284- A Ring and a K-Drama

284- A Ring and a K-Drama
POV Raica:

"Huh?!
Have you lost your mind?" That’s the first thing that comes to my head. I tilt my face to look at him and rest my chin on his smooth skin. "You’re joking, right?"

He holds a serious expression for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. I raise a humorless eyebrow, not understanding.

"Any girl would say yes without thinking twice, and you call me crazy?" He keeps laughing at my dumbfounded face.

"Any girl?"

"Yes."

"You wish. I’m getting up, I’m hungry."

"We’re already engaged, marriage is the next step, or am I wrong?"

I grab a bowl of green grapes from the fridge and return to the couch, settling beside him.

"Our engagement was fake, Nicholas. So marriage is far from being our next step." I pick up the remote control from the coffee table and turn on the TV. I quickly find something to watch. I pluck a grape from the bunch and place it in his mouth. Then another one for myself.

"This k-drama is sad," he says casually as I hit play on the episode. He gets up and it’s his turn to go to the kitchen.

In disbelief, I watch him move around the space like he owns it. Half-naked, showing off just how delicious he looks.
What a firm little ass.

"What do you mean?"

"I watched one or two episodes whenever I missed you too much. It felt like reliving some of the moments we had together."

I relived a few too, to be honest—I froze my heart waiting for him.

"We could make the engagement official, start things the right way?"

"Truly engaged?"

He finds a bottle of wine after opening every cabinet, pairs it with two glasses, grabs a roll of paper towels, and comes back. First, he stands between my legs and cleans me up—because honestly, it’s a total mess down there. Then, he throws the paper away in the bathroom, serves us wine, and snuggles up next to me.

"Is that it?" I ask.

He takes a generous sip of wine and looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Don’t look at me like that, I deserve more." I pop another grape into my mouth and ignore him.

Go to hell, Whitmore. That’s not how you propose to a girl.
Not that it means I’d say yes anyway.

"Of course you do. You deserve fireworks and so much more… But how could I plan a proposal if I didn’t even know whether you’d let me in?" Nicholas narrows his eyes and pulls me into his arms.

I glare at him, pouting.

"I’m yours, Bella…"

"Prove it," I challenge, and take a huge gulp of my wine in protest. "Hmm…" Something touches my tongue. "What the hell is this?!"

It’s the ring!

And a naked man on his knees.

"Marry me?"

I glance between the jewel that once symbolized a fake relationship and the man kneeling at my feet.

"I…"

"Meow…" Juliet jumps on top of Nick, knocking him onto the carpet as she showers him with affection.

"I missed you too, furball. Ow… no scratching, damn it! Juliet… ow…"

It’s both beautiful and hilarious to watch their frantic interaction.

"I’m not sure if she’s happy or mad to see me…"

"Considering the time, probably mad."

Nick manages to tame the furry little beast with belly rubs. I have to admit—the cat’s clever.

"Did you know I saved that cat?"

He what?

"How did you do that?"

"The day you went to Angra, the furball decided to play Spider-Man. She forgot she’s a cat and jumped out the window, getting stuck on a pillar."

My eyes go wide. Why did I never know about this?

"And you caught her?"

"I had to. I didn’t want another lawsuit." He laughs as I throw a pillow at his smug face. "Thinking back, it’s funny now, but at the time it was terrifying."

I narrow my eyes at the troublemaker.

"Juliet almost killed the man," I joke.

"I think that earns me some extra points." He smiles with closed lips.

"What you did was heroic—so God’s responsible for that, not me."

He picks up the clingy cat, sits back on the couch again, and cuddles her.

"Raica, tell me what I have to do for you to agree to marry me."

"I need some time to think." I shrug.

I set the ring on the coffee table and unpause the drama episode.

"How long?"

"Maybe six months."