Free I Married a Billionaire by Melanie Marchande

server came back shortly, prattling on about braised this and locally grown that. I ordered something I hardly understood, and he came back shortly with a bottle of white wine. As he poured us both a glass, I forced a smile at Daniel, acutely aware that we were being watched. Hopefully, if I looked strange, it would pass as the anxiety of a woman who was expecting to be proposed to, but was still unsure if it would really happen or not.
    "Nice place, isn't it?" Daniel said, and I realized that I hadn't spoken in a long time.
    "Yes," I said. "It's very…it's very classy."
    "Not the sort of place you eat every day." Daniel poured himself a second glass of wine. "But, it's nice for special occasions."
    "You  could  eat here every day," I said. "If you wanted to."
    He looked down at his napkin, unfolding and spreading it over his lap with exaggerated slowness so he wouldn't have to meet my eyes. To anyone listening it would probably sound like an innocent comment, but he and I both knew it was calculated to annoy him.
    He didn't speak again until our entrées came. I had some sort of fish that was perfectly done, sweet and flaky, with crisp young asparagus and risotto on the side. I ate as much of it as I could manage, even though it seemed to turn to sand in my mouth. My throat was very dry. I finished the last of the wine, and Daniel gestured for another bottle.
    After our plates were cleared away and we ordered dessert, he finally seemed to have relaxed a bit. He started talking again as if we were really just a couple on a date.
    "Do you really want to go to the moon?" His eyes were sparkling with amusement.
    "I mean…yeah. I thought everybody did."
    He shook his head. "I don't think so. But I really hope you can, someday."
    "I always wanted to go to space camp when I was a kid, but it was always too expensive." I laid my fork down on my plate, leaving my tiramisu half-uneaten. It was inevitable that there would be an awkward silence every time the topic of money came up. I wasn’t sure which one of us was more to blame for it, but it was almost palpable every time. I shook my head and tried to think of an appropriate change of subject.
    "Wasn't there something ridiculous you wanted to do as a kid?"
    He pondered this for a moment. "Become a doctor?"
    "That's not ridiculous."
    "Well, neither is going to the moon, if you're cut out to become an astronaut. But for me, it was."
    "Why?" I took a drink of my water. "I mean, seriously. What stopped you?"
    "I got older, I suppose. I readjusted my expectations for myself."
    The server came by with refills, and Daniel ordered a bottle of champagne. It was coming. I swallowed a rising lump in my throat.
    "I don't see why you couldn't have done it," I said. "If you put your mind to it. You're obviously smart, so why not?"
    He laughed, folding up his napkin carefully and returning it to the table. "Trust me, it's better this way."
    I clenched my fists in my lap. I knew what was coming. I knew it, I'd known since the moment I signed the contract, yet I still wasn't ready. Far from it. I felt like I was going to laugh hysterically, throw up, and cry, all at once.
    Daniel stood up.
    His hand was in his jacket pocket.
    I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them again, he was down on one knee.
    He opened the black velvet box, displaying a delicate gold ring with twin diamonds nested together diagonally, complementing the wave design of the band as it ran underneath them. It was striking and subtle at the same time - stunningly beautiful, yet very wearable. I wondered if Emma had helped him pick it out. It seemed like her style.
    "Madeline, will you marry me?"
    I nodded, numbly. I had to close my eyes again. Tears were gathering, and I didn't know if I could hold them. My back ached as I sat bolt upright in my chair, keeping my eyelids glued shut, willing the tears not to come and ruin my makeup. I felt him take my hand and slide the ring onto my finger. It was perfectly sized. Of course.