* * *
The next night, Lex snuggled in Micah’s arms on her couch as they watched a romantic comedy on Netflix. Micah had tried to convince her to watch an action movie, but once she told him that she’d had enough action for one holiday, he’d obliged her request to watch a romance.
After the incident with Evan, her and Micah had a long conversation about everything that they’d uncovered. She had already concluded that the situation with Neil had been something that Micah wasn’t involved with, but she was glad to know what role Micah had played in the situation.
Ashley Anderson had had a huge crush on Micah in college and had followed him around for months. Although he constantly told her he wasn’t interested, she hadn’t listened and still tried to pursue him. When Neil Timmons had visited Micah in college, Ashley flirted with him to make Micah jealous. She even went so far as to ask Micah if she could come to his room to see Neil. Micah knew she was trying to make him jealous, but he didn’t care, so he agreed.
Once Neil and Ashley started making out in his dorm room, Micah left, having better things to do than watch them make out. He was halfway out his dorm when he realized he forgot his book bag. When he went back to his room, Neil was forcing himself on Ashley and she fought back and begged him to stop. Micah acted quickly on his feet and attacked Neil, knocking him to the ground. His dorm neighbors had heard the screams and had called the police. But by the time the police arrived, Ashley had told the cops that both of them had forced themselves on her and they were both arrested. Micah tried telling the officers he didn’t do it, but there was no use.
From what Micah was told, when Ashley’s parents arrived, her mom was able to figure out the truth and Ashley finally told the police officers the true story about what had happened. She then apologized to Micah. Her parents removed her from the school and Neil was released because Ashley dropped the charges. By that time, the damage to Micah’s reputation on campus was already done and his parents had been notified. The entire time Micah had retold the story, Lex’s love for him grew deeper.
“I’ll be right back,” Micah said, getting up from the couch before returning with his bag.
“I was going to wait for Christmas,” he said as he pulled out a red box with a green ribbon tied around it, “but I think tonight is a perfect time to give this to you.”
Lex squinted her eyes at him before she untied the ribbon and opened the box. Her eyes softened and her voice briefly caught in her throat.
“Micah, it can’t be,” she said as her fingers glazed over the delicate item in the box. “How did you find another brooch?”
“After your dad said he found one in Michigan, I figured I would take a chance and have Malik check a few places in the Detroit area. He found this one in a more upscale area while we were in Arkansas. The owner of an antique shop had decided to keep it for herself, but Malik told her the story and she decided that it belonged to you.”
“It must have cost so much money,” she said.
“It did,” he replied. “But she didn’t charge anywhere near what I bet she paid for it.”
“Wow,” Lex said as she twisted the brooch so that the gems and diamonds sparkled in the light. “It’s nice to know there are still good people out there.”
“It is,” he agreed.
“How did you know what the other two brooches looked like?”
“When I was at your parents’ house, I asked them if they had a picture of all three brooches and they did.”
She leaned in to kiss him before returning her eyes to the brooch. “Having two of the three brooches means the world to me.”
“And I’m confident we’ll find the third one,” Micah said with a smile. She returned his smile, allowing his optimism to flow threw her. Even if they weren’t able to locate the third brooch, Lex felt extremely lucky to have a man who cared so much about her happiness.
“I love the man you are Micah Madden,” she said, cupping his face in her hands. “I love your strength,” she said placing a kiss on his forehead. “I love your loyalty.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. “I love your confidence.” She placed a kiss on his other cheek. “I love your drive and determination.” She kissed his neck. “I love everything about you and being with you makes me a better woman. Thanks for loving me for who I am.”
With that, she leaned in for another kiss, this time making sure that it represented all the love and admiration she felt in the depths of her heart.
Epilogue
6 weeks later...
It seemed most of the townspeople of Cranberry Heights were in attendance for the 35th anniversary party of Mason and Cynthia Madden. The look on the couple’s faces when they walked into the barn house and realized it wasn’t a Founder’s Day party, but their anniversary party, had been priceless. Cynthia began shedding happy tears almost immediately, and most of the women at the party had cried right along with her.
