Proposal in Room 309 (6 page)

‘It’s beautiful, Ben. Did you arrange the flowers and champagne for me?’

Ben shrugged, thinking that when The Chatsfield apologised for mucking an arrangement up, they did it with style. He’d ordered a flower arrangement, not Kew Gardens. And there were Belgian chocolates on the coffee table and a bottle of expensive cognac in case they wanted something other than champagne.

‘Actually, I ordered it for my other lover but she couldn’t make it…’ Ben teased.

‘Haha.’ Joely jammed a friendly elbow into his ribs.

‘Tell me again why you want to marry me,’ Joely asked him, her normally strong voice quavering and her eyes back on her ring.

Realising that something had shifted between them, Ben sat up and put his glass on the table before choosing his words carefully. ‘Aside from the fact that I am absolutely, crazily, wickedly in love with you?’

Delight flashed across her face. ‘Apart from that.’

He snuck a hand up and under her still wet hair. ‘Because I know what marriage is… or, at least, what it should be.’

‘Which is?’

‘It’s commitment and a lot of hard work. It’s us working together to conquer anything in our way, whether it’s financial or emotional or anything else life might throw at us. Together. It’s about pooling what we have, sharing what we have…’

Ben stared at the hand Joely snuck into his. ‘It’s about putting the “we” before the “I”. It’s about us deciding that we are going to work and never wavering from that.’

‘I’m scared, Ben.’

Ben pulled in a surprised, hopeful breath at her admission. ‘So am I babe, but being scared isn’t a good enough excuse not to do it.’

‘The odds are against us…’ Joely protested quietly and Ben didn’t hear the same conviction he heard in her voice earlier in the evening.

‘Let’s set our own standard, Jo, not the one set by society. Let’s decide that we are going to be better and bolder. Let’s decide not to run, to stay and fight when times get tough.’

‘I’d really like a guarantee,’ Joely muttered, placing her head on his shoulder. Ben turned his head and dropped a kiss into her fragrant hair.

‘Honey, if you want a guarantee then you’d better marry a toaster.’

Joely’s laugh caught in her throat. Ben put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side, watching her as she looked at the still open ring box.

‘Were you going to propose tonight?’

‘Yes, no, maybe,’ Ben said, shoving his hand into his hair. ‘I didn’t know what I was doing from one minute to the next.’

‘When did you have the ring designed?’ Joely asked.

‘Honestly?’

Joely tipped her head back to look at him, confused. ‘Of course…’

‘The month we met.’ Ben smiled at her shock. ‘When I was young and naïve and didn’t realise how incredibly stubborn you would be about moving our relationship along.’

‘I wanted to make sure…’

‘You are slower to catch on than a turtle swimming through peanut butter,’ Ben told her.

‘I guess.’ Joely sat up, pushed her hair away from her face and turned so that she sat Indian style next to him, the ring still in her hand. ‘Ben…’

Ben had to touch her so he allowed his finger to drift over her cheekbone, across her temple. ‘Mmm?’

‘Today I saw angry couples and desperate couples, spoke to a very pregnant woman who had to say goodbye to her husband. I met those crazy kids in the lift who look like they’d had the best fun together for fifty years and I realised that love is what you make it. And I love you, so much. You make every day an adventure and waking up in your arms every day is a blessing I hope that I never take for granted. Coming home to you, to our home, settles me, grounds me. You’re smart and solid and…good. No, don’t pull a face…there are too few good men out there and I’m grateful that I have one who loves me.’

Seeing her utterly serious face, Ben’s heart sank. ‘But…’

‘But I don’t want to live like this anymore…’

God, he’d lost her. Feeling the need to move, to walk, so that he didn’t howl his frustration, Ben started to move away but Joely’s firm grasp on his arm held him in place.

‘Wait, hear me out.’

Ben forced himself to sit there, waiting for the axe to fall.

‘I get that anything can happen…no one can predict the future. There are no guarantees.’

‘What are you saying here Jo? Cut to the chase,’ Ben growled, frustrated. ‘What do you mean that you don’t want to live like this anymore?’

