Koch Construction wasted no time once the building board approved the project. Three weeks after Ashley and Marcus had their meeting of the minds in her apartment, the wall between their bedrooms was officially down. She couldn’t really believe that Marcus had agreed to something so drastic so quickly, let alone acquiesced to living in a construction zone. When Ashley had asked him about it, he’d said it was all because of love.
“Our bedroom is going to be huge.” Marcus shook his head, stepping over the imaginary dividing line between their apartments, a line that was now gone. He smiled, even though the subtext was that he’d bought into one of Ashley’s crazy ideas. She could live with that. Plus, he was super sexy in his Saturday attire of jeans and a T-shirt. And to think, they had the entire weekend to look forward to. The three of them.
“A good chunk of it will go to expanding Lila’s room. Good thing we have enough space to move everyone around during construction. I really hope my parents will be able to visit once it’s all done.”
“If they aren’t able to come because of your father’s health, the three of us will have to make the trip down to South Carolina. It will be good for all of us to get out of the city, and Lila and I haven’t seen nearly enough of the US.”
Forget impressing her parents with something as frivolous as an apartment. She could show them how well she’d done for herself by introducing them to the stunning, sweet and generous man she’d fallen in love with, and the cutest little girl in creation to boot. “Fresh air. Shrimp and grits,” she said.
“Coconut cake?”
“Always.”
“Perfect.” He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “After that, it’ll be your turn to make a trip and come to the UK. Meet my parents. Take a few days away from London and visit the summer house. Rolling green countryside. We can walk to the village every day. It’s lovely.”
“It sounds it.” Really, she couldn’t imagine anything better than the grand adventure they had ahead of them. The best part of it was that he was genuinely excited by their future. He seemed to be healing from the pain of the last several years. Grumpy Marcus was behind him, although he did get touchy about sharing the remote control, especially when Manhattan Matchmaker was on. He insisted they watch it every week.
“Maybe by then we’ll be engaged,” he said, cocking an eyebrow.
She pursed her lips. This was their one sticking point—or, more precisely, it was Ashley’s sticking point. Things were happening so fast, and she’d said yes to it all. She’d added to her plate. Heck, she’d gone back for seconds, and it still didn’t seem to be enough for Marcus. They couldn’t do everything important at one time, could they? “Marcus, you’re talking about expanding the distillery.”
“We have to up production now that the Hilltop Hotels contract came in. We’re talking thousands and thousands of cases of Chambers No. 9 in hundreds of hotel bars.”
She sighed. She was happy. Really, she was. She just didn’t like the runaway train feeling. “The network just gave me the green light for First Date in Flight.”
He shook his head. “That right there should tell you just how much the network loves you. I adore you, but it really is a silly idea for a television show. A couple goes on their first date on a cross-country flight? I can’t imagine anything worse.”
There was a time when this would’ve prompted a fight, but even she found her own idea a bit ludicrous. Fortunately, at least as far as her career and earning potential were concerned, the network was thrilled. “Believe me. I know.”
“You should put Joanna on it.” He unleashed a devilish grin.
“I should totally put your sister on that show.” Now the wheels were really turning... Maybe she could put Grace on it, too—as the new head of network publicity, Grace had no time for romance. “My point is that our lives are crazy right now. Even crazier than they were a month ago. Do we really want to plan a wedding? I get stressed out just thinking about it.”
He pulled her closer and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I don’t want you to get stressed. I really don’t. But I also don’t want to wait to start our lives together.”
She pointed at the enormous gaping hole that was once the wall between their bedrooms. “News flash. We’ve already started.”
“I’d still like to get it all sewn up.” Quickly he planted a kiss on her forehead. “Lila should be up any minute now. We can go for our walk and talk about it some more.”
“Or we could just go on our walk and have fun,” she called, but he was already out of the room.
Now that the three of them had been living together for nearly a month, they had routines, one of which was to go for family walks. They would traverse Central Park at Seventy-Second Street near Strawberry Fields, stroll down Fifth Avenue to the southern edge of the park, back across at Fifty-Ninth Street and up again. Lila loved every minute of the sights and sounds of the city, and it was good couple time for Marcus and Ashley. He hadn’t been enjoying the city nearly enough.
It was a beautiful May day, almost like summer. Ashley wore a tank top with her jeans, and Lila was in an adorable purple sundress that Ashley had bought for her. The sun shone brightly, the temperatures reaching into the upper seventies. Truly a glorious day in the city. When they arrived at Fifty-Ninth Street, Ashley started veering right, but Marcus walked to the curb with the stroller, waiting for the crosswalk signal.
“Where are you going?” she asked, pointing in their usual direction.
“Let’s walk a few more blocks down Fifth Avenue. It’s such a beautiful day.”
Ashley shrugged and joined him at the light. Two blocks later, she knew precisely what he was up to.
Marcus stopped in front of Tiffany & Co. “Oh. Look where we ended up.”
“You planned this. I really don’t think it’s fair for you to coerce a woman with diamonds.”
He leaned down in front of the stroller and lifted Lila out of her seat. “What’s that? You think we should go inside and look for a fancy ring for Ashley? That sounds like a splendid idea.” He smiled, the sun glinting off his Ray-Bans. “She’s so smart. I tell you, I really think we should have her IQ tested. She could be off the charts for all we know.”
“You’re very funny.” She stepped next to him and pushed his sunglasses down his nose, trying to discern if he really was serious.
He swiped off his sunglasses and hooked them on the front of his T-shirt. “Listen to me, Ash. We’re already knocking down walls. Let’s knock down the final wall between us. Because the reality is that you’ve already folded us into your life, and we’ve done the same to you. We’re one unit. A family. We’re already here. Let’s make it official. It’s just a ring. It’s not a big deal.”
“You realize that’s an argument for not bothering, too, right?”
“I do. But I think we owe it to each other. We love each other. We should get married.”
“We’re talking about a big, expensive party that’s going to be a total pain to plan.”
“Yes. Exactly. With flowers and a band and a cake and the most beautiful bride in the world.”
She looked down at Lila, who was watching the exchange between then. “And how about the most beautiful flower girl, too?”
“We’ll have to keep the rose petals out of her mouth.”
“We could give her a basket of toys. She’ll have no problem emptying it.”
He grinned wide. “I like it. Stuffed frogs and Mr. Bunny to step over as you walk down the aisle.”
“Do we really want to go ring shopping with Lila? You know she won’t be happy in Tiffany. I’m