“Gage Lawson, you made this Christmas one of the best of my life and I want nothing more than to celebrate every Christmas with you forever. If you’ll have me.” She knew it sounded like a proposal, but…
Rather than respond right away, Gage did his own stripping and changed into his new pajamas before leaning in and kissing her. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”
Together, they got comfortable on the floor as she cued up the movie. “Would you like a glass of wine?”
He nodded and accepted the glass when she handed it to him. “Okay, I have to ask how you managed to pull this off. How long are we going to be stuck in here?”
“Basically, we have two hours,” she explained. “I wanted us to have a space where neither of us could leave and we’d be forced to talk to each other.”
“If memory serves, I’m not the one who wanted to leave. Ever.”
Solemnly, she nodded. “I know. I’m a flight risk and I swear I’m working on it. Which is another reason why I thought this was a good thing.” She took a sip of her wine before continuing. “But basically, I reached out to your mom and apologized for what I did and she pretty much said whatever I needed to do to make you happy, she was more than ready to help.”
“So everyone in the building knows you purposely got us stuck in the elevator.” It wasn’t a question.
“And they think it’s pretty darn romantic.” She gave him an impish grin. “So come on. Let’s watch your movie, eat cookies, drink some wine, and just…be happy.”
After taking another cookie, he took the laptop from her hands. “Or…we can call and let everyone know we’re okay and to let the elevator move and we can set up camp in the guestroom–sorry about the suite–and find some other way of passing the two hours. How about that?”
He seemed so proud of himself that she hated to argue, but…
Reaching over, she took the laptop back and hit play. “Sorry, but…we’re totally watching this movie and…the suite is ours again. I think your mother is moving all your stuff back in it as we speak.”
His jaw was moving but no words were coming out, so to put him out of his misery, Hannah stuffed a cookie in it and laughed hysterically as crumbs went everywhere.
“You’ll pay for that later,” he warned her.
But she wasn’t too worried. “I look forward to it.”
As soon as the movie was over, Hannah kissed him thoroughly before standing up. “Okay, I’m going to call your mom and let her know it’s safe to get the elevator moving.” She held out a hand to him. “Here, help me get this stuff packed up.”
As much as he loved everything about her plan–even the sillier aspects of it–he knew she deserved his honesty as well.
“Ooh…where’s my phone?” she murmured as she looked around.
“Hannah?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.” His voice was somber even to his own ears and when she looked up at him, he saw she was worried. Reaching for her hand, Gage gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Um…I’m not quite sure how to say this.”
Her eyes filled with tears even as she straightened her shoulders. “Whatever it is, just say it. I can handle it.”
Honestly, he wasn’t even sure where to begin and he took a moment to find the right words. “Do you remember the day we went to coffee with my mom and Sarah?”
She nodded.
“They were both kind of bratty that day and didn’t quite believe we were a real couple, but once they went out with us, everything sort of evened out, right?”
She nodded again.
“Well…here’s the thing. I confessed to them both that you had only agreed to be my girlfriend to help me out, but that you were it for me. I told them what we were proposing to do and they all vowed to help me in any way they could because they knew I was falling in love.”
Slowly, Hannah took a small step back. “Wait. So you’re telling me that everyone knew…?”
It was Gage’s turn to nod. “Yup. Everyone knew. Maybe it doesn’t matter because everything worked out, but…I just wanted you to know. I felt bad about lying to you and I really hope you’re not upset, but…”
She studied him for a long moment. “So this was never fake for you?”
He shook his head. “No. I knew the risks going in and knew there was a chance I was going to get hurt, but…it was worth it. You were worth it.”
“This all makes a lot more sense now.”
“What does?”
“The way your mother reacted when I called her yesterday. It was like none of this surprised her.”
“I’m sure she was a little surprised. I mean…you left, and I was convinced we were over for good.”
Then she was back and pressed up against him. “We’re not over, Gage. We may never be over. But…”
“But…?”
“I came all the way back here and basically spilled my guts to you and confessed how I feel and…and you haven’t.”
“No, that’s not true. I…”
“I told you that I love you and you haven’t said it back,” she whispered.
Reaching up, he cupped her face in his hands. “Then let me rectify that right here, right now. Hannah Christy, I love you. I fell a little bit in love with you that first night in the elevator, but I fell all the way in love with you these last few weeks.” And then he kissed her, slowly and thoroughly.
It took several minutes before Hannah called his mother and they got the elevator moving. And when they got out on their floor, they were greeted by his mother and his sisters.
All four of them.
Good Lord…
There was a ton of hugging and congratulations, and Gage couldn’t believe everyone showed up for this.
“How did you know it was all going to work out?” he asked the group. “You all drove up here and it could have been for nothing!”
“Oh, please,” Christina said, smacking him playfully on the shoulder. “You were so totally smitten–there was no way you weren’t going to take her back.” Then she looked at Hannah. “And you!”
“Uh-oh…”
“We’re all thrilled that you came to your senses and came back for our little brother. We know he can be a bit of a pain–he’s a neat freak and kind of a know-it-all–but you won’t find a better guy anywhere,” she finished. Then she wrapped an arm around Gage and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek.
“You could have left out the neat freak part…” he mumbled.
“But you were okay with the know-it-all?” she teased.
Rather than answer, he maneuvered out of her grasp and wrapped his arm around Hannah, suddenly very aware that they were both wearing pajamas with snowmen on them. “Um…yeah, so…we were just going to go inside and…”
“Love the pajamas,” Steph said with a wink.
“Totally adorable,” Amy added.
“Wait, did you get those at Target?” Sarah asked.
“Okay, that’s enough,” he called out. “I don’t know what all of you have planned, but Hannah and I are going inside and don’t want to be disturbed until tomorrow.”