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I got the sense he wanted to really help me get my day off to a great start. “No. No, you’re not going to look at me like that. You have to work. And I have to work.”

“We can be quick. We can try out your desk.”

I bit my lip. That could be fun.

It might be even more fun if I added a bit of playfulness of my own. “Okay.”

Surprise washed over him. “Yeah?”

I nodded. “Come back at lunchtime. You can eat and try out my desk with me.”

The twinkle in his eyes at the prospect of a little afternoon delight made my belly flip. Liam helped me off the desk, kissed me, and said, “I’ll be back to have lunch with you.”

“Just make sure you lock the door when you come in next time.”

He let out a laugh and kissed me once more. “I can’twait to hear all about your morning. Enjoy your first few hours of your new job.”

“Thanks, Liam.”

With that, he said goodbye and walked out.

I took a moment to replay his visit in my head. Then I sat down and got to work.

But by the time he came back a few hours later, I was more than ready to check out just how sturdy my new desk was.

I was beyond in love with this new life I was building with Liam, and I wasn’t about to miss out on any opportunity to make the most of it.

LIAM - FOUR MONTHS LATER

My heart was racing.

But that was nothing new.

Not when it came to Layla.

And if ever there was a moment when my heart should have been racing, this was it. Because I was getting it.

Finally. After all these years, I was getting the one thing that mattered most to me. I was getting the one thing that would lead to a lifetime of all the things I ever wanted.

Her.

Layla as my wife.

Layla as the mother to my future children.

Layla as the woman I’d grow old and get gray hair and wrinkles with.

Even if this was where I’d wanted to be all along, it was a wonder we’d made it here. Because getting to our wedding day meant needing to get down on one knee to propose to her again. And if I’d said that the thought hadn’t terrified me, I’d have been lying.

No matter how badly I’d wanted this, I didn’t want to risk doing anything that might send her running. So, it took me a while to work up the courage.

I’d been so nervous that day. More than I’d ever been about anything. As for Layla, she’d broken down in tears. After giving me the resoundingyesthat I so desperately needed, she’d confessed that she’d been worried I wasn’t ever going to propose, that I’d never want to risk asking her again for fear that I’d wind up with a rejected heart all over again.

But I’d done it.

And now she was here—walking down that aisle toward me, so we could commit ourselves to one another for the rest of our lives—doing it on a day that had been so monumental in our relationship.

It was the same day our school had visited Westwood’s for a field trip. The day that had started it all.