Letters Home (5 page)

The table was long and rectangular, and had two extra place settings. I could only assume that Nate had planned on Colin being there as well. It made me a little sad to think that Nate was going to miss dinner, but I couldn’t let it ruin my night.

Liam stepped behind me to pull out the chair at the head of the table for me, and then took the seat on my right. Marissa took the seat on my left, and my parents chose the seats next to Liam. Finally Nate’s parents sat down next to Marissa, but this made the two seats at the end of the table stand out even more.

Once everyone was seated and our drinks orders were placed, the waiter returned to the table, an envelope in his hand. “Miss Renton? Someone just dropped this off for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, taking the envelope and instantly I recognized Nate’s handwriting on the outside.

Danielle, my love.

I looked around the table and answered their questioning looks. “Nate had someone drop this off,” I said, holding up the envelope.

“Open it,” Marissa encouraged.

Peeling back the flap, I found a handwritten letter inside. It was so like Nate to write a letter to me since he couldn’t be there. As tech-savvy as he had to be for his job, he never took the easy way with me.

Read out loud
was written on the front of the folded sheet of paper. I opened the letter and began to read.

My dearest Danielle,

From the first moment we met, I knew there was something special about you. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, or where it might lead us, but what I do know is that you hold a special place in my heart. I always hoped someday that connection would lead us down the path we are on today. A journey where anything is possible, as long as you’re willing to make the trip.

Danielle, you will always be my one and only true love. I will love you with everything I am for the rest of my life.

Nate

P.S. Turn Around…

My head snapped up to see everyone starring at something behind me. With shaking knees I stood up and slowly turned around and there was Nate, in full fatigues, on bended knee, holding out a box containing a gorgeous ring.

“My beautiful Danielle, please say that you’ll spend the rest of your life as my wife.”

The tears spilled over my lashes at the beauty of his proposal. It was everything I’d been waiting for. Nodding, since I was unable to speak, I threw myself into his arms, almost knocking him over in the process. He pulled back slightly so that he could press his lips to mine in one of the sweetest kisses we had ever shared. There were catcalls and cheering behind us, but it wasn’t enough to make me break the connection of our lips. It was only when it became a choice between ending the kiss or collapsing from lack of oxygen that I pulled away.

“You’ve made me the happiest man on the planet,” Nate whispered as he slipped the ring onto the third finger of my left hand. It was absolutely stunning. A single round stone surrounded by glittering diamonds set into the platinum band.

“Nate, it’s beautiful,” I said with complete awe in my voice.

Then I remembered the trick he’d played on me and smacked him in the arm.

“Ow, what was that for?” he laughed.

“That was for tricking me and making me think you weren’t coming tonight.”

Nate stood up and offered me his hand to help me to my feet. Before he let me turn around he bent down and whispered in my ear, “Yes, but admit it, it was more romantic that way.”

I had to smile at that. “You’re right, it was.”

When I turned to face our families, I saw the tears in our mothers’ eyes. Marissa looked like she was going to jump out of her skin, she was so excited. Nate’s arm wrapped around my waist.

“Thank you all so much for coming. I wanted to make this day special and I can’t wait to make this beautiful woman my wife.” He looked down at me. “I love you, Dani.”

“I love you too”

Apparently, Marissa couldn’t wait any longer because she started to screech and ran at me.

“Oh my God, honey, I’m so excited for you!” She pulled us both into her arms.

“Thanks, Marissa,” Nate said with a chuckle.

Hugs were passed around from all of our family and friends and in among the melee, I noticed that Colin had joined us. Our mothers
oohed
and
ahhed
at the ring, telling Nate what a wonderful job he did picking it out, while our fathers took turns shaking Nate’s hand. Liam gave me a bear hug, practically lifting me off the floor, when Colin came over.

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Colin. So did you know he was hiding from me tonight?”

He smiled. “I did, that’s why I came in during his phone call to you. I didn’t want him to ruin the surprise.”

Stepping up on my toes, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you guys,” he said with a smile.

Once the excitement died down we were able to take out seats again. Marissa moved to the other end of the table, with Colin taking the seat across from her so that Nate could sit next to me. He linked his fingers through mine and held on until dinner arrived.

All through dinner the conversation never faltered. We talked about my new job and the types of cases I would be handling. The restaurant had brought out a bottle of champagne for us to toast and even though dinner was delicious, dessert was even better. Although, that was when the questions kicked off.

Everyone wanted to know when we were getting married and I felt like shouting, “For crying out, he’s only just asked me!” I hadn’t had enough time to absorb the idea, let alone think of specifics. The only thing I did know was that I’d been waiting for what seemed like forever to have Nate’s ring on my finger, and I didn’t want to wait too long to put a ring on his. So I told them not to worry, the wedding wouldn’t be that far away.

When dinner had finally ended, Nate and I said our goodbyes to our family and friends. It was a good thing that Marissa had picked me up earlier because I was able to ride home with Nate. We considered going out to celebrate, but I wanted to go home to spend some time alone with him. There would be plenty of time later for a celebration with the rest of our friends.

The ride home took almost no time and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire way. This had to be one of the best days of my life. The job and man of my dreams—how could life get any better? We walked into the apartment and Nate’s eyes widened in shock.

