“Sadie?” Roman called from the reception area.
“You will not believe what happened.” She practically bounced out of her office and straight to him.
He opened his arms just in time for her to jump into them.
She leaned back, squealed, and kissed his mouth.
There it was, Sadie had her sparkle. She lit up the entire office with energy.
Her mouth sealed with his, and oh yeah, buddy. He was all in on whatever had happened. She explored his mouth with her tongue in ways that made him abso-fuckin’-lutely on board with whatever had gone down.
“What’s up?” he asked around her wild kiss.
It seemed important, given her exuberance. A girl didn’t go after a guy’s mouth like that if the news was sad. Or if the news pissed her off.
She peppered kisses all over both of his cheeks.
“I landed a new client,” she said, moving back to his ready and willing lips.
Of course, she did. She was Sadie, and he had no doubt that she could do literally anything she put her mind to.
“It’s going to go to trial.” She squealed. “High-profile breaking and entering with a dash of extortion.”
Roman stared wide-eyed. That didn’t sound too promising for her client. But apparently, theft got Sadie’s blood moving.
“And the best part? He didn’t do it.” Roman couldn’t help but think that he could live off of the sparkle in her eye alone.
She slid down his body so her feet were on the ground again. Once there, she did a little I-landed-a-client dance.
God, he loved her.
“Babushka didn’t even have to bribe him to do it. He did it all on his own,” Sadie said, excited.
“Where is the Babushka squad?” Roman asked.
“Harry isn’t here today, and the ladies are at a training I scheduled for the new phone system.”
“You got a new phone system?” Of course, he knew exactly where Babushka was. She was totally in on his plan for the day.
“I did. So they’d have to leave for an afternoon and attend training.” She practically beamed.
“Proud of you.” He pulled her in for a kiss. A quick peck on the lips so they would still get on with the day. The chaste kiss heated. It’s what happened whenever his lips were near Sadie’s.
They kissed again, hard and hot and everything he’d ever wanted.
Sadie broke the kiss. “Should we go to my party?”
Dammit. He’d gone out of his way to keep this soiree a secret.
“Who told you?” he asked, ready to strangle whoever had spilled the beans.
“Wait, is there really a party?” Sadie grinned and did another dance move. “Happy birthday to me. This is the best day ever.”
Sadie’s birthday was actually the upcoming Wednesday, but with the trial schedule, she had said she didn’t want a party that day.
“You didn’t know?” he asked, jaw slack.
“Not until just now when you answered my question.” She grinned like a woman who had just found out it was the day of her birthday party. “I hope you got me a pony.” She marched right out of her office. “I’ve always wanted one.”
“If I got you a pony, we’d have to call her Nads,” Roman replied, following.
“Nope.” Sadie shook her head, glancing back at him. “That’s your debt to pay, not mine.”
After the months they’d spent together, Roman really hoped it would eventually be her debt, too. He also hoped she liked her birthday present a fuckuva lot more than a pony.
“At least act surprised,” he said. “Your friends and I put a lot of thought into this being a surprise party.”
Sadie made her eyes go wide, her eyebrows go high, and her mouth open in mock shock. “Like this?”
“Something like that.” Roman led her down the hall.
“Wait.” She stopped. “I want something for my birthday.”
He’d give her anything.
“What does milaya mean?” she asked.
Oh. That.
She reached for his hand, tangling his fingers with hers. “I looked it up, but there are several definitions. I wondered which you meant.”
That was a good question…
“I… uh…” He glanced away. “I don’t really know.”
Her mouth parted. The surprised look he had been aiming for before began to take over. “Get out.”
“It’s an endearment. I mean, it means sweetheart or dear or honey. Just in Russian.” He knew that much.
“But you have no idea?”
He glanced to where their hands were still linked. “It’s what my dedushka called Babushka when he was being sweet.” Which wasn’t terribly often. “It meant a lot to her when he said it. I guess, for us, it’s just another way for me to say I love you.”
Her eyes misted. “That’s way better than the prostitute one.”
Yeah, he thought so, too.
She swung their hands between them as they walked to the door of his studio. “You know, I’ve always wanted a surprise party.”
“Yeah?”
“Is everyone going to jump out and yell surprise?” she asked, her voice rising with excitement. “That’s the best part.”
“You’ll have to wait and find out,” he grumped halfheartedly.
“Wait.” Sadie pulled at his hand to stop him. “Shouldn’t you give them the signal or something? So they know we’re coming?”
“Milaya.” He ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders. “Don’t ruin it.”
She leaned into him, pressing a kiss against his lips. “I love you, too, Rome.”
They entered the room, and everyone shouted, “Surprise!”
Sadie jumped about three seconds too late and managed a remarkably unconvincing eyes-wide, eyebrows-raised, mouth-open combo.
Babushka had bought everyone whistles to blow and confetti to toss. The result sounded like two dozen lifeguards in a hailstorm of confetti. As the confetti blitz fell to the floor, the pink Happy Birthday banner that had been hung from one of his backdrops came into view. Roman had created it himself using photos of Sadie to make the letters.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so surprised,” Sadie said, not surprised at all. “What a surprise this is!”
“Overselling,” Roman muttered against her earlobe as they came to a stop beside his desk.
