Away From the Spotlight (50 page)

“Your sister has good taste.  It’s all so beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you.  Get dressed.  I want to see you in it.”

“K.”

The dress and the shoes fit although I hoped I
wasn’t going to
be doing a lot of walking in the shoes.  I was not exactly the most graceful person in the world.  The shortness of the dress and the height of the heels did show off my legs a bit. 
And
I was now dressed more appropriately for the caliber of the hotel.

I returned to the bedroom to find Will dressed in a grey suit and
a
tie.  He looked at me.

“Wow
!
  And I thought I liked your club dress.  You’re gorgeous.”

“You’re biased and blind.”

“No
,
I’m not.  I had better get you out of here now before I start thinking too much about how you look and we won’t be able to leave.”

We drove to the main house and wander
ed
around the hotel.  It was still light outside, but getting
very
close to sunset.  Luckily, the shoes didn’t hurt too much.  We ended up on an outside terrace with a gorgeous view of the
well-manicured
grounds.  For a moment, as we leaned against the stone railing, I felt like we were Lord and Lady of the Manor.  I noticed
that we were completely alone.

Will held me there for a few minutes and kissed me gently.  “I have something to ask you now.”

I gulped and hoped that
Will
didn’t hear it.  I had what felt like millions of butterflies in my stomach.  I couldn’t believe I was here with him doing this.  I marveled as I watched
Will
get down on one knee and look up at me.

“I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you.  I want to love you forever.  Will you marry me?”

It was all I could do to summon my voice to answer.  “
Yes
.”

He had a box in his pocket and opened it to find a very large diamond ring in a platinum setting with smaller diamonds around it and around the band
itself
.  He p
laced
it on my finger and it fit.
  He then kissed the ring on my finger.

Will
stood up and looked at the ring on my finger and then into my eyes.  I am sure they registered the perfect happiness I felt in that moment.  He kissed me more passionately than I think he ever had and then held me there for a while, not want
ing
to let go and
have
the moment end.

We finally went inside
for
a private dinner in a small
dining room that
c
ould have held a much l
arger group.  A special
table was set up for us in front of a win
dow that overlooked the
grounds.

The diamond on my finger sparkled in the candlelight and I w
as
mesmerized by it as I picked up the glass of champagne that had been poured for me.  I was having difficulty grasping the fact that I was engaged to th
e
perfect man sitting in front of me.  What was even more difficult to comprehend was my distinct impression that he felt the same way when it came to me.

I was thinking at that moment in my amazement, “You really do love me.”  I actually said it out loud without meaning to do so.  I didn’t realize I had until he responded.

“Yes
,
I do
, m
ore than anything.”

“It’s hard to believe t
hat this is all real sometimes, p
articularly when everything is so perfect like today.”

“I wanted it to be perfect.  I’m glad you feel that way.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“I think you have it backward.”

How h
e could think that way was mind-
boggling to me. 
D
oes
he not realize how perfect he
i
s?  D
oes
he not see me for the very ordinary person I am?
 
I changed the subject by getting down to brass tacks.  “So when do you want to get married?”

“If
it were entirely up to me
,
we would marry
immediately
in Gretna Green or Las Vegas,
but I know that you, your parents and my parents, for that matter, would want us to do it right.  We’re going to have to keep things close to the vest though. 
It’s going to be difficult to keep the details from leaking out. 
I don’t want helicopters
flying
overhead or anything like that.”

“Ooh
,
I didn’t even think about that.”

“The minute the paparazzi see the ring on your finger, the countdown to our wedding will begin in the press.  You won’t have a moment’s peace, I’m afraid.”

“I don’t care
as long as I get to be with you
.”

“I hope so.”
  Will grimaced briefly and then the smile returned to his face.

At
the cottage, a bottle of champagne waited for us by the f
ireplace alongside a vase of
carousel rose
s.  I leaned back on the sofa into
Will’s
arms and sipped a glass of champagne.

“Shannon MacKenzie.  I like the sound of that.  It sounds right.”
  Will smiled broadly.

As
Will
said what would be my new name, a wave of excitement hit me.  I put my glass down, took his from him, and pulled him toward me almost roughly.  I kissed him hard a
nd he leaned back and laughed.

“Shannon MacKenzie,” he whispered.  I kissed him hard again.

