“And will I have to wait till then to finally find out what a true Scotsman wears under his kilt?” I ask not for the first time tonight. I’ve been dying to know ever since Drew stepped out of our hotel room en suite dressed in the full formal regalia. I swear I nearly fainted at the sight of him. All I wanted to do was slip my hand under the traditional dark green and blue fabric to see exactly what Drew has on or more likely off under it. Instead, he rushed me out the door, saying we were late, and I didn’t even get a chance to sneak a peek.
He laughs, throwing his head back.
Words cannot describe how sexy my hot Scotsman looks. It has to be said that his friend, Aaron, and brother, Rory, who are similarly dressed, look pretty fine too. They have certainly caught the attention of the single ladies in the room. Not surprisingly, Sarah was leading the charge. She grabbed me by the arm when she caught sight of them and quizzed me on their relationship statuses. Watch out boys, is all I’ve got to say on the matter.
Later that night, Drew and I are back in our room. The door bangs shut and I don’t waste any time in dragging Drew’s head down for a passionate, heart-racing, breath-stealing kiss. I pour all of my love for this amazing, wonderful man into this moment. This is how I wanted to kiss him when I walked into the function room filled with more than fifty of my friends and family all shouting “Happy birthday.”
Eventually, I release his lips to say, “Thank you again, that was the best surprise ever.” I run my hands down from his waist, over his tight butt cheeks on a voyage of discovery.
He chuckles, grabbing my wrists. “All in good time. But first I have one more surprise for you,” Drew murmurs in his low sexy bedroom voice that never fails to send a shiver down my spine.
“I’m about all surprised out,” I quip. It’s been a huge day and night. I can’t imagine what else he has in store for me. Actually, I can imagine and it involves the enormous bed behind me.
I tilt my head to the side and smile up at him. “Although I guess I could squeeze in one more surprise.”
“You’re going to like this one,” he teases.
I move out of his arms and drop to sit on the end of the bed. “Come on then, Mister Campbell. Surprise away.”
With a spin that flicks his kilt up a tantalizing smidge, he walks to his luggage and dives his hand into a side pocket. He retrieves a long white envelope and a small rectangular black box with a red ribbon tied around it. I don’t remember seeing him put that there. I’m coming to realize that my boyfriend is as good at keeping secrets as my friends and family. He returns to stand in front of me, then hands me the envelope.
“This is all very mysterious,” I say, looking up at him.
He’s grinning from ear to ear. “Open it.” His gray-blue eyes are wrinkled in merriment.
I carefully open the envelope and inside is a single sheet of white paper. Taking it out, I unfold it, then begin to read. It’s a copy of a deed to a property in Cornwall.
My head springs up. “What? Is this the cottage?” He nods and his grin is even wider.
I gasp. “This says I own the cottage in Cornwall.” He nods again. I drop the paper, jump up, throw my arms around his neck, and kiss him all over his face.
In between the sloppy wet kisses, I stutter out, “I can’t believe … you bought me the cottage … in Cornwall. I love that place ... More importantly I love you.”
“Aye, I know and I love you too. Now sit back down because there is one more part to the present.” I sit down and he places the black box in my hand. “Happy birthday,” he says again.
The box is the same size as the one Hunter and Trudy gave me earlier. That gift contained a gorgeous set of diamond earrings. However, this box is a lot heavier than I’d expect for jewelry. I arch my brows and gently shake the box close to my ear. It doesn’t rattle but something shifts about inside.
He laughs at my attempts to guess what’s in the box. “Go on, open it,” he encourages.
I pull on the end of the red satin ribbon and it drops away. I lift the lid and inside is a smaller parcel wrapped in red tissue paper. Taking it out I carefully begin to pull away the paper. I can’t even tell if the item is delicate or not. The final fold reveals a gold keyring with two keys on it. I lift it out and dangling from the keys on a thinner red ribbon is a ring.
I look up, my mouth wide open.
Epilogue - Drew
Itakeakneebefore Katie, enclosing my hand around her one that is holding the keys and ring.
“Katie, my love, I know we said we’d wait but I don’t want to wait another day. I want you to be mine completely and forever. I’ve known since Edinburgh we belong together. This last year I’ve learned that life can change quickly and you need to live every day like it’s your last. I want every one of my days to be with you.”
I stop to clear the lump in my throat before continuing, “Katie, I love you. Will you please marry me?”
Her mouth is still open and worryingly silent. “Katie, now is one of those times you need to use your words. You’re killing me here.”
She chokes out one word on a sob, “Yes.” And it’s all I need to hear.
I stand and draw her up to standing too. My arms wrap tightly around her shoulders, her arms looping around my waist while she buries her face into my shirt. I never expected proposing to my beautiful, strong, boss lady would reduce her to tears. Or me too for that matter. We stay like this for a few minutes, embracing until her tears dry and she lifts her head to look up at me.
She laughs gently. “I’m sorry for completely losing it. I want my every day with you too. I love you so much.” Her voice cracks on those last words. “Sorry. I never expected this. I’m a little overwhelmed.”
