by Bria Quinlan
Connor scowled and glanced around, his gaze going off to the distance as he nodded his head like he was counting things.
“I’m not sure what I missed. Did I skip something?” I could all but see him struggling not to call Nick to ask for a proposal checklist.
“No! That was the best proposal ever!” I still had tears in my eyes.
“But…” He scowled some more. “You didn’t say yes so it couldn’t have been that great… Also, how many proposals have you gotten?”
“Just the one.”
“This one?”
“Of course, this one!”
Connor stepped back a bit. “Well, I just wanted to make sure. So then what are you comparing it to?” He glanced away before adding, “It just sounds like you’ve been running around town, turning down proposals.”
“No.” Now I scowled. We were way off track here. “But that rivaled even my favorite romance novels. It was wonderful. You made me feel really loved.”
“Oh, well. Thank you.” Connor nodded as if this helped. “So then, yes?”
I tried not to scowl again since it was beginning to feel like there was a lot of scowling going on in this proposal of marriage.
“So, can I ask?” I gave him my best smile.
Connor looked at me as if I were a crazy woman who had taken over his girlfriend’s body. That wasn’t too weird since I’d been feeling that way lately too.
“Sure, Hails. Ask me anything.” He gave me his most reassuring smile. The one when he wasn’t trying to charm or cajole, but when he was really there. Smiling at you, loving you. Obviously, he was trying to get this moved along.
“Okay.” I reached into the dress pocket and wrapped my hand around the watch. “Connor Ryan, you are by far the most wonderful, clever, kind, exasperating man I’ve ever known…ever even known of. I love you with all my heart. Will you do me the very great honor of marrying me?”
I pulled the watch out of my pocket, still wrapped and hidden in my hand, when Connor’s smile faded to a very confused look.
“But, I just asked you and you said no.”
“No, I said no-but-yes. Well, I said yes, then no, then no-but-yes.”
“So, why don’t you just say yes?”
“Because I asked you.”
“I asked you first.”
I stared at him, struggling to come up with an alternative reason. But he did have a point. He asked first.
“Hails, this is probably the most ridiculous conversation I’ve ever had…and that includes everything with Gavin ever.”
I glanced down at the watch wrapped in my hand and the box barely peeking out of his.
“Wait…did you get me a ring?” He sounded both annoyed and intrigued.
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“So, what’s that thing in your hand?”
I stuck my hand behind my back. “You didn’t say yes.”
“Well, maybe I’d say yes if I knew what I was getting out of it.”
“Me! You’re getting me!”
“And, sweetheart, you know—since I already proposed to you and you said yes-no-no-but-yes—that I want you. But now that there’s a gift involved I want to see my options.”
“Your options are: me… Then you get a gift.”
“Hmmm…” Connor stroked his chin like an evil villain overlord thinking over a high-level negotiation. This was probably what Dex looked like in their meetings.
“You know what?” I slipped the watch back in my pocket. “That’s okay. I’ll just marry you. You don’t have to marry me.”
“Well, maybe I’m rescinding my offer. Maybe I’m more interested in your offer now.”
I glared at him, wondering how I could play this out. I wanted to marry him, but if he was rescinding his proposal…that wasn’t a very good start to a marriage. I didn’t want to be a proposal bully.
Connor glanced around the condo, looking even more frustrated than I felt.
“What if, we both accepted the other’s proposal at the same time? That seems very pro-union, right?” He looked at me like this was a genius idea.
Of course I didn’t have anything better in mind, so sure. I nodded, not knowing how this was going to work.
But, as soon as I did, his shoulders dropped back down to where they usually lived.
“Okay, on the count of three, we both say yes.”
“Wait— like one, two, yes? Or one, two, three, yes?”
“One, two, yes.”
Connor started to count and it dawned on me he’d probably not say yes so he could be the man proposing. So when he got to three, I said nothing.
And he said, “Yes!” then, “Hailey.”
He said yes. He said yes.
I dove at him, so excited, thrilled to be engaged to this man I loved so much.
“Yes! Of course, it’s a yes!”
Because after this last month, after the challenges and overthinking and the wonderful talk with Gavin, it could never be anything other than a yes.
He grinned, a dopey grin I knew I was one of the few people who ever got to see it. “Yes, right? Yes?”
I nodded again, so happy, so overjoyed.
Connor pulled me to him, softly like I was a fragile gift, and lowered his head, brushing his lips across mine.
“Mine. My Hailey Ann for always.”
I melted against him, knowing the only place that would ever be home was with this man. This man who couldn’t be held back or tacked down to one place. I’d spend my life watching him running circles around the rest of the world and resting safely in the eye of his storm where he’d always return to me.
He deepened the kiss, pulling me tight against him, making me realize that even if I’d ever wanted to get away from him, it never would have happened because he knew as well as I did that we were two halves of a whole.
