Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (20 page)

“Dude, I’m 100
percent happy you and Sara are back together, and I hate to admit
this, but I kind of missed seeing that goofy look on your face,” he
says and tosses his gym bag onto the counter.

“Yeah, I missed it
too.”

Conner chuckles and
then chucks his basketball in my face. I catch it and fake tossing it
back.

“You laugh now, but
trust me, one day—”

“Oh no, no, no, not
you too. Ethan has already tried to give me this talk, and I thank
you for having so much faith in me, but until I have partial custody
of Jake, no woman will be in this guy’s life. Unless they’re a
one-night kind of thing, of course.”

“Yeah, okay, we’ll
see if that actually happens.”

“How are things with
Sara’s father?” Conner asks, grabbing bottled water from the
fridge, casually switching the topic.

“They are on a little
bit of rocky soil, but Sara loves her dad. She’ll forgive him
eventually.”

Lunch with her father
didn’t end horribly, but still, unfortunately for me, that doesn’t
leave me in a great position to ask for his permission to marry her.
Looks like I might need to be looking for another way to get that.

“Let’s go shoot
some hoops today. I have a feeling playing with you won’t be so
dramatic this time,” Conner says, swinging his bag over his
shoulder.

“Yeah, okay.” I get
off the couch. “Have you talked to your sister lately?”

“No, why, you think I
spilled the beans on you getting engaged?”

“No, I was just
wondering if she said anything to you about driving together for The
Silver Tap’s opening night, and I was hoping to catch you
beforehand to tell you not to blow it.” I stare at him.

“How could I blow
it?”

“By telling Kelsey
I’m going to propose.”

“I would never do
that,” he says sarcastically. “On purpose.”

Conner and I head out
for the gym, but I have to make one stop on the way. With all the
money I’ve been making at the BA, I have decide to buy the diamond
ring Sara deserves.

When I see Sara at the
opening, I’m not letting her out of my sight. I love that woman
more than anything, and I’m ready to start spending my life with
her.

Sara

I’m panicking. This
should come as no surprise to anyone. But tonight is a huge deal for
me. Everyone is going to be here, and I can’t let anything go
wrong. I survey the bar one last time. Everyone and everything looks
to be in their places. Liam is behind the bar with Grayson and Doug,
a couple other bartenders I hired. Andi, Brit, and Lisa, another
waitress I brought on board, are ready on the floor. Thank goodness
Liam had great recommendations on friends to hire. I’m leaving
tomorrow no matter what, and he has promised to call me with the
bar’s update each day. He also promised to hire more people because
I told him twelve employees were not enough. Yes, tonight will be
fine with six because it’s only our closest friends and family
coming, but still, together, we know a lot of people.

And my father will be
here. Most of all, I want him to see that I can be with Logan and
still run a business.

“Sara, calm down.
Everything is going to be fine.” Brit comes up behind me and gives
me a pat on the back. “You look worried, and it’s starting to
freak me out.”

“I’m just nervous,
and it’s totally normal to be nervous, right?” I nail her with
wide eyes, praying she gives me the right answer.

“I thought you said
you’ve worked in a bar before. Didn’t you run the one in Wind
Valley? What’s so different about this one other than being in
another state?” she asks from behind the bar where she’s helping
Liam.

Huh. I totally have
done this before so she’s right, I shouldn’t be nervous.

“And it looks
perfect, just like you.” Logan’s deep, tingling voice hums
through my body as he steps through the door. Is it possible to love
someone more every day? I can’t get enough of this guy. He wraps
his arms around me and his lips find my neck, immediately pressing
gentle kisses against it. “You,” he says and presses another kiss
to my neck, “are,” another kiss, “amazing.” He kisses me one
last time and pulls away to look into my eyes.

“Well, don’t stop
there,” I tell him.

He half grins and his
eyes sparkle. “I wasn’t planning on it.” He leans in, this time
for my lips.

“I was talking about
the amazing part.” The words come out right before his lips touch
mine and he laughs into my mouth.

“Did I ever tell you
how cute you are?” he asks, and I can feel his warm, minty breath.

“Probably more than
you should.” I kiss him one more time and then step back before our
make-out session is the first thing people see when they get here. I
turn for the bar, and that’s when I find everyone staring at me.

“What?”

