The Proposal Plan

by Charlotte Phillips

  CHAPTER TEN

  LUCY waited patiently by Pulteney Bridge. She wasn’t expecting Gabriel to be on time—why would he break the habit of a lifetime? She looked over the stone railings down at the river. The rush of water on the weir below was soothing.

  ‘Lucy.’

  She turned from the water to face him. Who had she ever been trying to kid? All those years since she’d buried her feelings for him when she met Alison. All those years had led up to this moment. She was here with the hope of spending all the days of her life after this one with him. She might have been able to convince herself once that there could be another option. That she could squash her feelings and just keep his friendship. But not any more. The thought of giving him up now caused her such acute pain that it felt physical, not just emotional. As if her body and soul would be crushed alongside one another if she had to forgo him now. Had he felt so let down by seeing her accept Ed’s proposal that he’d decided it wasn’t worth the risk? No, she couldn’t let herself think that way. She had to make him understand.

  Two weeks ago and her suggestion that they meet at the bridge would be undisputed shorthand for only one thing: a joint run. Things were different now. Nothing was assumed in their relationship any more. The easiness between them was gone. At the very least they couldn’t pick up their friendship where they had left off.

  They moved away together from the huge stone railing and she followed him down the steps to the path that ran alongside the river. Her heart pounded in her chest the way it did when she’d gone for a run, as she had done with Gabe so many times down this very path. Just walking next to him, knowing he was close enough to touch her, made her limbs feel like jelly, her skin tingle deliciously.

  She looked up at him just as he glanced down at her. Nerves writhed in her belly as if she were on a first date. She was determined to go through with this, no matter what happened. He might reject her out of hand, but if she didn’t try she’d never know. Her lifelong craving for security wasn’t enough on its own. She couldn’t base her life, her relationships, on that need alone. Not now she knew the depth of passion she was capable of feeling.

  ‘How’s Ed?’ he asked. A heavily loaded question.

  She looked down at the path. He believed them to be together of course. But why wouldn’t he? He’d witnessed firsthand her unwavering acceptance of Ed’s outlandish proposal. In her panic she hadn’t even hesitated, had she? The question that bothered her now was how he felt as a result of it. He didn’t exactly look as if he was burning with jealousy—not such a good sign.

  ‘He’s fine,’ she said. ‘As far as I know.’

  She picked up instantly on his slight change of posture. A sudden sharpening of his attention. He stopped walking and touched her arm. Not a strong hold, just a tap to get her to look at him.

  She did. She took in the thick dark hair, the determined set of his strong jaw. The grey eyes, which looked almost blue today in the sunshine that was taking the edge off the cold air. She could see he looked tired and before she could stop herself she raised a hand to touch his face. He immediately covered it with his own and electric shocks crackled in her fingers, her stomach, her thighs.

  ‘As far as you know?’ He searched her eyes.

  She gazed steadily back at him. ‘Ed and I are over, Gabe.’

  ‘But last night…’

  ‘I should never have said yes. You know that, don’t you? You were there. You saw the trouble he’d gone to. He thought he was losing me to you and so he decided to stake his claim.’ She sighed. ‘Making him jealous, changing my clothes. My stupid proposal plan. All of that worked in the end. How could I humiliate him in front of all his friends by saying no? You told me yourself proposing in front of all our friends would be a mistake.’

  She searched his face for some reaction but he looked completely neutral, unreadable. ‘I talked to him afterwards, came clean about what went on between you and me. I wish I’d been upfront with him before I’d let things get that far between us, but I honestly thought I was in control.’ She sighed. ‘It’s no excuse. But I’ve done the best I can to put it right.’

  ‘So what do you want to do now?’ His expression was cautious, giving little away. Of course he was cautious. She’d told him before that just because it wasn’t right with Ed didn’t automatically make it right with him. He had listened to her. He was letting her have total control this time.

  She looked down at her feet. ‘I know things have been complicated since the dance, and I’m sorry about that, Gabe. You have to know that I had no choice but to sort things out with Ed before I could talk to you. Ed’s proposal just made things even more difficult. But the thing is…’ she glanced up at him shyly ‘… when I realised I’d rather have a three-week fling with you than a lifetime with Ed, there was no contest really.’

  An amused expression appeared on his face and he took her hand in his. ‘In what universe do you think three weeks with you would ever be enough?’ he asked her gently. ‘I’m not even sure a lifetime would be enough for me. I know my track record is rubbish, I know you probably think the odds of me holding down something long term are minuscule, but, Lucy, I can promise you that’s what I want. To be with you, build a future. You have to believe me.’

  Her stomach was doing flip flops. She tried to keep her voice steady. ‘I’m really glad to hear you say that,’ she said, allowing herself a nervous smile. ‘Because although I mentioned the three-week-fling option, it was never really going to be up for grabs. You know me too well for that. Our friendship means far too much to throw it away for a fling. And anyway, I always aim high.’