After he pulled away and placed a tasteful, normal-sized ring on my normal-sized hand, he rocked back on his heels.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“What did you propose to me with?”
“Oh, nothing.” I grinned and glanced around, pretending to be distracted by the condo.
“Really?” He drew out the word and I knew he wasn’t going to let it go.
“So, I wanted to get you something that wasn’t a ring. Something you could keep and have on you when you have a special occasion. Something solid—as solid as us—that you could hold in your hand.” I pulled the watch out of my pocket, holding it out in front of us from where I was tucked under Connor’s arm. “And this, seemed perfect.”
“Oh, wow. Hails.” He held his hand out to touch it where it rest in my palm, his shaking just a bit.
I explained about the Celtic Shield Knot and how it would keep him safe while he traveled and showed that he was bound to me. That we were bound together. When I looked up, his gaze was locked on it, a tear running down his cheek as he turned that gaze on me.
“You are the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me. That will ever happen to me. I don’t know how I became so blessed, but I feel it here.” He tapped his free hand over his heart. “I feel that knot binding us here.”
We stood there, just us being us, for a moment.
Then, I realized where I was.
“So,” I asked, snuggling deeper into the place he’d tucked me under his arm like he’d never let me go. “What’s up with this condo?”
“Oh.” He suddenly looked disappointed, like he’d messed something up. “This was part of my proposal, but…”
“But what?” Because this was a really weird thing to overlook.
The pink raced over his cheeks, looking like a kid caught doing something he’d explicitly been told not to. “I got nervous.”
Mr. Big Shot Baseball Star got nervous?
Before I could ask about that, he rushed me around showing me the details we’d been picking out over the last month. Including my office, off to the side, far a
way from the guest rooms, where I could go and hide out.
“I love being here and I know you do too, but there was no way we could live in your place.” He looked apologetic, like he was stating something I didn’t know was true. “I figured I’d grab this chance to make a penthouse and hope that it worked for you. That being here would make you happy. You could totally keep your place and use it as an office if you want. You don’t have to use the office up here.”
“And this was part of the proposal?”
“Well, yeah.” He looked at me as if it should be obvious.
I tried to wait him out, tried to figure out how this could have been part of that already perfect proposal. I finally said, “I’m sorry, Connor, I don’t know how it fits.”
“Oh.” He glanced around then took my hand over to the window where we could just see the park one block over, the lights of the city a soft flicker around us. “Well, I thought about what marriage was and the things I would be swearing to. To love, honor, and cherish you. I can do that. I do that now. That’s how I feel, but a man is also supposed to provide.”
He put up a hand stopping me before I could say anything about the ridiculousness of that.
“Wait. Because, I know. I know you can provide for yourself. You’ll never need anything. But the thing I can provide is your happiness. You love it here and if I could do anything to keep you somewhere you were happy, I wanted to make sure we could make it happen.”
I glanced around, realizing he’d built us a little corner of heaven. A place where happiness had a home.
A place where two worlds really could become one. I was home.
Epilogue
I got to The Brew at about six, knowing forcing Abby to open early twice in one month was just asking for undercooked brownies.
I’d texted the girls, asking them to meet me for an early breakfast…not quite calling it an emergency, but at this hour what else could they think?
I was mostly thrilled—but I’m not gonna lie, I was also scared to death that this meeting was going to go like the one at the beginning of the month.
I walked up to the counter, waiting in line behind the super early commuters getting their morning fix.
Abby paused when she saw me, looking thoughtful but not surprised. At least I didn’t look like I was going to break down this time…and the fire was already going, so I was off the hook there.
I got to the counter and ordered, like that was necessary. Instead of paying attention, Abby glanced down at my left hand where the ring sat tastefully on my finger, not overwhelming or absurd. But a ring to match me. A ring I loved, not one that announced how much money my boyfriend—fiancé––had.
She smiled, one of her rare, true smiles and said, “Good,” before handing me my tea and shooing me along.
The girls got to The Brew, each one giving me a look as she went to the counter and ordered before joining me in our comfy seats.
I made sure to keep my left hand tucked safely away while I waited for a lull in the commuter coffee addicts. Once Abby joined us, I started working up the nerve to try again. Hoping beyond hope that it went smoother this time.
Connor, being overly aware of me, had already realized I was nervous to tell the girls and I ended up spilling some of the things that had been going on.
“Hails, of course they’d worry. They love you.” He’d given me a tight squeeze and left it at that.
If anything could have made me fall more in love with him, he’d pretty much nailed it.
Abby collapsed into the chair across from me looking smug and proud of herself. You’d think Connor and I had been an arranged marriage she’d negotiated herself.
Now that we were all there, I kept putting it off. I could tell the girls were all chatting and waiting for me to say something. The last time I’d texted them this early, I’d been a mess. I hadn’t known if I had good news or a disaster on my hands.