Marlee sauntered up to them. “Who told you?”
“Seriously, who squealed?” Kellie stepped beside Marlee.
“Was it Babushka?” Becca asked.
“I’ll let Sadie explain,” Roman replied, giving Sadie a side squeeze before heading to check the cake—chocolate with double fudge frosting.
He needed to mark this memory before they cut into it.
“Sadie?” he asked loud enough for her to hear. “Would you hand me Louise?”
Sadie picked up Louise from her special spot on his desk and brought her over.
No one, and he meant no one, touched Louise. Except him, and now Sadie.
Sadie held Louise to her own eye and clicked the shutter.
It’d become their thing—Sadie made sure he spent life in front of the shutter in more ways than just this one.
The party might not have been a surprise, but Roman hoped like hell that what he had in store for Sadie would still dazzle her. Roman took Louise while Sadie did the party circuit, welcoming friends and family.
Finally, she stood right next to him, her hand in his.
As time slipped on, Roman’s heart beat faster. It was time. Present time.
He wiped his palms against his jeans before clearing his throat and calling for attention.
Everyone sardined together in his studio for Sadie’s party. The entirety of his family turned to stare at him. The entirety of Sadie’s family. Their friends, including Rex and Tonya who were still happily married. Roman had been correct, Tonya won after all. Sadie saw it, too, eventually. The marriage stuck this time and Rex had warmed up to Sadie once he got to know her.
Winning meant different things. Sometimes it took a twist of the lens, a shift in perspective, to see the glimmer of light in the jungle trees. People just had to be willing to grab hold of that glimmer and believe that maybe they’d been wrong.
He glanced at her, warming all over when she smiled at him. A firm feeling that everything was right took hold.
There was no question about what he wanted his future to look like with Sadie, and in that moment, the nervous energy dissolved. No one else existed in the brightly lit room when she stared at him like that. There was only her. There was only them.
Roman cleared his throat. “I have something I’d like to share with everyone.”
The residual chatter dimmed until no one spoke.
“It’s Sadie’s birthday. She figured out the surprise because I am apparently an easy target.”
Everyone chuckled in response.
“It’s true,” Babushka shouted. “He’s very easy.”
“The thing is, I fell in love,” he said, not looking away from Sadie.
No one spoke, not even Babushka.
Which was fine—the pounding of his heart was loud enough, he didn’t need outside noises.
Sadie’s entire face had gone soft. She reached out and squeezed his hand.
“I fell in love with Sadie ten years ago.” Fuck, his voice wobbled like his heart in his chest. “I was just too caught up in myself to realize it was love or that it could happen so fast.”
Sadie’s eyes misted over like the fountain he’d bought her for her office.
“More recently, I fell in love with her all over again.”
There. That sounded good. Not rehearsed. Not planned. Still good.
“Maybe I never stopped loving her.”
That was definitely the case.
“Rome,” Sadie whispered.
“And I hope she’ll be mine.” Roman cleared his throat. “Forever.”
He moved his eyes away from Sadie to allow his gaze to wander over the room. Over his grandmother and her boyfriend of the moment, Etta, his parents, her parents, his brother and Heather—everyone. They all waited with rapt attention.
His gaze fell back on Sadie. Sadie, who didn’t seem to be breathing.
He wasn’t good with words when he was nervous, so he dropped to his knee and held out a velvet ring box with a princess-cut diamond in a gold setting.
“Marry me?” he asked, his knee digging into the floor.
Sadie’s expression went blank. Babushka gasped loudly. Lothario yipped.
But there was only Sadie and Roman. The two of them in a room of everyone they cared about.
“Seriously?” she asked him, reaching out to touch the diamond.
“Like you didn’t know this was coming,” he replied.
“I didn’t.” A tear trickled over the edge of her eyelid. The tear wasn’t the bad kind. He’d learned all of the varieties of Sadie tears, and this one was because she was happy.
“It’s a yes or no question.” Roman looked pointedly at the ring.
“All my noes turn to yeses when I’m with you,” she whispered, leaning forward to kiss him.
“Is that a bad thing?” he whispered back against her mouth. Because truth be told, all his noes turned to yeses around her, too.
Another tear fell over her eyelashes and down along the apple of her cheek. “Not at all. It’s just that…”
“What?” he asked.
“Are you sure?” she asked, little lines forming between her eyebrows.
“I am.” He pulled the ring from the silk lining. “Are you?”
“Yes.” She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth. “Yes, I am so sure.”
“Is that a yes to the marriage proposal then?” This seemed like one of those moments where clarity and the fine print mattered.
She nodded. “Yes. Absolutely, Rome.”
He’d believed she would say yes, but hearing the words tossed him on a wave of relief.
She parted her lips, reached for his shirt, and gripped the fabric over his pecs. “Two kids. A girl and a boy. Neither of them named after your grandmother.”
Oh yeah, he could live with that. Her hands traced up and over his shoulders to cup the back of his neck and draw him to her.
Her breasts heaved against his chest as her breathing quickened. “I love you, Rome.”
He kissed her like it was the first time and the last time and every time in between.
There were a million gazillion and one reasons why he loved Sadie Howard, but the fact she agreed to spend her life with him? That was the reason he loved her most.
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