Montaine
Page 21
“This is beautiful.” I turned and faced Trent between the temple columns. His face was half lit by the golden flames of the torches and half bathed in the shadows of the temple interior. His eyes met mine with a cryptic expression. We stepped beneath the temple roof that was painted with hieroglyphic frescoes. Here and there, the walls were etched with centuries-old graffiti, the leavings of Victorian visitors now long gone. Paul and Eliza, May 7, 1872. Maybe they had stood exactly where Trent and I now stood, in love and on the precipice of a wonderful future together.
“I brought you here because there is something very important that I would like to ask you.” He cleared his throat and peeked at me from under lowered brows, his blue eyes luminescent in the partial darkness. He lowered himself onto one knee.
My breath caught in my throat. My heart flipped around in my chest like a startled butterfly. I breathed deeply, trying to steady my surging pulse.
He took my hand and gazed up at me with a look of serene contentment. “Kat, my life has not been the same since the moment you walked into my office dressed like a bumble bee.” We both laughed. He kissed the tips of my fingers. “You are everything that I have ever wanted in a woman. You are smart, beautiful, funny, compassionate, and kind. I would like to ask you – would you make me the happiest boss in the world and agree to work full-time for the magazine after you graduate in the spring?”
My mouth fell open in shock. Trent continued to gaze up at me with a heartfelt sincerity.
“Umm,” I stammered, feeling like the wind had been knocked from my chest. “Uh, yes I will come work for the magazine.”
“Terrific!” He remained on one knee and reached into an inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket. “But there is something else too.” He balanced a small black ring box on the palm of his hand. “Open it, Kat,” he said softly.
I gingerly plucked the box from his hand, my fingers shaking, and flipped it open. Inside was a gorgeous diamond ring, a single large stone in the center surrounded by a circle of smaller stones. The ring caught the reflection of the torch light, glittering and sparkling with a radiant fire in the dark heart of the temple.
“Miss Kat Raney, would you do me the inestimable honor of becoming my wife?”
I gasped and dissolved into tears. “Yes, Trent. Yes yes yes yes yes!” He caressed my shaking fingers and slipped the ring onto my hand.
He rose to his feet and embraced me. Tears flowed down my cheeks. He patted them dry and kissed me warm and full on the lips.
“I love you, Kat,” he whispered.
“I love you, Trent.”
“Forever?”
“Forever and ever.”
Under the roof of an ancient temple in the center of a bustling city, we solemnly promised each other an eternity of love.
THE END