Chapter 10 - The Real Proposal
She stopped on the sidewalk, rain misting over her hair, her chest heaving as she faced him.
Mason walked slowly across the wet pavement until he stood right in front of her. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his dark handkerchief, and gently wiped a raindrop from her cheek.
“Your apartment building is safe now, Maya,” Mason said softly, his baritone voice filling the quiet street. “Viktor is gone. Your family thinks I am currently overseeing a global investment merger in London. You are completely free to go back to your normal life.”
Maya looked up at him, her pale blue eyes searching his unreadable face. “My normal life?”
“Yes,” Mason nodded, a faint, dark sadness touching his eyes. “You no longer need a fake boyfriend.”
Maya stepped closer, wrapping her cold hands around his dark lapels, pulling him down until his face was inches from hers.
“What if I don't want a normal life anymore, Mason?” she whispered, her voice steady and true. “What if I want a real one? With you?”
Mason froze, his breath catching in his throat as he looked into her eyes, searching for any trace of hesitation or fear. He found none—only fierce, absolute love.
A slow, breathtaking smile—a real, genuine, magnificent smile—spread across Mason Reed’s face, illuminating his dark features with breathtaking beauty.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the velvet box containing the emerald-cut diamond ring.
“Then we have a small problem, Miss Bennett,” Mason whispered, taking her left hand in his.
“What problem?” she smiled, tears of joy sparkling in her eyes.
Mason popped the box open, slid the heavy platinum ring securely back onto her left ring finger, and brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles with profound reverence.
May you like
“Tell your Aunt Judith,” Mason murmured against her skin, his dark eyes burning with absolute, eternal devotion, “that she needs to start planning a real wedding.”
Maya laughed—a warm, radiant sound that echoed down the rainy street—as Mason wrapped his arms around her, lifted her into the air, and kissed her under the grey Seattle sky, sealing a love story that had started with a single cup of coffee and three secret knocks of fate.
