The Proposal

Table Of Contents

The Proposal

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Booklist

By Lily Zante

Website:
www.LilyZante.com

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Nadine lined up the
bottles of wine neatly on her kitchen cabinet and put them next to a tray of
raspberry and lime flavored vodka jellies. She couldn't wait until Kiera's
wedding was over and done with. As much as she loved her younger sister,
weddings and all that went with them, were not something that Nadine looked
forward to fondly.

"Why're you stuck in
here, sis?" asked Kiera. She walked in slowly, trying to maintain her
balance and walk in a straight line but Nadine knew the telling signs.

Nadine watched her sister
with trepidation, "Maybe you ought to slow down a bit?"  She
knew her sister would be fine. She was more concerned about her cream sofas in
the lounge and hoped none of the girls had spilt any red wine anywhere.

 "In case I
forget to thank you later, I just wanna say ‘thanks’," Amy said woozily.
She sat down one of the stools and buried her head in her hands. Nadine stroked
her sister’s wavy hair. "I just want you to have a great time Kiera,"
she said, still stroking her sister’s hair. She remembering the two of them
playing together and fighting just as much when they were younger. She had
always wanted another sibling and had never wanted to be an only child. She had
always wanted a sister. So when, at the age of nine, her mother had announced
that they were having a little sister for her, Nadine was overjoyed. She had always
felt overly protective and rather motherly towards her baby sister.

The sharp sound of the
doorbell broke her reverie and the next thing she heard was a loud yelp from
the hallway.

“They're here!” howled
Amy, Kiera's best friend and organizer of all events to do with Kiera's hen
parties. She rushed in excitedly, her high cheeks aflame from the excitement of
imminent male strippers and too many vodka jellies. She grabbed Kiera by the
waist and helped her off the bar stool.

Seeing Kiera wobble
around, Nadine warned, “Careful now." warned Nadine Amy, who was supposed
to be keeping an eye on here. “She's had a bit too much. Don't let her have any
more."

She helped Kiera into the
lounge, where she noticed there were now three tall and muscularly built and
good looking men. They were surrounded by a highly excitable group of girls.

"She's the
one!" Amy pointed at Nadine, in a voice that was unusually high-pitched
even for  her.

The three men came
dressed in U.S Air Force uniforms, dark navy blue with shirt, metal buttons,
the flight cap, air force seals and insignia. They looked commandingly handsome
and they knew it.

One of them, who seemed
just a little older than the others, caught Nadine’s glance. She smiled in
acknowledgement, noting the blue of his eyes as he walked over. His two friends
were setting up the music and the props for the event. Nadine watched them
carefully, praying they wouldn’t turn her lounge into a mess.

"Hi, I'm Ethan,
someone here called Nadine, booked this event?”  Nadine flicked a smile at
him. “That’d be me.” She glanced over Ethan's shoulder and watched horrified as
his friends bought out various jars of oil and cream which they lined up along
the floor. A look of alarm flashed across her eyes. She cried out, "You'll
need paper or liners under there!"

Ethan was amused. “No,
ma'am, don't worry. That lotion isn't for the floor, trust me. It'll be
fine."  

Ma'am
– had he just called her
ma-am
? How old
did he think she was?

"I'll leave you to
it," replied Nadine drily and slunk back into the kitchen.  She was
almost a good ten years older than Kiera and her friends but she wondered if he
thought she was Kiera's mother?

The music started to
thump loudly. 

Nadine had warned her
neighbors about her sister’s impending wedding – for there had been many other
little events such as dinner parties, a bridal shower as well as a pamper night
prior to this last hen night.  Luckily she was on good terms with her
neighbors and didn't have to worry about noise levels or the police. 

She sat down in her
kitchen diner, got out her laptop and carried on with the report that was due
for Monday morning. The promotion to Executive Creative Director had been a
huge achievement in her career and Nadine knew she was on target with her life
goals.

Her life was working out
exactly as she had planned it, even though she had not been prepared for the
workload.

That woman, Sandra
Donnelly, had it in for her, she knew that much. It was up to Nadine to prove
she could handle the work, as well as put up with Sandra Donnelly, in her
stride.

And this was exactly what
Nadine Stefano planned to do.

Despite the loud music
and wails of laughter coming out of the lounge, Nadine managed to tune out
these noises and concentrate on her report.

She was so engrossed in
it that she didn't hear Amy sneak up on her.

"Nadine!" she
hissed, "what are you doing here? You've already missed the first act.
Kiera's upset that you're not inside."  She marched over to Nadine
and grabbed her by the elbow. "This way," she commanded and led a
reluctant Nadine out of the kitchen.

In the lounge the lights
had been dimmed and the table lamp in the far end of the room had been switched
on. Her normally cream colored warm sanctuary of rest had been transformed into
a seedy, dimly lit den of vice. The girls were spread out along the two sofas,
with a very smiley faced Amy sitting in the midst of them. The first act, who
was down to his g-string, having gotten one of Kiera's friends to rub oil on
his buttocks, had just finished. Nadine was sorely tempted to give the girl who
had done the rubbing, a Kleenex so that she could wipe her hands clean. She
didn't want oily grease marks all over her sofas. She was almost beginning to
regret her decision to host the hen-night at her house. Then Amy turned up and
handed her a glass of wine.

"You'll need this to
loosen up Nadine, you're too stiff."

"Thanks for
that," answered Nadine tightly. She thought to herself, "You have no
idea of the bucket load of work on my plate do you?" But instead she
smiled sweetly at the back of Kiera’s head as she made her way to sit by a very
flushed looking Kiera.

As the music went up a
notch, Nadine looked up and saw that act number two was now coming on. Her eyes
widened with interest when she saw that it was the guy she had been speaking to
earlier, Ethan. He still wore his navy blue U.S air force uniform with the
flight cap drawn down low over his forehead. She could tell it was him by the
strong jaw line and his build.

Part mesmerized, Nadine
was unable to take her eyes off him.

Slowly sipping her wine,
she watched with growing interest as the music started and Ethan began to move
around the room, slowly taking off his jacket. He was definitely the best
looking of the bunch and more built too, whereas the others were leaner and
younger. He peeled off his jacket and threw it over the girls' heads. 
Nadine found the scene a little embarrassing to watch and wondered how anyone
could work up the courage to do that in a room full of strangers. He danced around
some more, teasing them with his movements and then he started to take off his
shirt. The music gyrated and the girls howled even louder, as Ethan
moved over to Kiera and commanded her to unbutton his shirt. She had drunk
so much that she fumbled around before she was able to get through them all.

The heat inside the room,
mixing with the strong smell of wine and other alcohol that wafted through the
air, made Nadine feel intoxicated. Still, she was unable to take her eyes off
Ethan as he picked Kiera up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She was
so light and dainty that he was able to pick her up as easily as if she were a
floaty feather. He sat her down on the chair and got her to rub baby oil on his
chest before standing in front of her and getting her to undo his
zipper.  He held her hands until she helped him to peel down his
trousers.

Unable to control
herself, Nadine sat fascinated by the taut, lean muscles of his arms and chest
and by his flat, tight stomach.

All thoughts of the
report flew out of her head.

Licking her lips and
completely riveted to the show taking place in front of her, Nadine stared at
Ethan as he turned around and danced around in front of the girls. He teased
them with his movements. Then he picked up a jar of lotion and handed it to
Kiera, pretending at the same time to pull down his g-string, although he
didn’t go that far. He looked at the crowd provocatively, a naughty grin
crossing his face. The group of girls shrieked ever louder in response. He
turned his back on Kiera and got her to rub the oil on his back instead while
the now delirious girls tried to reach out and grab at him.