Page 96 of Why Not Forever?

I take the bite before offering him a bit of my crème brûlée. He takes it with a smile.

“Before we go home, there’s something I want to ask you, actually,” he says.

“What’s that?”

He glances at the DJ and stands. The DJ stops the music as though they’d had this planned. He makes a production of moving next to me and dropping to one knee.

“Victoria Marcus. I am completely in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life making you laugh. Will you marry me?”

I cast a look around the restaurant and everyone is watching. I laugh and speak loud enough for everyone to hear. “We’re already married, you lunatic.”

“Again. Marry me again.” His voice is soft when he continues. “Just because you want to.”

I understand what he’s not saying in front of our audience. The first time we got married, it was strictly business. This time, he wants to get married because I love him and he loves me.

I take both his hands in mine. He doesn’t have a ring, of course, because I’m already wearing it. “Tanner Marcus. I am completely in love with you, too despite your being absolutely ridiculous. Yes. I will marry you. Again.”

He stands, pulling me to my feet and kissing me in front of everyone, eliciting a round of applause from the other patrons. The DJ starts the music again and I recognize the song from our wedding.

I’ve since learned the first song we danced to is called “Heartbroken” by Jessie Murph and it’s about how the other person makes her feel like she’s never been heartbroken, and being with Tanner makes me feel exactly that way.

“You got them to play our song,” I say, and Tanner grins as he leads me to the dance floor.

He spins me out and back in, a move I’m confident with now that we’ve been to a few more dance classes. I don’t even need a blindfold anymore. Now, we save that only for bedroom games.

“So, are we renegotiating the terms of our contract again, Mr. Marcus?”

“There were a few terms I thought we could update.” He pulls me a little closer. “First, we should get rid of my bed and only share yours going forward.”

I nod solemnly. “My bed is better. And you need an office more than we need a guest room.”

A few other couples have joined us on the dance floor now, but I’m not paying attention to any of them.

“We’re a team, Vic. I want us to keep being a team.”

I smile and kiss him. “Deal.”

Tanner turns completely serious then. “Although, we’re also going to need to work together to gain and maintain favourite aunt and uncle status. You have a nephew now, and a niece due any day. We can’t let Derek steal our spot. I know he wants to.”

I nod again. “He does. But you’ve had practice, so you can teach me. I’m sure we can hold top spot.”

“So, do you agree to my terms?”

“I think I can agree to those, yes. There’s just one more we need to discuss.”

He smiles. “What’s that?”

“The length of this contract.”

“Ah, yes.” Tanner adjusts his glasses before leaning down to kiss my cheek and whisper in my ear. “Well, I was thinking, why not forever?”

The End