Page 96 of One Midnight Kiss

Her eyes shone as she looked up at me. I couldn’t resist kissing her again, murmuring the words between each kiss like a vow. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

The night exploded in a thousand colors. The crowd below roared, cheering and celebrating the new year, but I barely heard it. All I could focus on was the woman in my arms, the woman I had crossed an ocean for.

I pulled back just enough to look at her hand. That was when I noticed the ring. The fake ring I had proposed with as a joke. The one she hadn’t taken off.

“You kept it,” I said softly, almost in disbelief.

She glanced down at her hand, then back at me with a shy smile. “I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

I brushed my thumb over the ring, feeling a swell of emotion I hadn’t expected. “It’s time,” I whispered.

Her eyes widened as I gently slid the ring off her finger. For a moment, she looked almost sad, like she was saying goodbye to something. But then I dropped the fake ring into my pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.

I got down on one knee, right there on the balcony under the fireworks. I opened the box to reveal the ring I had bought before flying to Paris. It was a real ring. One that meant forever. It wasn’t a bauble or an accident I happened to find. This was the real deal.

Her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears again. “Fox…”

“I know it might seem too soon,” I said quickly, my heart pounding. “But I’ve loved you all year. From the moment I met you. I’ve loved you through every twist and turn we’ve faced together, and I’ll love you through whatever comes next. I don’t want to waste another second. I want to choose you, every day, for the rest of my life. I want to be with you—whether we’re in Paris or Seattle or anywhere in between. I want to be your husband. Will you marry me?”

For a second, she didn’t say anything. She just stared at me, her eyes wide and disbelieving. My heart lodged in my throat. What if she said no? What if this was too much, too fast?

But then she nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. “Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

I surged to my feet, slipping the ring onto her finger before I pulled her into my arms, kissing her like I’d wanted to kiss her a year ago. She laughed against my lips.

I pulled back and held up the glove I had been holding on to for almost a year. “My Cinderella, I brought your glove back.”

Her mouth dropped open as she took it in her hand. “You kept this all this time?” Her voice was thick with emotion.

“All this time,” I confirmed, smiling. I wanted her to see the depth of my commitment, how every small memory of her mattered. “It reminded me of you, of the night we met, and every moment I didn’t have you yet. It was always my intention to bring it back to you tonight. I’m so glad it’s you that I’m giving it to.”

Natalia clutched the glove to her chest, then reached up to touch my face, her touch light as air. “You’ve made this a fairy tale,” she murmured. “A real life fairytale. You’ve made me feel like a princess.”

“You are my queen.”

We both turned our eyes to the sky. The fireworks display was still going.

“This is our beginning, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

I nodded, my gaze never leaving hers. “Yes. This is where we start. No masks, no pretenses. Just us.”

She leaned her head against my shoulder, watching the colors burst above in dazzling patterns. “I never thought this would be my life,” she whispered. “But I wouldn’t change it for the world.”