Page 104 of Money Shot

SIENNA

There should comea time in every girl’s life when she feels she can safely exhale. At least that’s what I had always believed. I doubted each and every girl on the earth reached that point, and the thought saddened me that some didn’t, but I did.

And I was grateful when the day finally came.

“I had no idea there were carriage rides in Old Town,” I said.

The man driving the carriage was actually wearing a top hat, which was pretty cool in my opinion. The carriage was white and rather ornate, with carvings along the sides and on the armrests. The seats were red velvet and quite comfortable for a wooden carriage. As the man whipped the reigns up and down the Clydesdale horses picked up the pace slightly.

We’d been in the carriage for thirty minutes, taking a tour of Old Town in downtown Wichita. Vince had spent the entire time checking his watch, so I realized he must have had other plans, but I had no idea what they were.

The evening was perfect, and for Kansas in the fall, rather enjoyable. It was just under sixty degrees, the dark sky overhead was filled with stars, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. As we sipped our hot apple cider, the carriage came around the corner.

“The Keen Kutter building,” the man said as he motioned toward the brick building on our right side.

Vince checked his watch.

“Built in 1906 by Wurster Construction, the building was used by Keen Kutter until the early 1920’s when Winchester Arms merged with Keen Kutter to utilize…”

Vince checked his watch again.

The carriage slowed down slightly, and the sound of the horse’s hooves slapping against the brick street became almost musical. I took a sip of cider and gazed off to the left at the renovated one hundred year old buildings that had been developed into housing, eateries, and bars.

Vince checked his watch.

I shook my head and turned to the side and watched as two people walked by hand in hand, probably on their way to the wine bar half way down the block. It was almost midnight and the bars were all that was really left open. I shifted my eyes toward the front of the carriage, only to see that Vince had moved to the seat in front of me.

The carriage seated six people, and Vince had rented the entire carriage to give us privacy. Although he had been seated at my side all night, he obviously got bored and moved.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his coat and leaned forward.

“Sienna, I can say this without hesitation,” he said. “You are the only woman I have ever loved. I know that now, I knowit.”

“Awwe, thank you,” I said as I leaned forward and kissed him.

“I want this to last forever,” he said.

“The ride?” I asked with a grin.

He shook his head. “This. You and me.”

“Me too,” I said.

“So,” he said as he raised himself from the seat.

He removed his right hand from his jacket, lowered himself onto one knee, and raised his hand in front of me. I glanced at his hand.

Oh God…

Vince.

“Sienna, I would be the proudest man on earth if you would agree to marry me,” he said.

I bit into my lip and nodded my head, incapable of speaking. I mouthed the words “I will” as tears began to well in my eyes.

I reached for the ring and nodded my head again. I had read about this moment in thousands of books, but nothing could have prepared me for what was happening. He shook his head, reached for my hand, and slipped the ring onto my finger.