We kissed deep, and hard, and long. If it weren’t for another surprise I had waiting in our stateroom, I would have ask the DJ to give us some privacy and made love to my fiancée right there on the dance floor.
“Melinda, I love you so much. This ring is so gorgeous!” Chris exclaimed as she held out her hand and admired its sparkle. The oval diamond sat in a bed of smaller diamonds, with clusters of diamonds circling the band. It looked gorgeous on her delicate finger.
“And I really like my black diamonds. They’re perfection.” My ring had two rows of one-carat black diamonds, incased in a silver band. It really was the perfect ring for me. We kissed again and I helped her up from the floor. In an emotional, husky voice, I said, “I love you so much, Chris. You saved me.”
“I think it’s more like we saved each other,” she said breathlessly.
Again we kissed, and I was quickly losing my restraint, until Chris asked if we could call her parents and Norma and give them the good news. Knowing that Chris talking with her mother could take forever, I suggested we take a selfie and text it to her mother, and to George so he can show it to Norma. Chris loved the idea, and with the help of the DJ, we posed arm in arm, holding our hands together so that both rings showed, and deliriously smiled for the camera. I typed Guess what? We’re engaged! below the photo and texted it to them.
“I can’t believe how wonderful this day has been,” Chris proclaimed, holding her ring out again to admire it.
“And it’s not over with yet.”
“Oh no, Melinda, my eyes will swell shut if I keep crying like this.”
I laughed and said, “Well, for what I have in mind, I definitely will be needing your eyes open.”
I walked over and tipped the DJ, who congratulated us, and then I took Chris’s hand and we walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor, where our stateroom was located.
I opened the cabin door, and Chris gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth. Inside were dozens upon dozens of rose bouquets, in vases, in bunches and strewn about the room. Rose petals formed a path to the king-sized bed, and on the bed were more petals surrounding a king-size, heart-shaped box of Godiva chocolates. Beside the bed was an ice bucket with a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and two wine glasses.
Chris looked around at all the flowers, and then picked up a single rose and clenched it between her teeth. I pulled her against my chest and took the rose in my mouth and then stepped away, dramatically taking it from my mouth and waving it in the air as I used my other hand to pull her back to me for a deep, penetrating kiss.
I asked her to sit on the side of the bed for a minute and told her I would be right back. I grabbed my suitcase and went into the bathroom, hollering over my shoulder for her not to move. I closed the door and changed clothes, leaving off my socks and shoes.
Yesterday, when I came out to the boat to see to the final arrangements, I gave them an iPod and docking station and asked that it be hooked into the room’s speakers. I had a special selection of love songs cued up and ready to go. But first, there was a certain song I wanted to play to set the mood.
I cracked the door, and, using the remote control, pressed the play button. The same throbbing song that we played for Norma, Cherry Pie by Warrant, began to reverberate off the walls. I rushed out of the bathroom toward Chris and stopped right in front of her. I was wearing a white shirt, black jacket and black pants, but these weren’t the same clothes I had been wearing. I smiled down at her and then I ripped my white shirt off and threw it to the side. Wearing just a black jacket and pants, I emulated Norma’s strippers and gyrated around the room, my boobs bouncing with every jerk.
Chris’s eyes opened wide as she clapped and then put her hands to her mouth and shouted, “Take it off! Take it all off!”
Of course I obliged her and ripped off the right sleeve of the jacket, and then the left sleeve. I ripped my tear-away pants off, standing before her naked, except for my sleeveless jacket.
“There’s something obstructing my view,” Chris said, getting up and walking over to me. She pulled my jacket off with one tug. Taking a step back, she eyed my nudeness with a discerning eye, and then said, “Perfection.”
“Not quite,” I said, and began to undress her. She helped and soon we were both undressed and eyeing each other, not with a discerning eye, but with a yearning eye. I clicked on the remote and forwarded to the next soft love song and then I gallantly picked her up and carried her to the bed.
Epilogue
“Norma, I just got a text from Melinda.”
George held up his cellphone to me, and I looked at the picture of Melinda and Chris. “Does that mean what I think it means, George?”
“Yes, they’re engaged, isn’t that great?”
“Oh yes, dear, it is wonderful. I had a feeling Melinda might propose this weekend.”
“Well, if you’ll look closer, you’ll see that they are both wearing engagement rings. I think Chris proposed as well.”
“That’s perfectly marvelous. Times sure have changed since I was their age. Those two girls could teach me a thing or two about romance.”
“You and me both, Norma,” said George.
“Well, it’s past my bedtime, so thank you for keeping me company tonight, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Norma. Sweet dreams.”
