37. Epilogue
Epilogue
Grace
One year later
“Are you sure we’re on the list?” I bought a new dress for this when Connor said we were going. This year, we were on the list, but when we got closer to the bouncer, I got nervous. What if he recognized me?
“Are you on the list?” he asked when we were the next in line. I looped my arm through Connor’s and straightened my back, satisfied when the bouncer took in my burgundy, form-fitting gown. I lifted my fingers to the pearls draped around my neck.
“Connor Murphy.” His voice held no room for questions, and the bouncer didn’t ask any. He scanned the list, tapping his name and the little ‘plus one’ that followed it.
The bouncer nodded and opened the velvet rope for us to walk through. “Mr. Murphy. Thank you for joining us this evening.”
Once we were inside the venue, butterflies raced to my throat.
Just like last year, sparkling lights and chandeliers cast a glow over the ballroom, and elegant centerpieces decorated the centers of long tables.
“Do you want something to drink?” Connor asked, sliding my coat off my shoulders and passing it to the coat check attendant, who took it quickly.
“Champagne.”
He smiled at the request, quickly wrapping his arm around me and sweeping me over to the bar we had met at just a year earlier. I leaned against the bar, Connor directly behind me. “Two glasses of champagne, please,” he said.
The bartender ignored the way Connor nuzzled my neck while he filled champagne flutes with fresh bubbles. When he slid them onto the counter, Connor thanked him with a tip and handed me a glass. “Cheers, my love.”
“Well, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here this year.” Connor spun around, looking surprised at first and then overtaken with excitement. He shook the man’s hand, pulling him in for a hug.
“Captain Hoover. It’s really good to see you, Arthur,” he said before turning his attention to me. “I want you to meet Grace.”
I offered my hand to him while Connor beamed next to me. “It’s really nice to meet you, sir.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Captain Hoover said, taking my hand. Then, he looked at me with mischief in his wrinkles. “You caused quite a stir. I’ve never seen this man care about anything or anyone as much as he cares about you.”
My stomach sank. Even though Connor had reminded me numerous times over the last year that he didn’t regret his decision to quit his job—that he would choose me over the badge every time—I still felt guilty he gave up his career for me.
At the same time, it meant everything to me that he did. And that he didn’t regret it.
“I’d let this one turn my world upside down and inside out over and over again.
As long as I end up with her at the end of the day, I don’t care about anything else.
” A lump grew in my throat, and my heart skipped a beat hearing him say it.
But, more importantly, the way his golden eyes drilled into mine made me feel every word.
“Hang on to that feeling, son,” he said, shaking Connor’s hand and pulling him in for a hug. “I wish nothing but the best for you. For both of you.”
“Thank you, sir.” The way Connor held me tighter told me he already felt like he had the best. Like he already knew it without a doubt.
“Maryann and I still want to have you over for dinner. She’d love to meet Grace, and I know she wants to see you too, even if you did break her heart when you quit.
” Captain Hoover chuckled, and Connor laughed with him.
"She reminds me every week that I need to invite you, so she'll be happy to know I did. I’m going to tell her you said yes this time.”
Connor threw his head back and laughed in a way that drew smiles from around us. His joy was infectious, and I was breathing in the source. “We would love to,” he said. “I’ll even bring dessert.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” He clapped Connor on the shoulder again, letting his hand linger like a proud father before he took a step back. “I should probably get going. They’re expecting me at the front before the presentation. You two have a good night.”
Then, he was gone, leaving an air of approval behind—one that felt like calm drifting from Connor.
He spun around and faced me with a new look on his face.
It looked like excitement and nerves and a bit of spontaneity that made my stomach twirl.
When he scanned the room, the butterflies in my throat danced too.
“I was going to wait to do this later, but I don’t think I can,” he said. “Or maybe I just don’t want to. Come with me,” he said suddenly, grabbing my hand.
“What? Where are we going?” I followed him while he started to hurry toward the kitchen. My skirt was balled up in my fist to stop me from tripping over it while we weaved through the crowd.
“In here,” he said, leading me through the double doors into the kitchen.
A loud laugh slipped from my lips when he took a bottle of champagne from the counter, guiding us around the catering staff and out the back door.
In the alley, Connor shook the bottle. He loosened the cork just enough until it popped, and champagne bubbles flowed over the side of the bottle before he brought it to his lips.
He took a big gulp of champagne and handed me the bottle.
While I sipped from it, ignoring the tickle of the bubbles against my nose, Connor slowly backed me against the wall.
His stare was intense when I brought the bottle down.
He took it from me, setting it on the ground.
Then, he held my hands, lifting them above my head and pinning them to the brick.
“You look absolutely breathtaking tonight,” he said, his lips hovering over mine. He left me against the wall while he settled down onto one knee.
I gasped, quickly covering my mouth while the room around me spun and sat perfectly still at the same time. “What are you doing?”
“Grace, my little pearl. There was a moment with you here a year ago, when I had you right in this spot, and something struck me. If I had known that night that the beautiful troublemaker sipping champagne at the bar was going to change my life, I still would’ve welcomed the storm.
You are everything beautiful and crazy and right in this world, and I wonder every day how I got so lucky to call you mine.
” He reached into his pocket, and my breath hitched.
The air in the room disappeared, and it was like I was floating.
“I love you, Grace. I’m going to call you mine until the day I die if you’ll let me. Marry me. Please?”
Connor flipped the velvet box open, and, through the blurry screen of tears that welled in my eyes, I saw a ring that promised forever. A beautiful milky pearl sat nestled in a bed of diamonds, with an intricate pavé band twisted like a vine. It was beautiful. I sniffled.
“You have to answer, Grace. Tell me you can’t picture a life without me—that you want to end every night in my arms. Say yes.
” The word clung to my tongue while I nodded, and Connor stood from his knee, wrapping his arm around me.
He lifted me, spinning me, the skirt of my gown swirling around my heels.
“Yes, yes, yes,” I finally gasped in his arms. “You never needed me to answer. I’m already yours forever.”
Connor slipped the ring onto my finger, and the light from the streetlight sparkled off the diamonds.
His finger ran over the ring on mine, and I felt him smile just before he kissed me.
My lips followed him, pleading for more when he broke the kiss.
“The first time I kissed you right here, I could just feel you were different, special in a way I could never comprehend then.”
“And how do you feel this time?” I asked, stretching onto my toes as much as I could to kiss him again. He hummed, drawing his tongue along mine and savoring the moment before he pulled away. His golden eyes smiled before his lips did.
“Like I was right.” He chuckled, kissing the tip of my nose. Connor bent down, grabbing the bottle of champagne in one hand while refusing to let go of me with the other. “Let’s get out of here, Grace.”