Once Upon a Date - Susan Hatler Page 0,29

and then moving them up until I felt the top of whatever it was Brooks wanted me to stand on.

“Okay, now shuffle to your right. A little bit more. No, too far. A couple of inches left. Okay, perfect. Now sit.”

I did as I was told, sitting down all the way on the ground, with something soft and velvety beneath me. I felt Brooks take a seat behind me.

“Now, open your eyes,” he said.

I cautiously opened first one and then the other eye. Then both of my eyes widened in disbelief as I looked around the room. We were sitting on a plush, purple carpet with gold tassels, on the floor of a banquet room. The room was vast and round, with smooth white walls.

“What is going on?” I asked, noticing a projector set up in the middle of the floor behind us. I looked back at Brooks, who sat behind me and he smiled.

As if on cue, the first strains of music from Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” began to play. I leaned back against Brooks’ chest and a fan started, blowing wind in my face. It felt as if we were flying through the air like Aladdin and Jasmine in the movie.

“Look,” Brooks said, pointing toward a wall, where the projector had displayed panoramic images of the Taj Mahal.

“So, amazing!” I exclaimed.

“Hold on tight,” he murmured, and the rug beneath us began to move.

“How did you do this?”

“Magic, I rubbed a lamp,” he said, slipping his arms around my waist as we slowly glided around the circular room, the images constantly changing just ahead of us, showing all the places in the world I have always wanted to see.

“Oh, it’s Paris! Look, it’s the Eiffel Tower,” I said.

He chuckled. “Oui.”

I sighed with delight as I leaned back against him, watching the four corners of the world appearing on the walls as we floated past on, well, on a magic carpet.

As the music faded, silvery fairy lights appeared on the ceiling and the carpet came to a stop.

“How did you do this? I mean, really, how?” I asked, shaking my head. He had recreated another romantic scene from my book, and had managed to make it even more magical.

He laughed as he held me. “The wonders of electric skateboards,” he said as he lifted the corner of the carpet and showed me the skateboard underneath. “And a remote control turntable thingy to set the projector on, so it could move around the room. I had an old friend put it together for me.”

I was lost for words for a moment, and genuinely choked up with emotion as I turned to face him. I took his face in my hands and kissed him in a very end of the movie princess-y way. Things didn’t get much more perfect than this.

“Thank you,” I said, opening my mouth as his kiss went deeper. Once he pulled back, I smiled. “You’re amazing, really.”

“You win,” he whispered into my ear as he held me again.

I pulled back and searched his eyes. “I do?”

“Yes, Michelle.” He nodded, those blue eye filled with emotion. “I’ve fallen for you all over again, Michelle. This means you were right. Modern fairy tales really do come true.”

I pressed my mouth to his again. “That makes you Prince Charming, after all.”

“Mmm,” he said, kissing me again. “A deal is a deal, though. Come to the office tomorrow and we’ll go over the contract. The manuscript will be published by Prince & Company . . . your way.”

“You’ll publish my book, just as it is?” I asked, watching him nod. “Oh, good.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That’s all you have to say?”

I giggled, leaning forward. “Don’t worry. I’ve fallen for you, too.”

The corners of his mouth rose, before he pressed his mouth to mine.

****

Brooks dropped me off at home and I walked into the condo feeling tipsy from his dreamy kisses. When I pulled my cell from my purse, I checked the screen and saw that I had a voicemail. I listened to the message in a daze.

“Hi, I’m calling for Mia Mapleton. This is Jodi McLoughlin from Paradise Bound publishing. I received your manuscript that you submitted to us and I have to tell you I love love loved it! You captured the romance and the happily ever after in a way I’ve never read before. Very original. Please call me back at this number as soon as you’re able. Don’t worry about the time. We would love the opportunity to