Epilogue
Maggie
One Year Later…
“Where are we going?” All I see is darkness since Derek put a blindfold over my eyes, clasping our hands together before leading me out of the mansion. “You’re not going to tell me anything?”
“Nope,” he says, sounding far too amused for my liking. He drops a hand on my thigh as we continue to drive. Somewhere . “That’s why it’s called a surprise.”
“But we’ve been driving forever.” I smile, aware I sound like I’m complaining when really I’m just excited. “Are we going someplace where you can dump me and then my body?”
His deep laughter sounds, and I swear I can hear our driver laughing too. “You have to stop watching that true crime channel.”
I sigh because that’s not likely to happen. “We’ve been living together for more than a year, you know I can’t take surprises.” And he loves to surprise me with everything from theater tickets to my favorite meal cooked at a Michelin star restaurant.
“I know, and it’s one of the many things I love about you.” Gently, he plants a kiss on the center of my palm. “Come on.” He grabs my hand, guiding me out of the car with his other hand on the small of my back. “Up the stairs,” he whispers close to my ear because it’s oddly loud outside.
At the top of the stairs, he stops me and I blurt out the words. “I have a surprise for you too.”
“Me first.” He removes the blindfold and we’re inside a plane. No, not a plane, a jet. A private jet with his company logo on the headrests. I gasp in shock and turn to find him wearing a big, giddy grin. “I’ve packed two bags for each of us and the question is where do you want to go, Paris or the Maldives?”
“Derek!” I swat at him and he grips my hand tighter, smiling. “You did this? I can’t…I’m speechless.”
“I know,” he teases. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“How can I decide, a romantic trip with the hottest man I know to the most romantic place in the world…or the most beautiful island?”
“Then both it is,” he confirms, kissing the tip of my nose.
My heart is racing with love for this man and I grip his hand, kissing it as the plane taxis and lifts into the air. “This is such a thoughtful surprise, Derek. You’re the best, you know that?”
“Only because you tell me often, sweetheart.” He unbuckles my seatbelt and pulls me onto his lap. “And you said something about a surprise ?”
I grin and glance around, finding my purse in a nearby seat. I dig inside for the gift box and hand it to him, watching carefully as he opens the box and lifts up the white cotton with black words on the front.
“And baby makes three.” His blue eyes shoot to mine, full of shock and then joy. “Seriously? We’re having a baby?”
I nod. “Nine weeks along.”
He grins knowingly. “That weekend in Toronto.”
“Yep.” It was a magical weekend even more so now.
Without a word, he sits me back on my seat, stands and disappears down the small hall where there’s a bathroom and a bedroom. My heart is racing at the idea that he’s angry about the baby. We haven’t talked about children but we also haven’t been mindful of birth control, and now I’m feeling insecure. Uncertain.
Derek returns with a dark expression on his face and a well-known box in his hand. “I was going to do this on top of the Eiffel Tower. It’s all planned out with dinner and champagne while the lights illuminate the city, but I don’t want you to think I’m doing this because you’re having my baby.” He smiles again and shakes his head in disbelief. “So, I’m going to do it now so that you know I was going to ask you to be my wife either way. Got it?”
I bite back a smile and nod. “Got it.”
He nods. “Good.”
“Great.”
He glares at me and I laugh. Derek isn’t a get-down-on-one-knee kind of guy, but he takes the seat beside me, cupping my face in his hands. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were going to be trouble. I just didn’t realize it would be the exact kind of trouble I needed in life. You challenge me and make me laugh when it’s the least expected, and it’s no secret you’re my biggest cheerleader, baby. But best of all, you refuse to let me take life too damn seriously. And I love that so much about you.”
“I’m madly in love with you, my grumpy billionaire hotelier.” I shoot him a wink and his grin grows wider.
“You better be.” He reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I want nothing more in this world than for you to be my bride, my partner, the mother of our children. My everything . Will you do me the greatest fucking honor of becoming my wife?”
“Absolutely, Mr. Banks.” I kiss him slowly as he slides the gorgeous ring that’s probably a jillion carats on my finger. I lean back, not to admire the sparkling diamond, but to catch the look in his eyes. “Can we join the mile-high club now?”
“We already did, remember?” he laughs. “Back in Toronto.”
I squint at him. “But this is international waters.”
He laughs again, deeper this time, and playfully drags me back to the bedroom where we stay until we land in Paris.
Engaged.
A dream come true and it’s only the beginning…