Lex glanced around at the beautifully decorated barn and soaked in the feeling of accomplishment. The combination of rustic decor with a vibrant old-world color scheme gave the event a very classy ambiance while maintaining the overall atmosphere of Cranberry Heights. It felt good to be back in Cranberry Heights and she was glad she finally got to meet all of Micah’s brothers and cousins. The group had met for dinner in Little Rock a couple days prior so that Mason and Cynthia wouldn’t know they were in town. They’d been all too willing to share embarrassing stories about Micah and even though Lex had been the only nonrelative in attendance, she’d felt like she’d grown up with Micah’s family.
She got a chill when she thought about how miserable her life would have been had she remained married to Evan. His insolent words no longer affected her and she was done punishing herself for ever being with a man like him. Evan’s trial was starting in a few weeks and new victims of his embezzlement were popping up in the news every day. Lex didn’t have any sympathy for him and had even learned that he’d had two failed relationships after her and had stolen much more than brooches and pride from the other women. Lex was finally able to put the situation entirely behind her, but she hoped the other women he wronged sued him for all he was worth, even though that wasn’t much.
Although Micah and Shawn had originally lost the support of Grant & Parker Inc. after Micah informed them of his prior acquaintance with Neil Timmons, they’d recently called Micah and Shawn to set up a business dinner. They also asked that they bring their significant others, so Lex had prepped Cyd and the two were prepared to support their men and prove to Grant & Parker that M&M Security was a company they could trust.
“Oh, Lex, sweetie,” Cynthia said, breaking her thoughts as she pulled her into a warm hug, “Micah told me that Elite Events planned this party. You did such a fantastic job and I absolutely love everything!”
“It was my pleasure,” she replied, returning her embrace.
“Come with me,” Cynthia said as she linked arms with Lex. “There’s something I want to show you.”
“Sure,” Lex responded. Since returning to Chicago, Lex and Micah’s relationship had been on a complete upswing. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Had Micah not been so persistent on having a relationship with her, Lex would have missed out on the love of a lifetime.
“Please wait here,” Cynthia told Lex as she unlinked their arms and walked away.
“Um, okay,” Lex said, although Cynthia had already dipped through the crowd and was out of earshot.
Lex stood in the middle section of the barn that had been set up for dancing. There were a few groups of people standing near her chatting, but she felt awkward standing there by herself when most of the attendees were sitting at the tables that surrounded the dance floor.
Lex turned around to find out where Cynthia had run off to when suddenly a song by Bruno Mars filled the speakers and one of th
e groups near her started dancing.
Man they’re good, she thought, bopping her head to the song as she watched them dance together in unison. She was so wrapped up in the people who were twirling to the music that she didn’t notice ten more people had joined the dance until she felt all eyes on her.
Lex did a 360-degree turn as she whipped her head around the room. It can’t be...she thought when she realized that she was the only person standing on the dance floor who wasn’t dancing. Her heart began beating profusely, and she finally began listening to the upbeat words in the song, which spoke of love, spontaneity and marriage.
Lex placed both her hands on her cheeks as she watched the people dance around her, making it unmistakably clear that she was the main attraction. Suddenly, out the corner of her eye, she saw Micah’s brothers and cousins make their way onto the dance floor, each one of them swaying to the beat of the music and joining the others in harmony.
Her eyes began filling with tears and she briefly glanced at Cynthia and Mason Madden who were standing on the sidelines wrapped in each other’s arms. Don’t cry, Lex...hold it together. Her heart swelled at the possibility that Micah would go through all this trouble to propose and she wanted to enjoy every second of this precious moment.