‘I want to go forward. I want to take the chance…and I promise I’ll do my damndest to make it work. Ben, will you marry me?’

Ben closed his eyes in relief and delight. When he opened them again he flashed her a smile full of love and delight. ‘Babe, I thought you’d never ask.’

Epilogue

‘Maybe we should call, just to check in,’ Ben said, staring at the mobile in his hand, a worried expression on his face.

Joely looked at her husband of four years and rolled her eyes. Taking his mobile out of his hands, she shoved it into his suit pocket before placing both her hands on his shoulders and giving him a stern look. ‘Ben, Lily is fine. We do not need to check in. Kate has your mobile number, our room number and the number of The Chatsfield.’

‘She’s so little…’ Ben said, biting his lip.

‘She’s six months old, darling, and Kate texted us that she’s in her cot and sleeping.’ Joely tugged him towards the lift. ‘Our daughter is a happy, healthy baby and is fast asleep in her Fort Knox crib. She has a doctor babysitting her for the night and we are going to have a wonderful evening here, just like we do every year.’

Ben pushed the button for the lift and ran his hand down her bare back. ‘Am I being over-protective again?’

Joely snorted. ‘Just a tad. God help us when she starts dating.’

‘She is
never
dating,’ Ben growled and Joely laughed.

Ben’s thumb drifted across her lower lip. ‘I love our life, Jo. I love you and our baby and I love coming back to The Chatsfield every year with you, even if it means leaving Lil.’

Joely reached up and kissed his cheek. ‘Me too. I never thought we could be so happy.’

The lift doors whispered open and Ben and Joely gasped as they saw who was standing in the back corner. Joely immediately stepped forward, a huge smile splitting her face. ‘Marge! Oh, it is you!’

‘Wow. Coincidence,’ Ben murmured, stepping in.

‘Not really,’ Joely said. ‘They come back the same time we do…’ Joely looked at Marge and impulsively took her gnarled hands in hers. ‘Ben and I were just saying how we come back to this hotel every year and it was because you and Bert put the idea in our heads.’

Marge sent them a strange look but didn’t pull her hands from Joely’s grip. ‘Have we met?’

The old bird could hardly be expected to remember an arbitrary couple she met in a lift on one of their many visits to The Chatsfield, Joely thought. ‘We shared a lift with you, five years ago. We were soaked and you and Bert told us that you met at the bar downstairs and that you’ve been coming back to The Chatsfield every year to relive that memory.’ Joely frowned. ‘Where is Bert?’

Sadness appeared in Marge’s faded blue eyes and tears glistened. ‘Bert… passed. After suffering from a heart attack.’

Joely’s shoulder slumped. Ah, dammit. ‘I’m so sorry. When?’

‘Five years ago.’ Marge smiled sadly.

Ben placed a hand on Joely’s back. ‘How long after you were here did he pass away?’ he asked, his voice low and kind.

‘Not long,’ whispered Marge. The lift stopped, the doors slid open and they were at the lobby. Marge took a shaky breath and smiled at Ben and Joely. ‘Were we acting crazy?’

Joely thought that she needed to hear that they were. ‘Yes, in the loveliest way possible. I remember that night perfectly; Bert wore a yellow bow tie and a brown plaid suit. You spoke about your six sons and your antiques business.’

Ben’s mouth twitched in amusement, obviously remembering something else Marge had said.

Joely rolled her eyes at him. Men! She looked at Marge again and her face softened. ‘You both had such an impact on me. Bert said that being married to you was the best half century of his life. That night, I looked at you two and thought…I want to love like you do. Constantly, crazily, forever.’

Marge patted her cheek. ‘Aw, honey, it looks like you’re on your way to doing exactly that. My Bert always said that The Chatsfield is a place filled with magic and that anything can happen here.’

Looking at her handsome husband and remembering her gorgeous baby at home, Joely knew that Bert, bless him, was right.

Magic was definitely swirling around The Chatsfield.

*

If you enjoyed this book
,

don’t miss Joss Wood’s next Modern Tempted

More than a Fling?

available in June 2014!