Crash Into Me(101)

"It's...oh, my God, Tristan. I don't know what to say." I covered my mouth with my hands and tears began to roll down my cheeks.

"Say you'll marry me."

At that moment, I was sure there wasn't a happier person on the entire planet. As I looked down into those eyes so full of love for me, my heart felt fuller than it ever had before.

"Yes. Yes! I'll marry you, Tristan."

He slid the ring onto my finger and took me into his arms as I cried tears of joy. This was more than I'd ever dreamed could happen in my life. I kissed him right there in Tony's Pizza Heaven and right in front of the waitress, who was standing there with our tray of pizza and crying herself.

The blonde looked down at Tristan with a look of anticipation. "Did she say yes?"

Looking into my eyes, he smiled. "She said yes."

"She said yes, everybody!" the woman yelled toward the kitchen, where a chorus of whistles and clapping exploded. She placed the large tray of pizza on the table and smiled at me. "Congratulations. You're a lucky girl. It's not every guy who arranges a proposal like this."

She left us alone, and I turned toward him. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Since Venice."

I looked down at the dazzling ring on my hand. I guessed the diamond was at least two carets and was set in a platinum setting and band. To say it was gorgeous was an understatement. It took my breath away.

"And you got the people here at Tony's to help you?"

Tristan took a bite of pizza. "I figured it would be easier to get you to say yes if the restaurant wasn't filled with people."

"So you paid to have the restaurant closed to everyone but us?" I asked in disbelief.

Nodding, he smiled. "You sound surprised. Of all the things I've spent my money on, this is the best one. It's not every day a man gets to propose to the woman he loves, and if it costs a little money, that's okay."

I glanced down at the ring sitting on my left hand and back up at him. "A little? I'm not sure I'm ever going to get used to your idea of a little money."

"I've told you before, Nina. I would spend ten times that amount to make you happy. That's all I want."

Leaning over the table, I kissed him sweetly, tasting sauce and cheese on his lips. "I'm the happiest woman in the world because of you. Don't ever doubt that."

With a wink, he smiled and said, "Good. Now eat your pizza before it gets cold."





Chapter Twenty-One

Later that night as we laid in each other's arms after making love for hours, I heard the all-too-familiar vibration of Tristan's phone on the nightstand near his side of the bed. In seconds, his mood changed from the blissful happiness we'd shared all night after his proposal at Tony's to sullen and brooding. His shoulders grew tense under my fingers, and in seconds he was gone from our bed to answer that phone I'd grown to hate.

I laid there feeling cold without him next to me and wondering if now that we were planning to be husband and wife did I have a right to ask him what was going on with these calls. Whatever it was that he was dealing with each time that phone rang and it dragged him out of our bed, it tore at my heart that he obviously believed he needed to deal with it alone.

Straining to hear any bits and pieces of his conversation right outside in the hallway, I was able to make out only a few garbled words that meant nothing to me. He was only gone for a few minutes, but when he returned to bed he was visible shaken.

He laid down next to me and moved to take me in his arms as I'd been before. Pulling me close, he was silent but I sensed the tension coming from him in waves. I laid my head on his chest, and he began to coil my hair around his index finger over and over.