Page 63 of Dirty Desires

He came in behind me. “I’ve been wondering something. You may find this much too soon to ask, but what kind of wedding have you envisioned yourself having?”

Turning around to face him, I felt a bit shocked. He hadn’t asked me to stay another night, even though I’d told him that I would, yet here he was asking me about what kind of wedding I wanted?

“Nothing special,” I said, then got back to work.

“I see.” He put the wine glasses next to the sink. Leaning over my shoulder, he said, “So, like a justice of the peace or something like that?”

“I suppose so.” His close proximity went a long way toward soothing my annoyance. “I don’t want anything big. I don’t want to spend lots of money. I just want it to be small, quaint, and intimate.”

“That’s cool.” He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “I like that idea too.”

“Good.” I finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher, then closed it and started it up. The whirring sound was loud, so he took my hand to lead me out of the noisy kitchen.

He gently pushed me to take a seat on the sofa then handed me a little black box. I wasn’t sure what he was doing. “Are you …?”

Before I could finish, he said, “Don’t ask. Just open the box.”

When I pulled the top off, I saw a key. “And this is?”

“A key to the apartment. I want you to move in. I don’t want you to stay four nights a week—I want you to stay all of them.” He sat down beside me. “And before you say anything, I want you to know that Dr. Patel has given us her approval on this.”

My mind went blank as I held the key in my hand. “We’re moving in together?”

He nodded. “We are.”

Throwing my arms around him, I began to cry. I was so happy.

Things were beginning to move forward!