“Everything’s done?”

I wrapped my arms around his waist. “Yep. I wanted to be able to spend the weekend together, without having to worry about unpacking.”

He lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine. “Do you know how absolutely amazing you are?”

“Of course.” I giggled, which turned into a whimper as Nate kissed down my neck, stopping to suck at my pulse point for a moment.

He lifted his head to look at me. “Now I want to show you how wonderful I think you are.” Taking my hand, he led me to the bedroom. Time seemed to stop the minute we stepped over the threshold and the look in his eyes as he stood in the middle of the room, his legs slightly apart, his tongue running over his top lip, his eyes tracing a path down my body, was enough to set my skin on fire, and I felt as if I would melt from the inside out. I licked out over my bottom lip, watching him slowly clench and unclench his fists. He was trying to keep himself under control, but I could tell he was losing the battle when his hands started to shake. Finally, he stepped over to me, plunging his hands into my hair and bringing his face down to mine. His tongue parted my lips and slid into the warmth of my mouth.

Testing.

Tasting.

Teasing.

My feet shuffled backwards until the back of my legs hit the bed but Nate didn’t stop moving. It wasn’t until he’d pushed me down onto the bed and covered his body with mine, did he lift his lips.

His eyes held mine as his hands slid down to the hem of my dress, pulling it up and over my head. All I wanted was to feel skin-to-skin contact and Nate didn’t disappoint when he removed his shirt and let it drop to the floor with mine. The muscles that defined his chest and abs were smooth to the touch. Giving into my desire, I ran my hands up his torso, feeling every inch of him as the scent of his cologne overtook me. I skimmed my hands across his nipple, hearing his sharp intake of breath.

Once again, he covered my body with his, lowering his head to devour my lips. Warm, wet lips trailed a path down my neck, stopping to suck on the pulse point that he knew was my weakness. When his tongue swirled around the same spot, my back arched and a low moan escaped my lips. Even after all our years together, I could never control my body’s reaction to his touch and he took advantage, sliding my panties down my legs while his teeth and lips continued their path down to my breasts. The nerves around my nipples spiked with feeling as Nate’s tongue slowly flicked across the tight bud. But the delicious torment didn’t stop there. Strong, supple fingers slid down and he began rubbing slow circles around my clit.

“Oh God, Nate, please…” I begged.

His mouth lifted from my breasts, but only to toss a wicked smile my way before moving to tease the other nipple without so much as a word. When his finger slipped into me, he groaned.

“You are so responsive to my touch,” he whispered. One finger became two as he began to glide them in and out, his thumb still creating a delicious friction across the sensitive little nub. My body was bombarded with sensation and I cried out, only to be silenced when his lips reclaimed mine. Wasting no time, his fingers slipped from my body and he left the bed to quickly remove the rest of our clothing. Seconds later, I felt the head of his penis as he created small, slow circles, causing my body to tighten in anticipation as he gently pushed into me.

“Shit, you feel good.”

The thrusts of his body combined with his scent surrounding me made for a sensation filled combination. The long powerful strokes did their job in bringing my body to the edge and it was only a few more deep plunges before his eyes clenched shut and his release surged into me, sending sparks of pleasure rippling through my body, setting off my own release. With shaking arms, he let his body slip from mine and collapsed on the bed next to me. We were both panting heavily, trying to catch our breaths.

When our bodies had cooled down a bit, Nate turned his head on the pillow, watching me. I didn’t give him long before I rolled over and tucked my body against his. His hand shifted from my waist to my hair, twisting it between his fingers. After a few minutes of silence, Nate cleared his throat.

“I’m the luckiest man in the world, and I can’t wait to call you my wife.”

I moved my gaze to his face and smiled. “I love you, Nate. And I can’t wait to call myself Mrs. Danielle Lewis.”

He placed a small kiss on my forehead. “I love you too. Now go to sleep. I have plans for you this weekend.”

I knew he wouldn’t tell me what his plans were if I asked, so I did as I was told and in no time fell into a deep sleep, full of the most amazing dreams.

Sometimes in life there are moments when someone else knows what you need better than you do.

“Danielle, we’ve been very impressed with your performance these last two months,” said Mr. Brunell, one of the senior partners of the law office.

“Thank you, Mr. Brunell.”

“Please, Danielle, call me Alec.”

“Okay, Alec,” I said, proud of the fact I was able to keep the tremor from my voice. My nerves were playing tricks on me and Alec’s office seemed much smaller than normal as I sat across from his desk, waiting to find out why he’d called me in to his office in the first place.

“Up to this point, you’ve handled cases that could be resolved outside of the courtroom.” I nodded, the butterflies in my stomach taking flight. “Some of those cases had the potential to get ugly, yet you kept everyone focused and settled things in a positive way for our clients. In light of this, the other partners and I would like to give you more responsibility.”

“Thank you. What else would you like me to do?”

He picked up a file on his desk and handed it over to me. “This is a case Tina Wickers has been working on. We’d like you to sit in as co-counsel. Tina will still lead, however since this case will be going to trial, we think that this could be a valuable learning opportunity for you. Once you’ve worked a few trial cases we’ll be able to put you on the trial rotation for the firm.”