Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Tassy jerked as soon as she heard that very familiar drawl.
A moment later, strong fingers were cupping her elbow to turn her around, and of course her stunned gaze ended up clashing with coppery eyes that were full of wicked amusement.
"I hope you can spare me a moment, Ms. Bautista."
"Uh—-" She tried pulling away, but this only had the billionaire tightening his grip.
"Perfect."
As he guided her out of the boutique, her colleagues started giggling and Shannon even mouthed 'whattafriend' while giving Tassy a thumbs-up to signify her approval.
Oh God.
She stole a look at Lucius, hoping he hadn't seen it, but the gleam in his gaze implied otherwise.
"Is anything wrong?"
She tried once more to pull away, but this only caused his hand to slide down until he was gripping her waist.
"Are you trying to get away from me?"
Her actions suddenly seemed childish when he put it that way, and so she immediately shook her head. "I'm just...concerned. For your sake," she added quickly.
"Is that so?"
She made a vague gesture to their surroundings while being careful not to meet anyone's gazes. "Can't you see how everyone's staring at us?"
And by everyone, she meant exactly that. She wasn't even sure if he had noticed how all their walking had them ending up in Foxtown's version of Rotten Row. It was the most popular place to see and be seen in the Regency Times, and the same could still be said even now.
So many familiar and famous faces, and oh God.
Wasn't that Foxtown's billionaire owner himself, Damian Fox? His wedding to Sarah was a modern fairytale all on its own, and if she remembered correctly, part of this weekend's program was for the couple to make their first appearance...tomorrow.
So why were they here now? Was there something in the program she had forgotten, and that was why all of the VIPs were gathered here?
Tassy started feeling a little nervous, but a glance at Lucius showed that he was completely relaxed.
She tried to tug free again, but this only made him pull her close. "Uh, Lucius?"
"Mm?"
"I really think we should go our separate ways for now, just to keep other people from drawing the wrong—-"
Oh no.
Why had he suddenly stopped walking?
She tried to get him moving, but this was also impossible.
"What do you think people see when they look at us?"
Tassy's gaze flew up to his in dismay. Why was he asking that now of all times?
"Do you think they see a man who never believed in love—-"
Tassy's lips parted in shock. Had she heard him right? Had he truly said—-
"Until the right one came along?"
Oh God, he truly did.
Tassy did her best to keep her tears in check, but when she suddenly heard what seemed like a live orchestra playing a very familiar song—-
It was impossible not to cry.
How in the world was this happening?
Everyone around them was clapping, and as the crowd slowly parted, Tassy saw that there was an entire orchestra positioned at the bank of Foxtown's man-made lake, which was also patterned after the snake-like flow of London's Serpentine River.
Tassy's tears fell faster as Lucius took hold of her hand to help her into one of the glossy-bodied boats with cream leather seats. A female singer had now joined the orchestra, her velvety voice a perfect match as she sang the lyrics to the Carpenters' song that Tassy had found herself listening to on repeat since her breakup.
We've only just begun.
His gaze found hers as he started rowing the boat to the center of the lake, and she didn't even know where or how to begin.
"T-The s-song," she finally managed to stammer. How did he even know—-
"I've heard you humming it more than once."
The answer was so, so simple that Tassy felt like laughing and crying because those words made everything so, so painfully clear. She had been with Xylan for years, but those little things about her had always escaped him. She had always believed that love was directly proportionate to the length of time one knew a person...so why then?
Why was it Lucius, who had known her for less than a day—-
Why was it Lucius who was doing everything right?
"Are you really sure about this?" she choked out. "Because if you keep this up, I'm really going to start thinking of you as mine."
"I'm already yours, Tassy. From the moment I first laid my eyes on you—-I was yours."
Tassy's whole body started to shake as Lucius took out a small box from his pocket. He slowly opened this, and Tassy vaguely heard the people around them bursting into applause and cheering as they saw the diamond ring Lucius was now holding out to her.
"Will you be my wife and forever Valentine?"
She waited for her mind to torture her with fears, doubts, and insecurities. But instead, all she felt was a peace that surpassed all understanding. She had never experienced such peace before, and it would only be much, much later that Tassy would come to realize it was His peace which had enveloped her at that moment.