For my husband
Thank you for making me believe true love, the fairytale kind, actually exists.
Phillip's holding my hand, leading me toward the hotel elevator. We just left our engagement party. I still can't believe I'm engaged to Phillip Mackenzie, the boy I've known forever.
As we step into an empty elevator, Phillip inserts a key and presses the number for the top floor. I'm about to say something, but before I can, he has me pinned into the corner. He sings, "Love in the Elevator..." I start to laugh, but my laugh is smothered when he kisses me deeply.
I forget what I was about to say. It's hard to concentrate when his hands are running up my dress. The elevator dings, the doors open, but Phillip doesn't stop kissing me.
"Um, Phillip. Where are we going?"
"Maybe I have a few more surprises," he says slyly.
"I think I've had enough surprises for one day," I tease.
He scoops me up and carries me out of the elevator.
"Phillip, put me down. You're not supposed to carry me over the threshold until our wedding night. You'll jinx us!"
He doesn't put me down, but he stops and looks at me seriously. "Are you really gonna marry me?"
"Yeah, I think so. I said yes. Twice." I wrap my arms around his neck. I really don't want him to put me down.
He wrinkles his nose at me. "You also said no at least four times."
I stick out my tongue at him. "What did you expect? You asked me to marry you on our first date. I'm sorry, but that was a bit of a shock. Are you gonna put me down?"
"Nope."
"Phillip..."
He leans his face in close to mine. "I'm carrying you into the bedroom, not over the threshold."
The simple mention of Phillip and I in a bedroom sends flames blazing through my body.
"The bedroom is good," I whisper.
He slides in the keycard, opens the door to the suite, kicks the door shut with his foot, carries me past the gorgeous living room, and straight into the bedroom.
I eye the king-size bed. The fluffy comforter is turned down. There are chocolates on the pillows. I can't wait to dive in.
Phillip carries me past the bed. "Hey, you skipped the bed."
"I told you, I might have another surprise."
"And I told you, I can't take anymore surprises. If there's a pastor and a wedding party in there, I swear, I'm running the other direction. I'm not marrying you tonight."
He chuckles. "I should've thought of that. We could be on our honeymoon right now."
"No way I would've agreed to that. It's bad enough we got engaged on our first date."
He sets me down in front of another set of double doors and tilts his head at me. "It's bad?"
"You know what I mean, not bad, just really weird."
He loops his arm around my shoulder. "Open the doors. Trust me."
Of course, I trust Phillip. He's been my best friend my whole entire life. Plus, based on the room's placement, this has got to be the door to the bathroom. I sling open the double doors and step into a marble room ablaze with candles. Candles of varying sizes are lit and flickering. There's a huge roman tub in the corner, full of water, with rose petals floating across the surface.
I turn around and grin at him. "This might be my favorite part of the whole night."
"I thought it might be. I figured if you said yes, we'd need a little time to relax after the party."
"And if I would've said no?"
"I could've just come up here and drown myself," he says with a laugh.
He grabs me and has me dangling above the tub before I can scream, "Don't you dare!"
Phillip's been picking me up and throwing me into pools and lakes ever since he got strong enough to do it.
"Wouldn't be the first time," he says as he pretends to drop me.
I'm pretending to be horrified, but really, all I keep thinking about is how strong Phillip is. How I love the way he makes me feel.
But I have to tease him. "We know what would happen if you dropped me in. I'd get out and take you down. Show you that you're not as tough as you think you are."
"Why do you think I always threw you in? You'd get out of the pool, chase me down, and jump on top of me. It was kinda hot."
I laugh at him. "You're being bad, Phillip, but I kinda like it." Phillip is so damn cute. He was always an adorable boy, but the older he got, the sexier he got. His short brown hair, that adorable smile, the deep brown eyes with their golden flecks, and that sexy voice. I don't think there's anything I don't love about Phillip.
I wrap my arm around his neck and pull him into a long delicious kiss. "Plus, you'd ruin the dress."
"That'd be a shame. You look amazing in this dress, but I bet it'd look even better off."
He sets me down and slowly unzips the back of my dress. "I really thought you were gonna say no at the party even though you said yes earlier."
"I was gonna say no."
Phillip's hands glide up my back. He slides the dress off my shoulders, which makes it hard for me to remember why I said no. I'm pretty sure whatever the question would be right now, the answer would be yes.
"I'm really glad you said yes," he says as his lips graze my shoulder.
God, he's adorable. "I'm glad I said yes too. Can you believe we're gonna get married? Can you believe Pastor John told me we need couple's counseling?"
He turns me around to face him, kisses my neck, and unhooks my strapless bra. It drops to the floor. He cups my face in his hands. "He's probably right. You do need counseling, and the first thing we're going to counsel you on is how you should always say yes to me. Do you have any idea how crushed I was when you slammed the ring into my hand and marched away?"
I instantly feel bad. Bad I could make Phillip even one teeny bit sad. "You know, even if I would've said no, it wouldn't have been because I didn't wanna marry you. I just thought maybe it was too soon to get engaged." I grab both of his hands, hold them tight, and look into his eyes. "Phillip, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For Cancun, for tonight. I love you. I'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose. I just....."
"It's okay. I got so excited and caught up in planning it, I didn't stop to think about how crazy it sounded."
"Are you changing your mind? Do you wish you wouldn't have?"
"No, this is exactly where I wanna be."
"In a bathroom with me practically naked?" I ask with a laugh. He leans down and strips off my thong. "Make that completely naked."
He wraps his strong arms around me. "With you. Naked is just a bonus. Get in." He holds my hand to help me into the warm fragrant water.
I lean my back against the tub to relax, but then I notice Phillip's taking off his shirt. I watch raptly. I've seen Phillip's chest a million times. He and Danny were always running around with no shirt on, but it still takes my breath away. Especially now that I know exactly what it feels like. Now that I've run my hands across his abs, felt his weight on top of me, and massaged every square inch of it. I used to rub his back when we were just friends. Even then, I loved feeling every muscle, every curve, but now all I can think is how hot he looks and how lucky I am. All of a sudden, the bath feels ten times warmer, my face feels flushed, and other parts of me seem to heat up as well.
"I thought you were gonna say no. What changed your mind?"
"I was gonna say no. I was really mad at you. I couldn't believe you sprung that on me. We'd just agreed to kinda keep it a secret. Then, BOOM! You tell me we're at our surprise engagement party, and everyone knows!"