-wishers and grabbing Gwen's hand to get a better look. "Look at those rocks!"

Gwen didn't say much, mostly because she had to keep wiping away tears. And also because her face hurt from the enormous smile glued to it.

Soon enough, Aiden forced a path through the crowd and led her through it.

***

JUDITH MANNING WAS not impressed. Not impressed at all. She'd been the only person in the ballroom not to stand up and watch the show. She'd already known what was going to happen. Only a moron couldn't have figured it out.

Though she had noted the way that Gwen girl's eyes popped when she saw that gaudy, pricey engagement ring that Aiden had been so obviously carrying around in his pocket this whole time.

The girl practically had dollar signs glued to her eyeballs like from some old cartoon.

And her parents! Judith spared a glance over at the very unhappy couple. Awful people. Insufferable. No wonder Gwen had turned out like she had with parents like that.

Turned out to be quite the little gold digger, that is.

"Isn't this just great!" a young man said as he sauntered by with a champagne flute sloshing in his hand. "They're just so perfect for each other!"

When he saw the expression on Judith's face, the levity left his expression and he hurried back into the crowd, the champagne spilling over the rim to spatter on his wrist.

She hefted her manila folder again and set it on the table. Her fingertips brushed against the smooth flap and she smiled. They could have this one night together, she thought. She could put an end to all of this just as easily tomorrow morning.