Epilogue
A year later
ATTEMPTING TO GET A CAT INTO A CHRISTMAS SWEATER IS quite frankly the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Which is saying a lot, considering I’ve faced two killers. Mauricio, the chubby cat I rescued from an alley, claws at me as I try to fit one of his paws through the tiny sleeve.
“Mauricio, ya para,” I groan, forcing him into the ugly green sweater that, if I’m honest, clashes with his orange fur.
Whoever said redheads look amazing in green clearly hasn’t seen my cat, but I don’t have the heart to tell Danny after he brought the sweater home with an excited look on his face.
“I know we hate the sweater, but you’ve got to make your dad happy, okay? ”
Mauricio hisses at me, and I’m tempted to hiss back.
I rescued him after I got my current job at XYZ Network.
He was a scrawny little thing, meowing from an alley when I found him and decided to bring him home.
Danny had a lot to say about it when I texted him that I had added a new member to our family, but he fell in love with him the moment he walked through the door.
“Are you fighting with the cat again?”
Mauricio takes advantage of my distraction and jumps off the bed, running out of the bedroom now that the door is open.
I rest my hurt hands on my hips and stare at my boyfriend’s beautiful face, unable to stay mad at him for letting the cat out after I had the hardest time trapping him with treats.
My knees grow weak at the sight of Danny.
He leans against the door frame with his hands in the pockets of his black slacks. A white collared shirt peeks out of the red knitted sweater. His sleeves folded up to his elbows, showing off a gold watch strapped around his wrist.
He looks utterly delicious.
If we weren’t hosting Christmas at the apartment we just leased, and our guests weren’t due at any minute, I would suggest we have another quickie. I don’t know if it’s because I’m head over heels in love with him or because he gives me mind-blowing orgasms, but I’m insatiable when it comes to him.
“Stop it,” he warns me.
I lift my brows and pout, feigning innocence.
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like you want me to bend you over the bed and have my way with you.”
My core clenches around nothing.
Well, I wasn’t thinking of that specific scenario, but now that he’s planted the seed in my brain . . .
“Hmm . . .” I muse as I step toward him.
He sucks in a breath and lets it out in a sigh.
“Sorry, baby,” he mumbles when I pull him closer by his belt loops. “Cerys called a few minutes ago saying her plane just landed from Boston, and your sister is already on her way with your family. There’s no time.”
I arch a brow.
Although his warning is clear, I’m not as easily persuaded.
Cerys is staying in our guest bedroom for a few days, as she’s finally getting a break from her first semester of law school, and it will mean that we’ll be too busy giving her the tourist treatment to have any time for ourselves.
These are our last minutes alone before we’re swamped, and I’m more than eager to make the most of them.
“Is that a challenge?”
The thrill of knowing we could be interrupted at any moment is exciting.
“Did you finish your script?” he asks, changing the subject without giving me a response.
Challenge accepted.
I reach up and wrap a hand around Danny’s neck, my fingers toying with the ends of his hair.
“Yes,” I whisper in his ear, brushing my lips against the sensitive spot between his neck and earlobe. “Last night.”
Danny sighs.
“Are you finally going to tell me about it?”
I got thousands of offers to participate in podcasts and tell my story about what happened the night of the Greek Row massacre, as the media has called it, but I’ve refused all of them.
Including the offer to write the script of my own version of the events for a major production house, as Aidan predicted would happen.
But working in horror only makes me feel sick, so I took a break from the genre.
For the past couple of months, after deciding to refocus my career in a different direction, I’ve been silently working on something new, keeping it a secret from everyone, including Danny.
He’s been dying to know what I’ve been working on, but he’s been respectful of my muse. Keeping the story close to my chest has been a pivotal aspect of getting it finished.
I hum against his skin, pressing a kiss on his sweet spot.
He trembles.
As I smile triumphantly at him shedding a layer of control, I press my body against his, feeling a hard bulge.
“You’re eager . . . for someone so against having a quickie,” I tease, leading a hand to it, except my fingers meet something harder than a boner.
I frown, craning my neck to meet his gaze, and find his eyes are wide. His hands fly to the spot I’m touching, and he pushes my touch away.
“Shit,” Danny mumbles.
“Wait, what is that?”
He stares at me, his eyes conflicted before he lets out a long sigh of defeat.
“I should’ve known you would find a way to mess with my plans,” he mumbles under his breath, but his lips are curved into a gentle smile.
What is he even talking about?
Danny places his hands on my arms and slowly moves me to the middle of the room. Then, he shoves his hand in his pocket and withdraws a black box.
A black jewelry box.
A small one.
Just big enough for a . . .
Danny drops to one knee, keeping his back straight as he raises the box in front of me. Then he flicks the lid open, showing the most perfect emerald-cut ring. The pavé-style platinum band sparkles under the room lights.
Tears sting behind my lids as I gape at the ring, too stunned to know how to act.
“You’re a frustrating woman, you know?” he comments.
“Is this the speech you rehearsed?” I choke out.
“Oh, not at all. You just ruined the whole proposal I had originally planned and took me by surprise yet again,” he says. “Mabel Marie Rivera.”
“Yes, Daniel Singh?” I croak out through the lump in my throat.
“I’ve been yours since the moment we first met.
I’ve loved you through happiness, sadness and fear.
I’ve loved you in the face of death and in our shared home.
I loved you even though you brought home a flea-infested cat.
” A watery laugh escapes from me and tears roll down my cheeks.
“And I love you as you ruin the perfect speech I carefully curated for months while I waited for the perfect moment to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me.”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t asked the question yet.”
“You don’t need to ask, the answer is yes.”
Danny tilts his head.
“Mabel, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I repeat, kneeling in front of him. “I love you. Yes.”
Drawing the ring from the box, Danny slides it onto my shaky finger. I waste no time, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him fiercely.
“Thank you,” he mumbles against my lips.
“What for?”
“For making me the happiest man on earth,” he says, merging his mouth with mine once again. “So, do I get to know what your script is about? As your future husband, I should get some intel.”
A laugh rips from me and I shake my head in disbelief.
I lean into him until my mouth is next to his ear and whisper, “It’s a romance.”
Just like ours.