Page 94 of Lumi

“Excuse me?”

I looked down to the front of my pants. “I’ll need a minute. Unless you want me to walk through your department as a walking signpost announcing the kind of feelings that I have for you.”

Lumi met my eyes, and then the cutest laughter erupted from her.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing. I don’t even know why I’m laughing. There’s just this wonderful bubbly feeling of joy inside me.”

I melted a little because Lumi’s joy wasn’t only inside her. She was glowing on the outside in a way I’d never seen before.

“Ye’re truly breathtakin’,” I whispered and reached out to hug her again when her hand came up to stop me.

“Thank you, but we can’t keep touching or we’ll never get out of my office.” She handed me the papers in her hand. “Read this.”

“What is it?”

“A report on the new Chinese tax tariffs and their implication on Solver Industries. That should help dampen your erection problem.”

Lumi was right. Reading the boring document calmed me down fast, and a minute later, we unlocked the door and hurried to her next meeting.

Seeing Lumi in her work environment made me realize that I never knew how tough, confident, demanding, and respected she was. Lumi had been precocious when I met her at seventeen. But now, she’d grown into a powerhouse of intelligence and authority. Today had showed me that being ten years her senior was a good thing because there was no way I could have kept up with Lumi when I was her age.

We stayed three hours at Solver Industries, and when we left, my admiration for the incredible woman walking next to me had grown even more. I intertwined our fingers, and there were constant side glances and warm smiles between us.

“Look, Lumi, there’s somethin’ I have to tell ye,” I said when we got into my car. “I was never good with poetic words and stuff, but if I were, I’d tell ye that I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”

She put on her seat belt and reached out for me. “I feel the same way about you.”

“So ye still want to marry me?”

“Yes, why do you ask me that? Did you change your mind?” Her smile faltered.

“No. I’m just making sure ye didn’t change yer mind.”

“ThatIchanged my mind?” She tilted her head. “While we were at my workplace? No, why would I?”

“Forget I asked you.” I leaned over and kissed her. “Maybe it’ll feel more real to me when we tell others.”

Lumi watched me for a moment. “Then how about we tell your sister right now?”

“Ye want to call up Kit?” I shook my head and grinned. “Naw. She’ll tell Liv right away. They’re best friends, and once Liv knows it, she’ll tell Charles. Don’t ye want to tell them yerself?”

“I trust Kit. It’s her job to keep secrets. If we tell her to keep quiet, I’m sure she will.”

The excitement of telling my sister the big news made me smile from ear to ear as I accessed my phone via the mobile system in the car and called up Kit.

“Damian, let’s stick to the part about our being together. We don’t need to tell her that we already discussed plans for the future.”

I nodded in agreement just as Kit picked up the phone.

“What’s the craic, little brother?”

“I’m in my car with Lumi, and we have somethin’ to tell ye.”

“Hey, Kit,” Lumi called out.

“Hey, love, what’s going on?”