“I’m going to have to remember that in the future. 
That
really
gets you hot
, doesn’t it
?
”

“Yes
,
”
I almost moaned.
  I kissed him again and used my hands to get my point across. 
Then, i
t was all I could do to not rip the dress as I tried to get it off quickly.

The next morning
, I found myself
alone
in one of the
cottage’s
three
bedrooms.  W
ill and I
had made the rounds in the house over the course of the evening and en
ded up together in a twin bed.  I couldn’t hold him close enough to me
that night
and the twin bed helped, but it didn’t make for the most comfortable night’s sleep for either of us.

I
stood u
p and, when I heard the voice of the
B
utler talking to Will, I ran into the master bedroom
since
I was
nude
.

Will came in as I was putting a brush though my hai
r.  He was dressed.  I was
n’t.  He put his ar
ms around me from behind and kissed my neck.

“Breakfast is waiting for us.”

“Let me get dressed.”

“If the B
utler w
as
n’t here, I wouldn’t let you.”

He turned
my face toward him to kiss him as he continued to hold
me, and I agreed to meet him at the table in a minute.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked as I picked at some fresh fruit on my plate.

“Well
,
I thought we’d have a relaxing day.  And then
,
tonight, we’re having a little dinner party here.”

“Dinner party?”

“Engagement party, I guess.”

“Who with?”

“A few people.  Nothing big.  Just my parents, my sister Emma, my sister Olivia and her family, a few friends of mine, Pam and
Jane
.”

“Doesn’t sound small.”

“It will be low-
key, I promise.”

“You said your sisters were going to give me a har
d time.  That doesn’t sound low-
key.”

“In front of others, they’ll be on their best behavior.  Just don’t let them corner you alone.”  He chuckled.

After breakfast, we showered
together
, got dressed
and took a long walk around the
hotel
grounds
.  It was still a little grey outside, but the grounds were green, sculpted and breathtaking.  We returned to the terrace where Will proposed and kissed
there
for a while despite the fact
that we were not always alone.

After our walk, we
entered
the hotel for afternoon tea.  The
salon
was all dark woods and reds.  The tea was very formal and included champagne.  W
ill and I
were seated next to each other,
and
turned toward each other. 
Despite the beauty of the surroundings
, the wonderful fare
and the glint
from
my ring, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Will
as
I marveled at
the fact that I was engaged to this
beautiful and loving
man
.

After tea, we strolled back slowly to the cottage, where we would have some time alone before meeting our guests at the main house.
 
Having gotten caught up in each other upon our return to the cottage, we ended up running a little late
and had to hurry to get ready to meet
our guests.

Will
had another of Emma’s selections for me that night, a
cocktail dress with
spaghetti strap
s
that had black lacy material
over cream satin.  It was form-
fitting and I was really worried that it wouldn’t fit.  Thankfully, it did.  It came with a
pair of black satin pumps with a
matching evening bag. 
Will joined me in the bathroom and ran his hands up and do
wn the sides of my
dress.

“You look sexy.”

“I don’t think sexy was what I was going for tonight since we’ll be having dinner with your family.”

“Okay, strike that then.  Gorgeous.  Of course, you always look sexy to
me
.”

I looked in the mirror and
was shocked
that I actually looked somewhat good next to my movie star soon-to-be-husband in his
designer
black suit.

Over t
he
previous
two nights, I
had
felt like Cinderella between my engagement to Prince Charming, the palace w
here
we
were staying, and my clothes
that
were far nicer than anything I’d ever worn before.  I kept waiting to wake up and find that I was back in law school dreaming.

When we arrived
at
the
wood-paneled and candlelit
private dining room reserved for our party,
our guests
were all there waiting for us
,
standing around talking in groups with drinks in their hands.

I recognized only a little more than half the faces in the room.  I could tell that the ones
who
didn’t know me were sizing me up as I
entered
the room, especially the two women slightly older than me
who
bore a striking resemblance to Will.

Will held my hand
and didn’t let go
as he led me around the room to make introductions.

We first greeted his parents, who were very warm in their congratulations.  I then met Olivia, Will’s eldest sister, her husband, and
their
five year-old daughter. 
Olivia
was tall and dark-haired like her brother, but with very feminine features
similar to that of a
china-
doll and had more of the look of her mother than Will did.  Her husband, Geoffrey, was taller than Will
, fair-haired
and
with a
fair
complexion
. The
ir
little girl,
Emily, had the china-
doll f
ace of her mother, but
with
lighter hair and skin, more like a blend
of
her parents.