Chapter 21 #3
“I don’t think a man like me deserves a love like this,” he said with a smile that was definitely real, and not an act. “But I’ve never been one to deny fate so—” he chuckled. “Nancy, Daisy-doo—” he smiled broadly at their inside joke on nicknames. “Will you marry me?”
And never, not even in his wildest dreams, had Hayes ever imagined that he’d be on the receiving end of a proposal of marriage.
He stared at the gold signet ring, the same one that Beckett had gifted him at Christmas, which he’d apparently stolen right off his finger a few minutes ago.
He was rendered speechless by this off-the-cuff scenario devised by his lover.
And, for fuck’s sake—why, oh why, did he feel the visceral urge to say yes?
His gut clenched with a kind of pained excitement.
Stunned, Hayes just sat there, which gave him the perfect excuse to look up at all the other patrons who were now paying very close attention to the drama unfolding in front of them.
He immediately noticed that John was hard at work filming the whole thing.
As Hayes looked back down at Beckett, realization hit and he knew instinctively what he needed to do to act out the rest of this scene.
Beckett gave him a confident smirk and nodded his head encouragingly.
“Yes,” he said, hoping his smile reflected his extraordinary fondness for Beckett.
“Of course I will,” he said, playing it up a bit.
He let Beckett place the gold ring on his left ring finger.
It was too small—since it was sized for his pinky.
It got stuck before the second knuckle. It didn’t matter.
He grabbed Beckett’s biceps and pulled him to his feet.
Once Beckett stood up, he pulled him towards him for a kiss.
The full-on kind of kiss with a hint of tongue that was perfectly appropriate as a response to a romantic proposal in a public setting. A true Hallmark moment.
“Fucker,” Hayes whispered affectionately against his lips.
“Bought us 30 minutes,” Beckett replied softly with a smug grin as they made a show of reluctantly separating.
Hayes glanced discreetly at his watch, and he had to admit, that yes, indeed, his brilliant partner had done exactly that.
“I’m in,” Adeline said, a couple of seconds later. “Give me five minutes to wrap this up, and Matthew can get out of there.”
Beckett winked at Hayes, satisfied with the results of their combined efforts.
The whole restaurant had burst into applause while witnessing their engagement, but now the excitement was over and the patrons turned their attention back to their meals. Beckett didn’t dare make John wait for him any longer, so he walked over to his table to speak with him.
Hayes sat back down, staring at the signet ring on his ring finger.
He ought to place it back on the finger where it belonged.
Instead, he hesitated, reflecting on the implications of what had just happened, uncertain as to exactly what his answer would be if Beckett actually proposed.
It would be too soon. Too much. Too—everything, he supposed.
But it was also something he’d be willing to consider for the future.
Why not? He’d made up his mind long ago that there was no one else for him.
Beckett was his future. It was not a matter of if—it was now mainly a question of whether the idiot would live long enough for them to even have a future together.
Against his better judgement, he didn’t move the ring back to his pinky.
Beckett was back a few minutes later, waving his phone at Hayes excitedly. “It’s all right here,” he said, wagging his eyebrows like he now had something he could hold over Hayes’ head.
“You know our fake engagement just now isn’t an actual contract or binding agreement, right? It’s mostly for show—” Hayes was inexplicably nervous and felt compelled to set the record straight considering the way Beckett was looking at him.
“Don’t wiggle out of it now, princess!” Beckett pointed a finger at him in warning. Then, suddenly, he sobered and lowered his voice. “Is John on the move?”
“Not quite, but soon,” Hayes said, watching as John reviewed the contents of the bill folder in front of him.
With a satisfied nod, he closed the folder, got to his feet and took his suit jacket from the back of his chair.
He slipped it on, making sure to pocket his phone before moving towards the exit.
“He’s heading your way,” Hayes announced over the comms.
“I’m 30 seconds away from the exit,” Matthew said.
Thank God.
“Was everything to your satisfaction?” Elias asked, his huge smile showing how smitten he was with them.
Beckett covered Hayes’ left hand with his, playing up his excitement for the waiter’s benefit as Hayes accepted the bill folder.
It contained a copy of the bill had that had already been charged to Matthew’s account.
Nevertheless, Hayes pulled a $50 bill from his wallet, placed it inside, and handed the folder to Elias with a satisfied smile.
“Thank you for making it so special,” Hayes said as he wrapped his arm around Beckett’s shoulders.
Their waiter smiled and waved as they headed out the door.