Just when she’d calmed her nerves and had gotten her almost tears under control, Imani, Cyd and Mya entered the dance floor followed by Daman and Shawn.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said aloud as her hand flew to her mouth in astonishment. Never in her entire life had she felt so adored...so cherished...so wanted. She clutched her heart and released the tears she’d been trying to hold in. By the time her parents, Linda and Ethan Turner, had made their way to the dance floor, Lex was an emotional wreck. She wasn’t just crying because people who barely knew her were participating in the moment or because people she loved had taken time out their busy lives to be a part of it. She cried because she felt loved...truly and unconditionally loved by Micah Madden.
As the song reached the last couple bars, everyone who was dancing split as they continued moving in a type of soul-train line. Her parents stepped out of the line to escort her in between the two lines of dancers before they joined Micah’s parents on the sidelines.
Suddenly, everyone stopped dancing and began clapping to the beat of the music. Lex wiped her tears as she glanced around the crowd, already knowing that Micah was somewhere in the room, based on the way her body was reacting. When he finally came into vision at the front of the dance line, he wasn’t moving to the beat as everyone else had been. He was walking purposefully, his eyes locked to hers as he strolled past all the smiling people.
He was wearing black slacks and a deep maroon button-up that matched her burgundy dress perfectly. Even though they’d purposely chosen to dress in similar colors, he looked so different in that moment. So vibrant. And she noticed a small microphone attached to his shirt. She knew what was happening, but she was still nervous, although excitement quickly overtook her nervousness. When he finally reached her, he seized both her hands in his. The DJ turned the music lower and everyone in the dance floor began clapping softer.
“Lexus Tuner,” Micah said before he cleared his throat. “When I first met you, I immediately knew that you were the type of woman I could spend the rest of my life with. You understand me, you love me for who I am and, more importantly, you make me strive to be a better person...a better man. You are such an amazing and beautiful woman and I love your strength, your compassion and your willingness to be there for others. But my love for you goes beyond the obvious. I love the faces you make when you get serious or uptight, I adore your clumsiness and the way you make me laugh, too. And I love the crazy words you say to keep yourself from cursing. You may have run into me and fallen the first couple times we met,” he said with a chuckle as others joined in the laughter, “but I’ve been the one falling for you ever since.”
He nodded at Shawn, who walked over holding a bright white box. “So, what do you say,” Micah said as he got down on one knee and opened a box that contained a gorgeous princess-cut diamond ring sitting on top of a red velvet cupcake. “Will you marry me, Lex?”
Tears filled her eyes and she grinned from ear to ear, still in shock that he’d managed to plan the entire elaborate proposal using a flash mob of their closest family, friends and Cranberry Heights residents. “Of course I’ll marry you,” she said into the mic loud enough for everyone to hear.
The crowd erupted in applause and the DJ turned the music back up as everyone started dancing to the end of the song. Micah rubbed off a little of the cream cheese frosting that had gotten on the ring before he placed the ring on her finger. He gave her a soft kiss right before the sea of guests came to congratulate them.
“Just so you know,” Micah said as he took the red velvet cupcake out of the box and held it to her mouth. “I personally made this cupcake.”
She gave him a soft smile. “I can’t believe you remembered I love red velvet dessert,” she said as she took a bite of the delicious treat.
“This is amazing,” she said, savoring the tasty mouthful. She put the dessert back in the box before placing it on a nearby table. “You know what this means.”
He laughed as he encircled his arms around her waist. “What does this mean?”
“I’ve been cooking a lot lately and if you can cook dessert this well, I think you owe me a few more cooked meals before we solidify this union,” she said jokingly.
“Baby, you can have any meal you desire,” he said with a laugh as he pulled her even closer to him. “In the meantime, how about you give me what I desire.” He glanced down at her lips before licking his own.
She enclosed her arms around his neck. “And what might that be?” she asked, although she had a pretty good idea.
Instead of answering her question, he dipped his head to hers as he captured her lips in the sweetest red velvet kiss.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460341995
Red Velvet Kisses
Copyright © 2014 by Sherelle Green
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