The Proposal by Diane Craver Read Free Book Online Page B

want the same
things in life. I hated hurting him but I had to end it.”
    “It’s my fault. I
should have said something sooner, but you were so happy when Brad
asked you out on the first date. I figured you’d only see him a few
times, but I was wrong.” He put a strand of hair behind her ear.
“It was a wakeup call when you started talking about getting
married to Brad. I love you, Jacqueline. Can you give me a second
chance? Do you think you can love me again?”
    “I never stopped
loving you. I was born to love you.” She covered his mouth with
hers and felt his arms around her. How had she ever survived without
her best friend’s kisses? His tongue slid inside her mouth and she
clutched him tighter. A soft moan escaped her mouth as the taste and
force of his tongue excited her. At the sound of footsteps, she
stopped kissing Tyler.
    Alex laughed. “You
two are still in the foyer. I came in to tell you to come look at the
gazebo.”
    “Give me a kiss for
the road,” Tyler said.
    “I don’t think so,”
Alex said with a straight face.
    Jacqueline giggled.
“Give me a moment with my man.”
    Alex looked pleased.
“Geez, when you see the gazebo, you’ll want to kiss again.”
    “We better get out
there then.” Tyler grinned. “I’ve never kissed your sister in a
gazebo before.”
    Grabbing a jacket, she
followed the guys to the backyard. She ran into Tyler’s back as he
suddenly stopped before the steps of the gazebo.
    “Man, you did a great
job out here.” Tyler patted Alex’s back.
    “It’s so romantic.
I love the red velvet bows all around. I see you put the lights to
good use that I didn’t need this year.” Her artificial tree was
loaded with tons of pre-lit miniature lights so Alex strung rows of
last year’s lights all over the gazebo.
    Tyler walked to the
middle of the porch where Alex had put a small tree with more white
lights. “I was going to just throw a wreath above my fireplace.”
    She sat on the inside
bench, admiring the beauty that Alex had created. “Dad just built
this for Mom three years ago. It was their twenty-fifth wedding
anniversary.”
    Tyler nodded. “I
remember. My mom hinted she’d like one. Your dad was great at
building things.”
    “Hey, you two
lovebirds, I’m going to a basketball game with Sam and his
parents.”
    Both said in unison,
“Bye, Alex.”
    With Alex’s exit,
Jacqueline kissed Tyler passionately.
    Tyler ended the kiss
and laughed.
    She gave him an
indignant look. “At least, Brad never laughed at my kisses.”
    “I adore your kisses.
I’m laughing at your brother. Don’t you hear him? He’s
whistling the song, Here Comes The Bride . He’s not too
subtle.”
    “What can I say?
Talent runs in the Andrews family.” Thank you, Alex, she thought.
Her brother always had her back. Although Tyler had mentioned that
she should marry him instead of Brad, that wasn’t an official
proposal. Well, if Tyler doesn’t propose, I’ll just do the
proposing.

Chapter Seven
    So many gorgeous
rings. Which one should I buy? Tyler sighed as he looked at
another tray of rings in the store. This was his third trip to the
store and now it was Christmas Eve. At least he knew Jacqueline liked
silver instead of gold. Maybe he shouldn’t surprise her with the
ring, but propose first, then bring her to the jewelry store to
choose it herself. He was sure of one thing. He wanted everything to
be perfect when he proposed to Jacqueline. She was the love of his
life. All those months when he was afraid of losing her to Brad were
over. Having Jacqueline love him was a wonderful gift and he’d
cherish her forever. He finally chose a princess-cut diamond ring and
was happy it was in her size. If she didn’t like her engagement
ring, they could come back together and exchange it. Okay, next stop
was to pick up the flowers that Jacqueline wanted to put on the
tables.
    Thirty minutes later,
he was at Jacqueline’s house. He carried the bouquets of mixed
flowers into