  Her heart began thumping as she took a small step backwards from him and dropped to one knee on the cold paving. The river flowed by behind him, the sun bouncing off its surface. She looked up at his face. An expression of surprise and sudden understanding rose in his eyes.

  ‘Gabriel,’ she said, and his name caught in a snag of emotion in her throat. So much depended on this moment. He could still say no. She cleared her throat with a croaking sound. Oh, great. Just what was needed for the perfect proposal: a Kermit the Frog impression.

  ‘Gabriel,’ she tried again. ‘Will you mm-mmf—?’

  He was on his knees next to her, grey eyes level with her own, his hand plastered firmly over her mouth stopping the words mid-sentence. She frowned and grabbed his big hand with both of her small ones, tugging at it until he let her pull it away.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she asked in a panic. He was stopping her before she could make a fool of herself. He was letting her down gently. Despite what he’d just said, marriage wasn’t what he wanted, then. Would she sacrifice her marriage dream as long as she had him? Her heart tightened a little. Of course she would. In a second. How much she had changed.

  He smiled at her. ‘It’s not February twenty-ninth any more, Lu. We’re into March now, in case you didn’t notice.’

  Was that it? The nervous energy she’d expended on this and he was quibbling about the date! She pointed an indignant finger into his face, just inches from her own. ‘I’ve loved you since I was sixteen years old, Gabriel Blake. That’s my entire adult life. And I am not…’ she raised her voice an insistent notch ‘… waiting another four years just so I can ask you on the correct day!’

  His eyes crinkled in amusement as his face broke into the lopsided smile she loved.

  ‘So this is your last chance,’ she said. ‘Don’t blow it.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Gabriel, will you mmmmmf!’

  His hand was back against her lips again. She could smell the faintest trace of his aftershave, spicy and deep, making her stomach feel soft. She was glad she was on her knees already as she wasn’t sure they would have held her up much longer.

  He smiled as she wrenched at his hand again. And then her eyes widened and she quit tugging instantly as his free hand produced something from his back pocket. A tiny velvet box.

  ‘No, Lucy,’ he said. ‘Will you?’

  At last h
e took his hand away so he could flip open the box for her. But even with her mouth free, she couldn’t find any words. She gazed down at the most exquisite emerald ring she’d ever seen. It sparkled up at her.

  ‘It was my grandmother’s,’ he said, as if he couldn’t bear the silent wait for her answer. ‘I thought you’d like it better than something I picked up in a shop.’

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ she whispered. His face was inches from her own. Warmth began to sweep slowly, deliciously through her. He’d put aside his commitment fears. Made the biggest gesture he possibly could to prove it. For her.

  ‘Of course I’ll marry you.’

  She was in his arms. She was spinning, light-headed, as his mouth crushed hers and his fingers tangled in her hair. She could feel the muscles of his shoulders beneath her hands and she felt his heart hammering like a drum against her own. She was acutely aware of his hands beginning to wander lower, snaking down her back, and she thought she might actually faint onto the cold paving.

  The sudden rush of a bicycle flying past them, almost close enough to knock the pair of them into the river, brought them both back to reality with a jolt and Gabriel helped her to her feet, laughing. They linked hands and walked slowly back up the river path towards the city centre.

  ‘You’d better not backtrack on that acceptance tomorrow,’ he teased her, sliding an arm around her.

  She elbowed him in the ribs. ‘Very funny. You didn’t ask me in public, did you? So yes means yes—you needn’t worry.’

  He gave her waist a squeeze. She was acutely aware of his arm circling her, of his touch. The thought of being alone with him made her quake with anticipation.

  ‘Where to, then—home?’ he asked her.

  ‘Where is home exactly? Don’t you mean “your place or mine”?’

  ‘No, I mean home.’ He squeezed her fingers. ‘I want this to be proper, from the outset. And much as I know you love that titchy flat, Lucy, you have to agree my place is bigger and we need the space for all those endless bits and pieces you buy from tat shops.’ She made as if to slap him, and he dodged her, laughing.

  ‘Anyway, you rent, I own. Move back in with me. You know you want to.’

  Her flat held no strong ties for her now. She realised she associated it very strongly with the past and Ed. Perhaps it would be a good thing to let it go. And it demonstrated again how serious he was about them being together. There was no hedging his bets this time with suggestions of holidays.

  She grinned at him. ‘Only if you promise to relinquish the remote control once in a while and make sure you put kitchen equipment away in its designated drawer.’

  ‘Agreed,’ he said.

  They continued for a moment in silence. A comfortable silence. His fingers knitted loosely in hers. Her stomach was a mass of soft knots.

  ‘Do you think I should have asked your dad’s permission?’ he asked her suddenly.

  ‘Are you joking?’ She looked up at him with an incredulous expression. ‘We might be back in touch but the only person who makes decisions about my life is me.’

  ‘With reference to me? And maybe our kids one day?’

  She smiled up at him. ‘Deal.’

  ISBN: 9781472039507

  THE PROPOSAL PLAN

  © Charlotte Phillips 2013

  First Published in Great Britain in 2013

  Harlequin (UK) Limited

  Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

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