C5 5

“Felicia, would you marry me?” he almost blurted it out. He had meant to try to be more gracious and romantic, but his nerves had gotten the better of him. He hadn’t felt at all romantic about it, so faking it came much harder to him. Honesty, he decided, was truly the best policy for them both.

Her eyes grew wide, and she g

asped, grinning as she clamped her palm over her heart and stared at the ring. “Oh my… oh my god… yes! Yes, oh my god…” she gushed and giggled and looked from the ring back to Derrick as tears formed in her eyes. “Oh Derrick, I’ve been waiting for years for you to want me like this! I love you so much! I can’t believe this is finally happening! God I love you!”

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheeks and then kissed his mouth over and over as she slid one leg over his lap and straddled him, her dress sliding far up her thighs. He kissed her in return a couple of times and then leaned his head backward and looked at her, bringing her attention back to the ring in the box in his hand.

Felicia looked down at it again and blinked, whispering as realization overtook her. “Is that your mom’s ring?” she asked reverently.

“It is,” he answered quietly. “I bought a band to go with it, and I know it’s traditional to go the other way, but because this is my mother’s ring, I’m going to give you the band now as an engagement ring, and I’ll give you her diamond ring when we have the ceremony, if that’s alright. I’ll just… hold onto it until then.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Yes… I guess that’s alright, I mean… that’s really breaking from tradition, but if you want to do it that way, then I’m fine with it! I’m just so happy that you’re finally here and that you finally asked me, and it’s really going to happen! I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was a girl!”

Felicia giggled again and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as she planted her mouth on his and began to kiss him, tasting him as much as she could. He allowed her to kiss him for a few moments, and just as he was about to pull his lips from hers, she slid directly over his crotch and began to rock her hips gently against his.

His eyes flew open wide as her hands moved to his shirt and she began to pull his buttons open. Reaching for her, he closed his fingers around hers. She stopped kissing him and leaned up a little, looking at him questioningly.

“What is it, baby?” she blinked in confusion.

“I… I think we’d better wait,” he said softly, clearing his throat.

She laughed at him. “Wait for what? If you’re going to be my husband, I want you now! You’ve already made me wait so long for this. Let me have you now.”

He pushed her hands away from his chest and gave his head a subtle shake. “I don’t think so, Felicia. I mean… I know we haven’t done this since high school, that time we both got so drunk, and I’m not even totally sure that it happened then.” He thought back to a blurred and fuzzy night in his memories of them making out in the horse stables and trying to get as far as they could.

She giggled. “Oh honey, we did it. You and I lost our virginity to each other. How could you forget that? It was one of the most magical and special nights of our lives!”

He swallowed hard. It had not been anything of the kind to him, and he could barely remember much more than his amazement at seeing her without her clothes on. Nothing else really stuck out in his mind that night. Derrick knew he couldn’t tell her that and hurt her. He knew he had to be kind and considerate about their moments just then.

“Well, it was a long time ago, and we did have a lot to drink,” he said quietly, looking away from her.

“And there were a few times in college,” she reminded him with a blissful grin.

He looked back up at her once more. “Oh… right. Twice? Twice. I think we were both pretty drunk then too, weren’t we?” he wondered aloud, wishing he hadn’t been so careless in his youth.

She laughed at him lightly. “Well, you were drunk. I was having the time of my life and loving every minute of being in your arms and of making sweet love with you.” She sighed blissfully and leaned forward toward his face, “And now I get to do it for the rest of our lives with you. I’m so happy!” she kissed him again, and he kissed her for a moment and then pushed her back gently again.

“I’m sorry, Felicia, I really am, but I do have to get going. I have a lot of work to do, and… things. I just needed to come by to talk with you about this.” He moved to shift her from his lap, and she clung tighter around him, giving him a sexy pout.

“You aren’t going to stay? You could stay, and we could play in bed all afternoon…” she teased naughtily. “There’s so much for us to do and catch up on… I want to get a head start before my wedding.” She grinned, and he shook his head and somehow managed to stand up, leaving her sitting on the sofa behind him.

He turned to look at her. “I am sorry, Felicia, but I do have to go. We can talk about it all some other time.”

She stood up and pouted, but he reached for her hand and slid the simple band on it, giving the back of her hand a soft pat. “There you are. Now it’s official. You should let your dad know. I know he’ll want to hear all about it.”

Felicia looked down at her hand and grinned again and then lifted her hazel eyes to gaze happily at him again. “Of course! We have so much planning to do.”

Launching herself at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck once more and kissed him again, swooning in his embrace before he managed to pull himself from her grasp and turn toward the door.

“I know this probably wasn’t the most romantic way to do it, and I’m sorry about that, but I did want to make sure that it got done. I guess we’re official now. You’re welcome to plan all that you want to, but I think I’d rather have a small ceremony. Just family and perhaps a few very close friends. That’s my only request.” He meant it, and he let her know as he looked over his shoulder at her.

She nodded. “Okay! I’ll call you, and we can go over things soon. I love you, darling!” she cooed as he slipped out of the door and closed it behind him. He didn’t see the slight pout on her face when he left or the way the pout faded into a big grin as she held her own hand and stared down in elation at the simple silver band on her finger.

The elevator doors closed before him, and he leaned heavily back against the far wall of the silver box. With a long-winded sigh, he closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Okay, father, the duty is done,” he whispered.