Page 132 of Falling for the Billionaire Best Man

“Dorie, will you marry me?”

She blinked, like she wasn’t sure she was seeing what she was seeing. For a moment, she didn’t say anything. Tears filled her eyes. Then, she nodded, her hands trembling as she reached for me.

“Is that a yes?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Yes,” she sputtered, her voice breaking as tears streamed down her face. “Yes, of course, yes.”

I got to my feet and slid the ring onto her finger, my hands shaking as I did. It was my mother’s ring, the one she’d saved for me for this very moment. She would have loved Dorie. She would have been so proud of us.

Dorie threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I held her close, my heart swelling with emotion as I buried my face in her hair. This was it. This was everything.

After a moment, she pulled back, her eyes scanning the space around us. “Where are we?” she asked as if she just figured out we were in an empty building.

“Surprise,” I said.

“Surprise?” Her breath caught in her throat. She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Kaisen… is this…”

I smiled, my chest swelling with pride. “Yeah. It’s yours.”

When Dorie had shut down her bakery in Cape May and moved to New York to live with me, we’d toured this place. It was a Park Avenue storefront, one of the few buildings in the city I didn’t already own outright or have a stake in. Securing it had been a battle—a bidding war that had lasted months—but I’d done it. For her. Because she deserved it.

“I thought you said it was already spoken for?” she said.

I grinned. “What my baby wants, my baby gets.”

She giggled softly. “This is crazy. I can’t believe you actually managed to get this. For real?”

“For real. I bought it in cash. It’s in your name. The massive commercial kitchen in the back is your belated Christmas gift. I wanted to wait until you saw the place to decorate and design the storefront. But I paid attention to all the ovens and tables and mixers you’ve been storing on your web browser.”

She stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief. “How did you… how did you even manage to get this place?”

I shrugged, trying to play it cool, but the truth was, it had been one of the hardest fights of my life. “I was in a bidding war for weeks,” I admitted. “But you deserved this place. Plus, you’ve been baking all those Christmas and holiday-themed cakes in the kitchen of our penthouse for months now, and no amount of running is making up for the amount of sugar I’ve been consuming since you moved in. I have to get you out of the home kitchen.”

She laughed, the sound bubbling up from deep inside her. I felt my heart swell with love. She looked around the space, her eyes shining with tears, before turning back to me.

“Kaisen… I don’t even know what to say.”

I reached out, cupping her face in my hands. “You don’t have to say anything. Just be happy. That’s all I want.”

She leaned into my touch, her eyes searching mine. “I am happy. So happy.”

I kissed her then, deeply and tenderly, pouring everything I felt into that kiss.

“I love you,” I said, the words feeling more natural than they ever had before. “I love you so much, Dorie.”

She smiled, her eyes filled with tears. “I love you too, Kaisen. More than anything.”

“Want to see the kitchen?” I asked.

“Uh, duh!”

I followed Dorie as she practically bounced into the kitchen, her excitement radiating off her like a kid on Christmas morning. The space was massive—industrial-sized mixers lined the counters, shelves stacked with every baking tool imaginable, and ovens so big I could’ve fit inside them if I wanted to.

She stopped in the middle of the room, spinning in a slow circle as she took it all in. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open in awe. “Kaisen,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “This is incredible. Look at this oven. It must have cost a fortune.”

I glanced around, trying to see it through her eyes. To me, it was just a kitchen—bigger than most, sure, but still a kitchen. But to her? It was everything. I could see it in the way her fingers twitched, like she was already itching to start baking.

“What’s this?” I asked, pointing to what looked like a giant metal bowl with arms attached to it.