Page 119

Story: Undeniably Unexpected

Which, after far too long, is exactly where I go.

But the moment I open my hotel room door, I already know something is different. The lights are off, but there’s a soft glow flickering from inside. I open it wider and gasp at what’s greeting me. The room is filled with flameless candles and endless rose petals, but in the center of it, are my guys.

“What are you doing here?” I gasp, my hand covering my mouth.

“Our flight was delayed,” Loomis says.

“What?” I laugh the word.

“Our flight out here was delayed, and you got back here before we could. Fen and I had a grand plan to have all of this waiting for you when you returned from your signing, but you beat us to it, so I had to create a diversion to get you to leave so we could set all this up.”

The door shuts behind me, and I stand here for a moment, completely overwhelmed. “You did all of this to surprise me? Why?”

“Because we missed you.” He’s holding Fen in his arms, but Fen is wiggling his little butt, anxious to be set down.

I hold out my hands to him, and Loomis releases him. In five strides, Fen is in my arms, and I pick him up, giving him a hug and a squeeze because I’ve missed him terribly. I cross the room, mindful of all the candles, until I’m right in front of Loomis.

“This is amazing. What an incredible surprise.”

I lean in and kiss him.

“I’m glad you think so, but we’re not finished yet.” Before I can ask him what he means, he drops down to one knee and pulls a box out of his pocket. “I had a very different scenario in mind for this. You were going to come in, and the room was going to look different, more elaborate, and Fen was going to hand you the ring and we were both going to get on our knees and beg you to marry us. But it didn’t work out that way.”

I laugh, feeling the first of my tears on my cheeks.

“But I’m not sure the show quite matters when, at the heart of it, all we want is for you to be ours forever.” He opens the box, revealing a large emerald-cut diamond. “I’ve wanted to put this diamond on your hand for a while now, Keegan. Life has been fast for us, and we haven’t had much time to slow down and take a moment. Then I realized, if you wait for that to happen, itnever comes, and I got tired of waiting. I love you. Fen loves you. Marry me. Be ours.”

I drop to my knees and release Fen, who immediately goes to play with one of the candles. Good thing they’re not real. But I can’t remove my eyes from the man across from me.

I take his face in my hands and lean in to kiss him. Because I’m not sure I can speak right now. This is so much. He’s so much. They’re everything.

“Is that a yes?” he asks after I kiss him for far too short a time.

I nod and swallow, licking at my tears that don’t seem to know how to stop. “Yes. It’s a yes.”

Loomis slides the ring on my finger and captures me in his arms, kissing me and taking me down to the floor, where he covers me with his body. He holds me for a moment, just holds me as if I’m the most precious thing to him. His eyes find mine, sparkling with his own emotion, and his lips meet mine in a kiss that is unlike any I’ve ever had before.

Holy crap. I’m engaged to Loomis Freaking Powell. If someone had told me this a year ago, I’d have laughed in their face. And the candles and the surprise. Gah! I pinch myself.

“Ow.”

He chuckles. “It’s real. You’re not dreaming.”

“Learned that the hard way.” I rub my arm.

“I love you,” he whispers against me.

“I love you. So much.”

Loomis climbs off me and helps me to sit up. He grabs Fen just as he’s trying to climb up the bed and sits him down. “Fen, lad. Who’s that?” He points at me.

I laugh. Fen’s had so much trouble saying Keegan. “Did you finally get him to master it?”

“Almost. Here. Come, lad, who’s that?”

“Mama.”

My eyes bulge out of my head and my heart stops. And dammit, more freaking tears that are now blurring my vision. I climb up onto my knees. “Mama?”