“This looks amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

I shook my head. “I absolutely love it. When you said to dress formally, I wasn’t sure what I expected, but this is more than my mind can even hold.”

“You have a way with words,” Christian said, the teasing in his voice evident.

I let out a light laugh and shook my head at him. I didn’t know if he knew exactly how much this meant to me.

The first course of the evening meal was rolled out. A type of salad that I wasn’t familiar with. The chef came up with the waiter and explained the meal to us. We both listened intently, but at the end of the explanation, all I got was some type of meat in the meal.

Beef, Christian would tell me later when I mentioned the chef’s accent hindering me from getting all he was saying. I’d also learned that he was Italian and only just started learning English after being hired by the restaurant.

And by the last course, dessert; a slice of red velvet cake with a scoop of ice cream. The cake melted in my mouth, and I wasn’t mad about it.

The date was more than I bargained for, and when I thought it was over, the waiter cleared the table and showed up with two large blankets. One was spread on the floor, and the other was handed to Christian.

“We’re going to stargaze,” Christian said by way of explanation.

“Right here?”

Christian nodded.

I looked up to the sky, but the glass roof was in the way. I didn’t even know how to settle down on the spread-out blanket and enjoy the sky through the glass, but I was certain I could manage. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

But then, the glass roof opened, and I saw a clear view of the sky. The twinkling of the stars and the moon, too, round and perfect up in the sky.

“Pick a star and make a wish,” Christian said as he settled beside me.

I sighed and silently wished that my relationship with Melissa would improve without me having to put my foot down.

“You like it?” Christian whispered in my ear. A shiver ran down my spine as I nodded and looked over to him. I leaned in first and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“This is the best date of my life.”

“You say that all the time.”

“I mean it all the time.”

Christian grinned and kissed me properly this time. I threw my arms around his neck, hooking it while his arms went around my waist, pulling me flush against him. The sky bears witness to our love.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Christian

Ihad a lot of things in my life, but at that moment, I realized I didn’t have a lot of people I could share this news with. More like an idea, a decision of some sort.

Mason looked at me like I had lost my mind. I’d like to point out that it was the best idea I had in a long time, and I’ve had a lot of good ideas. The company flourishing was a good sample of how good my ideas were.

I was a bank of good ideas, regardless of how you looked at it. Which made Mason’s unwavering stare at me a little difficult to interpret.

“So?”

“Have you thought about it?”

I nodded excitedly. We were at a bar, having a drink. It wasn’t late enough for the bar to be crowded, but late enough for it to be half-filled. Mason and I didn’t have to yell to hear each other; the jazz playing in the background, like the conversation of the people around us, served as nothing but sounds that none of us paid attention to.

Mason sat up and looked at me again, not saying much, so I shifted on my seat.

“I love her.”

“I don’t doubt that, but don’t you think you should hang on a little bit? You haven’t been going out for very long.”

“She loves me,” I said, looking at him with a frown.

“Yes,” Mason said, and nodded along to what I was saying. “That is without a doubt. She’d have to love you to deal with your mother.”

“So, what do you think the problem is?”

“It’s too early? You haven’t been dating for that long.”

“I’m sure that if you know, you know,” I said, waving my hand. “Or however the cool people say it these days.”

Mason shakes his head. “You’re missing the point. You and Fiona are in love. Yes, that is as clear as day. The entire company sees it, and we wish you wouldn’t be that blatant about it.”

“You’re worse with Cherie, especially now that you’ve gotten back together.”

Mason tried to hide the smile on his face by taking a sip of his drink, but I couldn’t fault him. Being in love was wonderful, and getting back the person you thought you’d already lost was an even bigger blessing. Mason should really understand my feelings and why I was making this decision.

“I know how I am with Cherie, but we don’t happen to work in the same place. We do not subject our coworkers to our displays of love.”

I waved my hand in the air. “This is not the conversation I’m trying to have. Do you think she’ll say yes?”

“Fiona loves you.”

“That’s not a yes.”

“Isn’t your sister more equipped to answer this question? She’s Fiona’s best friend.”

“Yes, but you and Fiona have your odd thing going on,” I said. They were no longer hostile towards each other, and all the explanation I’ve gotten from both parties, on different occasions, was that they have an understanding of each other now.

“Fiona loves you,” Mason said and patted the back of my hand. “I think it would be completely crazy if she didn’t say yes if you asked her to marry you.”

It was just the words I needed to hear, but it highlighted every fear I had. Because what if I asked her to marry me, and she said no? I’d been trying to hint at it, but I really wasn’t sure if she caught up to what I was doing.

Mason was right. He was the wrong person I should be having this conversation with. Allison seemed like a better choice.

My phone rang before I could communicate this new discovery to Mason. It was my mother, and I could already feel the energy draining off of me. I knew what she was going to say.