I was nothing but happy and trying to squash my own glow for fear of letting them squash it instead.
Finally, Abby jerked her head toward the others, a clear sign it was time to get a move on. She had muffins to make after all.
“So,” I started, unsure how to say everything I was thinking while telling them that Connor had proposed and that I’d said yes. Instead, I just pulled my hand out from where it had hid up my sleeve and showed them the beautiful ring that said the man I loved was mine to keep.
There was stunned silence and then…Jenna burst into tears.
Sobbing, body-wracking tears.
We all sat there, shocked. A stillness settling over the group in a way I don’t think I’d ever witnessed before.
The front door started to open, and Abby jumped up. “Sorry! We’re closed.”
The man started to argue that all he wanted was coffee and she shook her head, pointing toward the door before crossing and locking it behind him.
“Jenna?” I asked, afraid of where this was going, afraid I was going to have to pick between people I loved.
“I’m so…” she sucked in a breath, “I’m so happy.”
“You are?”
“I am!” She jumped up and leapt across the table. “You were so right. And I’ve been stupid. I’m so glad we talked about it. He really does love you and I want that for you so much. You deserve to be loved like that!”
Jenna wrapped her arms around me, sobbing even harder.
I patted her on the back, taken aback by how this had turned out. Over her shoulder, Kasey and Jayne looked pleased, Kasey flashing me a thumbs-up. Abby still looked smug.
Once Jenna stopped crying, she shuffled back to her seat and collapsed into it like she’d just fought a war.
“I was so afraid I ruined things. Either with you guys or us. But it’s okay, right? Everything’s good?”
“Everything is great.” And it was.
Jayne lavished her love of the artistic design of my ring, Kasey commented on Connor’s choice as classic good taste.
And Abby just kept looking smug.
We talked about the fact that spring training was coming up so we had a short window to get married if it was going to be before the holidays next December. And what kind of wedding I wanted. And the new condo. Which everyone looked surprised about.
Except Abby.
She just continued looking smug.
John finally showed up, coming through the locked front door and looking at Abby like she was insane for closing the shop right as commuter hours were starting. But once he heard what was going on, he was all good.
I mean, who could argue with my girls? Especially when Jenna flashed him smile number five and said, “And they’ll live happily ever after.”
Typical Brew Ha Ha Questions…
And A Couple Answers:
Will there be more Brew Books?
Absolutely!
Want to hear about it? Get the Quirky Girl Mailer HERE.
Will you every tell XXX Hero’s story from his POV?
Probably not. I really love the sweet and sassy ladies and find that they tell the stories I want to share the best.
Will XXX get a book?
The answer is definitely maybe!
Will X end up with Y?
While I have a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen to each character who will get a book, I won’t be sharing those deets until the books are ready to roll. Why? Well, a few reasons:
Sometimes the characters surprise you and end up with a different story than you expected.
And, I love surprises ;)
Can you write faster?
Sorry, no. I have not only the Brew books but other contract work I do to pay the bills. I wish I could tell you guys Brew stories more quickly, but the process can only move so quickly.
What do you think of Brew Ha Ha fanfic?
I’m a fan of fanfic in most cases. If you want to write Brew fanfic please remember:
I own the world and characters, so someone else selling them for profit is a no-no.
>
Point back to the originals to give me a shout out please.
Respect the characters. Sure I get a lot of requests for Max sex scenes and people saying they’re going to write one. That’s cool, just please respect who Max and Kasey are when you do it!
Will the Brew Books ever be made into movies?
Unless there is a movie miracle, probably not. That’s not something I have any control over. If you know someone who does, nudge them! ;)
Also by Bria Quinlan
BREW HA HA Books
It’s In His Kiss (FREE Prequel)
The Last Single Girl
Worth the Fall
The Catching Kind
The Proposing Kind
Things That Shine - A Crossover Brew Ha Ha /Double Blind Story
Bria’s YA set RVHS Secrets
Secret Girlfriend
Secret Life
And YA Standalone
Wreckless
About Bria
Quirky Girl and all around lovable klutz, Bria Quinlan writes Diet-Coke-Snort-Worthy Rom Coms about what it's like to be a girl and deal with crap and still look for love.
She also writes books for teens that take hard topics and make you laugh through your tears…or maybe cry through your laughter. Some people call them issue books. Some people call them romantic comedies. Bria calls them what-life-looks-like.
Her stories remind you that life is an adventure not to be ignored.
If these things are important to you: she’s a RWA RITA, Golden Heart, & Cyblis nominee as well as a USA Today Best Seller, and natural blonde represented by the awesomely amazing Laird Lauren Macleod of the Clan…. Oh, wait. Of Strothman Agency.
Want to hangout? Check her out here:
briaquinlan.com/