I flipped through pictures of the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, and several other well-known wonders of the world, only to stop at a picture where the water was a beautiful shade of teal blue and the sky was deep azure. I didn’t need to go further than that. I showed him the photo.

“Bora Bora!” He beamed happily. “Is that where you want to go?”

I nodded and grinned widely, imagining the two of us on the beach in the picture.

“Done! Tahiti here we come!” he announced joyfully. “I was actually hoping you’d pick that one. We can stay in one of those huts that are out over the water.” He tore open the wrapping on a new bottle of his favorite cologne.

I opened up the box that was shipped from California. Inside was a chocolate brown Dior leather handbag. I smirked at Ryan.

“Kelly said you really liked it, so…” He shrugged.

We were surrounded by shreds of Christmas wrapping paper, like two little children on Christmas morning. He had plenty of new toys, video games, and software to keep him occupied.

“Last two.” He grinned as he trotted back to the living room from the bedroom. The two gifts he had in his hand were not under the tree. He handed me another flat package and a small box. I felt the adrenaline when it released into my bloodstream.

“I’m really surprised you didn’t ask any questions when I took your car the other day.” His eyes narrowed on me. “Most women would have nagged until they got an acceptable answer, but then again, you’re not like most women, are you?”

“You told me you had some business to take care of. I just assumed you were going shopping.”

“I did have business to take care of and I guess you could consider that shopping.” He nodded at the items in my hand. “Open the flat one first.”

I peeled the tape back on the paper, taking my time to breathe. My heart was pounding for some reason. He placed his hand on mine to stop me for a moment.

“This is a gift for both of us,” he informed specifically, waiting for my confirmation. Once I acknowledged his message, he withdrew his hand so I could continue.

I looked at the words printed on the paper, only to flash my eyes quickly back on him.

“Ryan, what…?” I tried to absorb what I was looking at.

“That’s the property deed to the twelve acres of land right next to your grandfather’s cabin. It’s officially ours.”

“How? When?” I was so shocked I couldn’t form a complete sentence. “Twelve?”

“I have people,” he said comically. “Besides, you’re not the only one in this house that is sneaky. I can plot behind your back too, you know!”

I smirked at him. “What? Did you buy the whole lake?”

“No!” He laughed. “Just most of the East side of it. I tried to buy the whole thing.” He shrugged innocently. “I’m currently in negotiations to buy the five acres after ours down by your dad’s lucky fishing spot. We’ll see if they sell or not. If they do, we’ll own half of the property that surrounds the East side of the lake.”

“Well I guess it’s a good thing that I got you that 3-D architect software. At least I know you’ll have the motivation to use it now. No wonder you laughed when you opened it!” I nudged him.

I still had the other little package resting in my hand. Inside the red and green Santa paper was a box… a ring box.

My eyes shot up to look at him; he was smiling at me.

I looked down at the box, almost petrified to open it. Hundreds of thoughts ran through my mind all at once.

“Open it!” he encouraged.

It was hard to swallow. Is he doing this now? Is now the moment that he’s going to ask me? Holy shit. Before I open this box, what am I going to say? Am I going to say yes to his question? Yes! Of course I’m going to say yes! Why wouldn’t I? Look at him – so adorable, smiling at me like that. So caring and thoughtful. You have no idea how much I love you, Ryan Christensen. Yes! My answer is yes!

I carefully opened the lid to the white box. The hinge on the box was quite stiff; I had to use extra force to separate it. My eyes adjusted as I took in the sight of the ring nestled inside.

A slight gasp of air stuttered down my throat as my thoughts readjusted to a new response.

Inside was a beautiful silver ring with a huge oval garnet surrounded by an intricate Celtic knot on each side of the setting.

“It’s beautiful!” I sighed. “Thank you!” It matched the Celtic bracelet he gave me last night and the earrings and necklace I unwrapped this morning.

Ryan took the ring out of the box and held my right hand. “It’s sterling. I had it inscribed. It says ‘My heart is yours.’ ”

After he showed me the inscription, he slid the ring onto my right hand ring finger. It fit perfectly. My hand shook slightly.

“I said that the property is for our future, and I mean that. Even if it’s just to put a vacation home there. No decisions have to be made now. And when we’re both ready, I intend to put a few rings on this hand.” Ryan raised my fingers to his mouth and softly kissed my left hand.

In a blur, the ten days Ryan had off had dwindled down to three. We spent two days in Pittsburgh with his family and almost an entire day was spent just flying back and forth. It was slightly easier to move through the airports if people didn’t expect him to be there, but we were still stopped by a few fans that spotted him.

All I knew was that the precious moments I had with Ryan were quickly ticking away.

New Year’s Eve had arrived and my pub was packed. A few die-hard fans traveled to the little town of Seaport after it was published in the media that Ryan was spending the holidays in his little secret love nest in Rhode Island.

Ryan had hired Mike to be his personal guard full-time and I felt better knowing that Mike was in the bar with Ryan for our evening celebration.

Cory’s friend Trevor was tending the door and my friends were providing an extra buffer around Ryan, just in case.

The band on stage was jamming and Marie, Cory, and I were hustling behind the bar. I looked over at Ryan and smiled. He was sitting in his spot at the bar wearing my Mitchell’s Pub cap; Mike sat on one side, Pete on the other, Gary was sitting next to Pete. The guys were drinking and talking and just having a great time.

I was so happy to see Ryan relaxed and I grinned whenever he laughed hysterically at their conversations. I was grateful to the crowd too; for the most part his fans just admired him from afar. A few women managed to sneak in to talk to him, but he didn’t seem to mind the conversation. The minute a girl stepped up to him, the other three guys intervened. Needless to say, no woman was able to hang around Ryan for very long.