Page 24 of Ice & Sweet

TWO YEARS LATER

André

“I’m home,” I called as I closed the door to the house, shaking off the flurry of snow that clung to every inch of me. London was determined to give us a white Christmas and given how quickly the snow was coming down, it seemed like the city was going to get its wish.

“Oh no you’re not,” Luke called from the sitting room, laughter bubbling through his voice.

“Oh yes I am,” I said as I unzipped my coat and reached for my boots. “And I’ve got a whole day off! God, I could sleep for a week.”

“Poor you. Do you need me to take care of you?” Luke asked as he appeared with a teasing smile on his face. “Would a kiss make you feel better?”

“I don’t know, but it would be a good start.”

He padded over and leant up to kiss me, his lips tasting like brandy and chocolate, and I groaned softly. Every inch of me was exhausted, but I was determined not to let our Christmas go to waste. This year I’d been offered a role in a grand London pantomime by a producer who’d seen me in a couple of musicals, and since my last role had come to an end, I’d decided to give it a try.

If I’d thought musicals were brutal, then pantomime was at a whole other level.

The run might have been shorter since it only lasted for six weeks from the start of December to the end of January, but we did ten shows a week with only Mondays, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day off. And while I was loving every single moment of being the prince in Cinderella , it had given me a newfound appreciation for stamina. And I wasn’t even in every scene.

Given my musical background, the musical director had given me both a solo and a duet to sing, and there were multiple dance numbers too. I was pretty sure I’d be muttering the words in my sleep for the next year.

Still, the experience had been a fun one and I’d built a strong bond with the cast and crew, so I’d definitely miss the chaos when it was all over.

Then I’d get a few weeks of reprieve before I went into rehearsals for the new London production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that I’d somehow managed to land the role of Caractacus Potts in. I still wasn’t quite sure how and I’d been worried that I was maybe a little young at thirty-two, but I was learning not to question things.

There were some days where I still wondered if the only reason I got parts was my background and the fame that still clung to my name despite my attempts to shake it off, but then Luke reminded me of the stack of theatrical credits I now had and I realised that if it was a sham, I was doing pretty well out of it.

And if all I could do was fake confidence in my abilities, then I’d keep doing that until I believed in myself for real.

“Any better?” Luke asked, his hands resting on my chest and his eyes dancing with mischief. I was sure he had plans for me, and I was very happy to be a part of them, whatever they turned out to be. I had plans of my own for this Christmas too.

“A little,” I said with a smirk. “A smidge. The teeniest, tiniest amount.”

“Oh no, we can’t have that.” His fingers tightened in my jumper, eyes glittering with desire. “I guess we’ll just have to go upstairs so I can help properly.”

“Only if you’re not busy. I wouldn’t want to distract you.”

“Not busy. I was just rewatching my favourite bits of Llewelyn . Kane really is good. I’m so glad it keeps getting renewed.”

“I think you’ve seen him naked on TV more than you ever did when you were dating,” I said with a chuckle as Luke towed me towards the stairs. Even though he loved his flat, he’d made the decision to move into my house a year ago because going back and forth across London was annoying and time-consuming. I’d offered to sell here too so we could buy somewhere together, but Luke had insisted he’d fallen in love with the house and it didn’t make sense for both of us to suffer through the pains of moving just for the sake of it.

The bakery had gone from strength to strength but Luke had also gotten better at balancing things too. It would have been easy for him to expand, hire more staff, take on more projects, and become a huge, complex operation. We’d talked about it as well, but Luke had realised doing that would take him away from decorating and more into administration, marketing, management, and all the other things he didn’t actually want to deal with. He’d started his business to decorate cakes and that was what he was going to do. And no amount of potential money was going to change that.

“I think so too,” he said. “Also Kane and Austin are throwing a New Year’s thing if we want to go—nothing fancy apparently, just dinner, drinks, maybe some films. I said I’d see how you felt since you’ll have done two shows that day.”

“Bit last minute, isn’t it? Usually they plan things a lot earlier than this.”

“I thought that too, but I think they want to use it as an excuse to meet Toby’s boyfriend.”

“Sneaky,” I said, trying not to give away that I’d asked Kane and Austin to organise something on New Year’s Eve under the guise of a quiet night in. But I was hoping it would be something else too.

I just had to ask Luke the right question first.

I hadn’t planned a particular moment because our Christmases were so unstructured that trying to keep to a specific schedule would throw up red flags. So I was waiting until the moment was right and trusting that I’d know.

And I did.

It happened the next morning when we were lying in bed together with cooling sweat on our skin, our heartbeats slowly returning to normal. Luke was sprawled out next to me with a soft, blissful smile on his face that I just wanted to kiss endlessly. Asking him to marry me after I’d completely fucked his brains out might not have been the most traditionally romantic thing in the world, but Luke and I had lived so much of our lives in the spotlight that I wanted something completely private.

A moment we’d never want to share with the rest of the world, no matter how much people asked.

“I’ve got something for you,” I said, sliding down the bed so I was lying next to him with our noses almost touching, interlacing our fingers together.

“I thought we were going to do presents later,” he said with adorable confusion. “After breakfast, like we usually do.”

“We will, but this is something extra.”

“Oh?”

I held on to his hand and rolled over to quickly reach down the side of my bedside table where I’d stashed my prize last night while Luke was in the bathroom. It was a small green leather box and when I held it out in front of him, Luke’s eyes went wide as he looked between me and it so fast I was worried he was going to get dizzy. “Is that… are you…”

“I think so,” I said. “If you’re wondering if I’m going to ask you to marry me.” I opened the box, revealing the beautiful golden ring I’d been hiding for weeks. I’d had it made by a jeweller in Swallow Hill, the same one who’d made Kane’s and Austin’s rings. “Luke, the past two years have been the most incredible of my life. Nothing in the world compares to being with you, and I want to spend every single day being by your side. I love you more than anything and if you’ll let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that.”

“You don’t need to prove anything,” he said, leaning over the box to kiss me. “I already know that you love me. I don’t need proof—I just want you next to me every day.”

“Is that a yes then?”

Luke laughed softly. “You need to actually ask me the question first.”

“Luke Yang, will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes, I will.” He grabbed my face and kissed me again, his adoration clear. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” I said before carefully lifting the ring out of the box and sliding it onto his finger. “I hope it fits. I measured your finger with a bit of string while you were napping.”

“When did you do that?”

“September.”

“And I didn’t notice?”

“It was just after you’d done that order for Tamsin Chu,” I said. “The one where you came home and collapsed because you’d stayed up so late the night before.” Tamsin, who was on the cast of Llewelyn with Kane, had asked for a library-themed birthday cake—like Belle’s library from Beauty and the Beast —so Luke had made sure to hand pipe hundreds of spines around each tier, even going as far as to add titles and decoration. It had been an edible masterpiece, and he’d come home and slept for fourteen hours straight afterwards.

“Well, clearly it was a good idea because it meant you could do this without me realising!”

“I’m not sure that’s the takeaway, but sure, let’s go with that.”

I held my breath as I slowly slid the ring further down his finger. It bumped slightly over his knuckle and then settled perfectly into place, the entwined golden strands shimmering slightly. “It’s perfect,” he said. “I love it.”

“Merry Christmas, my love,” I said, leaning in for another kiss.

“Merry Christmas.”

We stayed there for a while, because there was no rush to be anywhere else. We had all the time in the world, and for today nothing and nobody else mattered.

Outside the window, the snow kept falling. And Luke and I stayed snug inside.

Warm, cosy, happy, and loved.

The End