I rarely stay up to midnight anymore, but for some reason, I wasn’t sleepy until just then. Perhaps I wasn’t ready for the wonderful day to end. I think subconsciously I was waiting for the happy ending I had felt would come. I’m so glad I waited. My girls did it. They made the ultimate commitment, and I couldn’t be happier for them.
I took the elevator to my floor, thinking about Melinda and Chris and how much the two were made for each other. It’s a wonderful feeling to be young and in love, and I envied them, although in my heyday, I had been in the exact same place more than once. The elevator dinged and as I stepped off, Charlotte walked up to me and handed me an envelope.
“Goodnight, Ms. Norma,” she said, uncharacteristically smiling.
“Good night, dear.” I watched as she stepped on the lift and hit the button. I looked at the envelope with no name on it, and my curiosity was such that I had to open it immediately. Inside was a hand written card that read, Norma, it’s your choice, but remember, you’re never too old for amour. Happy Valentine’s Day. We love you! Melinda and Chris.
I couldn’t imagine what the girls were referring to, but then they’re in love, and sometimes love muddles the mind. I was pulled from my thoughts by Pluto, who was rubbing against my leg, and I knelt down and picked her up. She knew it was time for bed.
I opened the door and walked in, and the first thing I saw was a vase full of beautiful red roses. And the second thing I saw was the young man who had been my escort today, sitting on the settee with a rose in his teeth.
“Oh my.”
The End
Other books by Mairsile:
From Riches to Rags
A bad-girl billionaire, accepts the ultimate challenge from a waitress, and gives up all her money, expensive toys, liquor, and women, to live in a run-down building, working at a barbeque restaurant. She only has to last thirty days, and suppress her growing feelings for the waitress. Just thirty days, but to a billionaire, that's a lifetime. This is a multi-first-person point of view novel. (Book 1 of the B&C series) Buy it now!
Aidan & Vicky:
I Remember You
Aidan is tough, self-assured and suffering from amnesia. The only person who knows her heart, Vicky, can’t tell her that they were childhood lovers, even when Vicky is asked to hire her.
Vicky is the CEO of a multi-million dollar health system, being targeted by terrorists. Will Aidan get her memories back in time to stop the bombs before they destroy Vicky’s hospital? Will Vicky choose the hospital over Aidan? (Book 1 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, It’s You I Love
Aidan & Vicky are on a mission called,
Operation Pink Knight, where they must enter a war zone in order to rescue Aidan’s second love, and first fiancée. It comes down to a volatile standoff between them and the enemy, and Aidan must choose which woman to save. (Book 2 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, You Love Me
Planning a wedding with her fiancée, losing herself to the sexual advances of her ex-fiancée, Aidan is torn between love and duty. Through no fault of her own, Aidan is caught up in a love triangle, and must choose which woman she will marry. But that's not Aidan's only problem. She must save her fiancée, Vicky, from a particularly nasty stalker, who as it turns out, is Aidan's own father. But how can she concentrate on just her, when she is also engaged to Samantha, who Aidan believes she left behind, during an insurgent attack in Iraq. Samantha spent a year in captivity, and the only way she could survive the horrific treatment, was to think of Aidan. (Book 3 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember This Day
Life together had never been easy for Aidan and Vicky, but it just got worse as their wedding day approaches. Tornadoes threaten their magical roof top wedding, Aidan gets in a drunken fist fight behind a bar, and Vicky performs open heart surgery on a city street as buildings collapse all around her. And then if that weren’t bad enough, after a horrific experience while making love, one of them calls the wedding off. This time, their love may not be enough to see them through these disasters. (Book 4 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Generations of Women Warriors:
Generations of Women Warriors: Battle of Pea Ridge, American Civil War
First in a series chronicling the life and times of women in a family, who fought in historic battles and loved in historic times, though both could get them killed. Temi, at age 17, finds herself pregnant, in love with a girl, and staring down a cannon, in this epic tale of growing up during the Civil War. Buy it now! (Book 1 of the Warrior series)
Generations of Women Warriors: Battle of Amiens, The Great War
The next generation in the second book of the series, finds the daughter of Temi and Robin, in France during WWI, fighting for her life, as German tanks rumble toward her. Buy it now! (Book 2 of the Warrior series)
Stand-a-lone
UNLEASHED: It's Not Nice to Frack with Mother Nature!
A meteorologist and a geologist meet in a bar, and...
A chance meeting in a bar brings a new passion to the chaotic lives of a storm chaser and an earthquake enthusiast. When these two women make love, the earth quakes and the winds howl. But there’s a dark past that keeps one of them from committing to their love. And the other embarks on a dangerous mission to expose an illegal fracking operation. Will the earthquake swallow up the tornado, or will their love conquer all? Buy it now!
Combining Riches (Riches to Rags Book 2) Page 22
