Avoiding Temptation (Avoiding #3)(7)

She threw her head back, exasperated, and he just laughed at her.

“All right, all right. I’ll put you down.” He placed her lightly on her feet.

“Thank you,” she said, steadying herself against him in her high heels. “Can we try to act like civilized adults now?”

“What’s the fun in that?”

“You have a point.”

As they walked farther into the park, the trees began to cluster together, and the city lights gradually disappeared. The characteristic speeding of cars on the interstate and honking of horns in traffic through the commuter city faded away to a dull hum, and they were left with each other. The winding path they had selected was even farther off the beaten track, and Lexi actually noticed that some stars were overhead. The stars had come out for she and Ramsey tonight, like the stars had known they were going to take this moonlit stroll through the city.

The weight of his hand was peaceful against hers, and the sound of each other’s breathing kept a slow, easy rhythm about their movements—so much so, that she hardly realized just how dark it was where they were. They had walked so deep into the woods that even the lights in the park were missing or had been extinguished. It reminded her of the night when they had ridden four-wheelers in the woods back when they were first exploring each other, first accepting what was happening, first falling in love.

“Ramsey,” she whispered, not even sure why she was being so quiet. “It’s really dark out here. Don’t you think we should go back?”

“Yeah, probably,” he agreed, stopping and staring down at her. “Let’s just go a little farther, and if we don’t find the other side, we’ll circle back.”

Lexi nodded.

After another minute of walking on the darkened path, they followed a bend in the trail, and suddenly, light illuminated the path before them.

“Oh, good,” she murmured, breathing a sigh of relief. “We made it.”

Ramsey smiled back at her. “We did.”

Lexi looked into his face and saw a glint of something she hadn’t recognized before. Had she not been looking? He appeared absolutely ecstatic. She hadn’t even realized how happy he was and that such a small walk with her could brighten his mood.

Walking forward along the path, Lexi noticed it narrowed as they ventured toward the light. Her eyes widened as everything came into focus.

No wonder he was grinning like an idiot.

White candles of all different shapes and sizes flickered along the path. Hundreds of them illuminated their way, and she noticed, where she hadn’t before, the streetlights were all still in place but had been shut off to allow the red-and-orange flames to be the only source of light. He had turned off the world in Piedmont Park to give Lexi one of her own.

She stared forward, perplexed and in awe at what was materializing, as she followed him down the pathway. The candles opened up to a small clearing where a giant blanket was laid out with a picnic basket and a dozen long-stemmed red roses in a clear vase.

“What is this?” she whispered, facing Ramsey once more.

He just smiled. “Dessert?”

Lexi didn’t even have words right then. How was he always able to surprise her with such unbelievable acts of kindness? Would she ever be able to reciprocate his immense love and admiration for her?

He slowly pulled his dress shoes off his feet and padded onto the plush blanket that she suddenly realized was the same one they had used at Stone Mountain on their very first date. Kicking her heels off her feet, she walked forward, toward him, her face still a mask of shock.

She stood there, and without her heels on, she had to tilt her head back to look into his face. “How long have you been planning this?”

“Long enough that I wasn’t going to let you miss dinner,” he murmured.

“Sneaky.”

“I’m so in love with you.” He reached up, took a hold of the ponytail holder, and freed her long, flowing hair. It fanned out around her face and past her shoulders in giant waves from the spiraled tight bun. “That’s better. That’s more like you.”

Lexi beamed up at her boyfriend. He had planned all of this. She couldn’t believe it. Her mind wasn’t even functioning properly as she realized just how much he really loved her. He was full of surprises. He had been from day one.

“What’s for dessert?” she murmured, licking her lips.

“There will be plenty of time for that,” he said huskily. He lightly brushed his lips against hers.

“Now?”

“Later,” he said before kissing her once more.

“Now?” she repeated, reaching up on her tiptoes to try to capture his lips again.

“Alexa, my Alexa, I don’t know how to say this any other way.” He pushed a lock of her hair out of her face.

“Say what?” She was still staring at his lips.

“You are and always will be everything I want in my life. You get me through even the cloudiest of days by making the sun shine all around you. I could never in a million years find the right words to let you know how much you mean to me. So, I thought I’d start my explanation with this.” Ramsey slowly sank to one knee.

Lexi gasped, her hand rising to her mouth. “Oh my God,” she murmured as she watched him pull a small black box out of his pocket.

He slowly opened the lid and revealed what lay beneath. She stared in wonder as hundreds of flames reflected off the engagement ring. Perfect, simple, elegant—it was everything that represented their relationship and more. A perfectly cut pear-shaped diamond sat all alone on a thin silver band. It needed no adornment. It needed no decoration. It was flawless all on its own.