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She turned to Simone, overwhelmed with emotion, and hugged her sister. “You did all this?”
Simone held her tightly as she spoke close to her ear so she could be heard over the rumble of the crowd and music. “No. I wish I could take credit for this, but I was just the accomplice. Ace did all of this. He asked me why you didn’t celebrate your birthday. I told him because I was an asshole and had never thrown you a party. He said that we could fix that.”
Stephanie pulled back, out of her sister’s arms and looked around again. “Where is he?”
“He didn’t come. He wasn’t sure if you’d want him here and he wanted you to have a good time.”
Before she could respond to her sister, people crowded around Stephanie, hugging her and wishing her a happy birthday. People that were only there celebrating with her because of one person that wasn’t even there. A person that was so selfless he’d arranged this entire thing and hadn’t even come, for her. Because he was respecting her need for time.
As she hugged guest after guest she knew that she didn’t need time. All she needed was Ace.
***
Ace was still smiling from the text he’d received from Stephanie. She was over the top about the party and had told him that she wanted him to be there. So here he was.
As he looked around he was happy to see that room was filled with people having a good time; eating, talking, laughing and even dancing near the small stage that he’d set up for the special guest he had invited to perform. He was excited it had turned out so well but not as excited as he was just to see Stephanie again.
This week had been a special kind of torture. He’d been so close to her but had to keep his distance. It was agonizing to see her leave for work and come home and not be able to talk to her. As much as he missed kissing her, holding her, being with her, he missed talking to her more. He missed hearing how her day was. He missed checking in with her. He missed her.
With heart pounding, he scanned the room trying to spot her. When he did, his heart felt like it was going to explode. If he hadn’t just had a physical he’d worry about his heart because if there was ever a dress that could cause cardiac arrest, she was wearing it.
His feet started moving before his brain even knew what was happening. Like always, he was hopelessly drawn to her. Before he made it to her, she caught his eye and excused herself from the conversation she was in and started walking in his direction. Her smile lit up the entire room as she made her way to him.
When they finally reached each other she lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. His hands dropped to her waist, his fingers spreading out on her hips and gripping her tightly as his mouth moved against hers. Just like always, when they touched, kissed or even looked at each other, the rest of the world ceased to exist. The party, the people and the music all faded into the distant background.
The kiss might have gone on far longer than would’ve been appropriate in a crowd full of people, but when a partygoer accidently bumped into them, it broke the spell that their kiss had cast.
“Thank you for this,” she spoke loudly to be heard over the music. “It’s amazing.”
“You’re amazing.”
Her eyes sparkled as she asked, “Can we go somewhere and talk?”
He nodded and guided her through the room and into a back stairwell that led to the staff parking lot.
“Is this good?” he asked as he shut the door, giving them a modicum of privacy.
She turned back toward him. “Yeah, I just didn’t want to yell.”
“You look beautiful.” He knew that wasn’t what she wanted to talk about, but he had to tell her.
A light pink tint rushed up her creamy cheeks as she smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and his whole world righted. Putting that blush, that smile on her face was all that mattered.
“Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.” Her grin grew wider.
He liked where this was going.
“I just wanted to tell you that…” She licked her lips and took a deep breath before saying, “I love you.”
He really liked where this was going.
“I know I told you that things were happening too fast. And I asked for time and you gave it to me. Thank you, but I’m done. I don’t want more time. I want more. I want dinner, dancing, breakfast, lunch, Netflix, grocery shopping and the DMV. I want it all.” Tears filled her bottom lids. “I don’t want to take things slow. My plan was to take each day as it came and not worry about the future. But I can’t imagine my future without you. I’m done taking things day by day. I want to be with you next week, next month, next year, for as long as I can. I love you, Ace. And I want to be with you, if that’s still what you want. But if you need time, I can give you time. You gave me time, you know to figure out what I wa—”
“I don’t need time.” Ace smiled, knowing exactly what he wanted. He pulled out the ring that he’d got from his brother last week. He got on one knee. Stephanie gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
“I love you, Stephanie.” Ace stared up into her glossy chocolate eyes and his entire body was filled with the light and warmth that only she incited in him. “I wasn’t looking for love. When I moved here I wasn’t planning on getting into a relationship for at least a decade or two. But I don’t think love cares too much about our plans. I started falling in love with you the day I moved in, the second I laid eyes on you through my kitchen window. I tried to ignore the feelings I had for you, to keep my distance, and I know you tried the same thing, but we couldn’t. Our attraction or fate or whatever it was, was too strong.
“I knew that I was falling for you but the moment I saw you with your brother, it was game over. In that moment there was no question in my mind that you were it for me, that I loved you. In fact that word seems too small to express what I feel for you. Four letters can’t possibly be enough to represent what I feel for you.”
