full of hope and worry and love as he looked up at her. Abby was lightheaded as she held his eyes. The moment felt like a dream she had never dared to imagine.
“Chris,” she finally managed. “This is such a surprise … But I don’t want you to marry me just so we can live together.”
“I want to marry you because I want you to be my wife. I know it seems fast, but I’ve never been more sure of anything. I’ll spend every day loving you and supporting you.”
“I love you so much,” she said, her tone nearly a whisper. “I really do. But Chris, I pretty much have two kids who are nine and 12. I’m not like other 25-year-olds. You deserve someone you can have a real newlywed life with – walking around the house naked, traveling, going out all the time. I can’t do any of that, and you are so perfect, so amazing, that you deserve all that.”
“I don’t want any of that,” he said earnestly. “I want you. I can’t believe I’m so lucky that you – you, Abby – you love me back. I want to make a life with you and the girls, and maybe even have more kids. I know I won’t just be getting a wife, but a family, and that’s what I want. Please don’t let your self-doubt get in the way of this. If you say yes, I’d marry you tomorrow.”
“Oh, Chris.” Her mind swam with the idea of marrying him. It was too beautiful to be true. But as she looked at his eager, hopeful expression, she wondered if maybe it could be true. If maybe she was meant for a happy ending.
“You already know I’m terrible at begging,” he said. “Say yes, and you’ll never be sorry.”
She laughed lightly, reaching down to his bristled cheek. Tears rolled down her cheeks not just because she was happy, but because she realized for the first time that she could have something real, something she’d envied in others and never foreseen having.
“I’d never make you beg me for anything. You’re my dream, Chris. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He swept her into the air, spinning her in a circle, and she didn’t think she’d ever been so happy. As he sat her down, he kissed her sweetly, touching his forehead to hers.
“I wanted to pick out the ring myself. I hope you like it,” he said, opening the box.
“Like it? I love it, Chris. It’s perfect.” He slipped the platinum band on her finger, and she admired the large, sparkling oval diamond on it.
“God, I’m so relieved,” he said, sighing deeply as he pulled her against his chest. “I’ve been a nervous wreck about this.”
“Now you’ll just move to nervousness about being married.”
“I’m not nervous at all. I meant it about tomorrow. I want you to have whatever you want. We can have a huge wedding here, or get married at Reed’s beach house, or go to Hawaii, or anything else you’d like.”
“Here?” Abby looked around the sprawling warehouse.
“No, I meant here as in Chicago. We can get The Peninsula if you’d like.”
“Oh … well what about here?”
“If it’s what you want, it’s what you’ll have. I’ll call and buy the place right now and we can hire a crew right away to refinish the floors and start working on it. It would be a cool spot, if we hire someone to decorate it really nice.”
“If it’s going to be our place, it seems fitting to get married here,” she said, admiring the room. “Are you sure you want to buy it and open a studio? I might not make much money at first.”
“It doesn’t matter if you make any money at all. I’ve got plenty. I want you to plan our wedding, oversee the reno on the studio and apartment, and just be happy.”
“I want you to be happy, too,” she said, smiling up at him as he pulled her into his arms.
“As long as I’ve got you, I will be.”
Chapter 14
6 months later
Though she was upside down, Abby slid her body down the metal pole seamlessly. She felt, more than heard, the pulse of the music flowing from the speakers. It guided her movements against the pole. She flipped her feet down to the floor, gliding back to an upright stance.
“Anyone want to try that one?” she asked. A dozen women stared back at her, their faces ranging from skepticism to amusement.
“I’m afraid I’ll fall on my head,” one