A few head shakes and a
shrug is all I get. And then Liam chuckles.

“Seriously, what, you
guys?” My face begins to warm when smiles slowly begin to appear on
all their faces.

“We’ve just—”
Lisa begins.

“Never seen you so—”
Andi adds.

“Bubbly,” Brit
finishes.

I turn at Logan’s
laughter behind me to playfully swat his arm. I don’t want to be
all flushed when people get here, and with everyone throwing these
shocked faces at me, I’ll never get my face back to its normal
color in time.

“Oh my god! This
place looks amazing!” Kelsey gushes as she walks in.

“Yeah, it does,”
Beth chimes in behind her.

“Not bad, not bad,”
Ethan says, stepping up next to Kelsey and swinging his arm around
her shoulders. His head nods as he glances around. “So, this is
what you’ve been doing with all your time,” he adds and then
sends a wink Logan’s way.

“Sara!”

“Hmmm,” I say,
pulling my eyes away from Logan to Kelsey.

She laughs, and Beth
and Ethan are right there with her. “You two have it bad for each
other. Give it up already and get married.” Ethan pats Logan on the
back as they continue inside, and Conner steps in their place.

He pins me with a glare
and then smiles. “You did good, Sara. Now get your butt back to
Wind Valley so I don’t have to watch this guy mope around anymore.”
Again, he pats Logan on back and heads inside.

“We have some
interesting friends,” I say.

“I couldn’t agree
more but—”

“You couldn’t pick
any better ones?” I fill in.

“Not at all.”

Logan dips his head for
a kiss and just when our lips are about to touch, my father clears
his throat behind us.

“Sara, darling.” He
pulls me in for a shoulder hug. “Logan,” he says and extends his
hand.

“Mr. Connelly.”
Logan responds and they do that weird one firm handshake thing. They
stare at each other for a moment until I clear my throat.

“The place looks
wonderful, Sara, and it’s been a pleasure, Logan,” he says,
giving him another look I’ve never seen before. He nods and walks
right on by.

I know my father
apologized and that since then, both he and Logan pretend nothing
happened. But that look was—

“Stop obsessing over
whatever you’re thinking about and go greet the rest of your
guests. I’ll be around here when you’re finished.” Logan kisses
the top of my head.

He’s right. I have a
bar to open.

Logan

Sara did an amazing
job, and I can’t believe she did all this in just ten weeks. Those
also happened to be the longest ten weeks of my life, but they are
over now and Sara and I have never been happier, which is why I’m
planning to propose to her tonight.

After running into
Sara’s father at the jewelry store, where he was replacing the
battery in his watch and I was buying Sara a ring, well I went for it
and asked him. They guy seriously told me he’d “think about it”
and “let me know.” Just now, when he nodded to me in the doorway,
that was his permission for me to marry his daughter. I know it was.

“Isn’t this place
amazing? Maybe Sara will come home and give the BA a re-opening. If
this place hits it off, it might be worth the time.” Ethan pats me
on shoulder. He keeps doing that like he knows I’m up to something
and need the encouragement. Yep, he’s smirking.
Conner
told him.

“I agree, but if I’m
honest, I really hope Sara is too busy planning something else for
the next year.” I reach my hand into my pocket and curl my fingers
around the black velvet box inside, pulling it out for a glimpse. If
anyone can keep me from freaking out right now, it’s Ethan.

I know tonight is going
to be the night I take a knee for her in front of everyone we know,
but I still don’t know how I’m going to do it. If I were smart, I
would have the entire performance planned out to be the most romantic
moment of her life. But I’m an idiot, and all I worried about was
making sure I didn’t lose the ring between Wind Valley and here.

“I’m confused.”
Ethan rubs his chin as his eyes flicker between me and the ring box.
“I thought you were going to do it after the opening?”

“Nope. During.”

“How?”

“Wing it. Call
everyone’s attention, and put her in the center of the room. I
guess you’ll find out.”

“Hey, you remember
the way I proposed to Kelsey. I had a broken heart and I looked like
a slob who hadn’t showered in days. Somehow she came to my house
and still said yes.”

“True.” I laugh
with him. “These poor girls had no idea what they were getting into
picking us, did they?”

“Hey guys, glad you
could make it.” Liam approaches Ethan and I, reaching his hand out
to shake ours. He then rubs his neck before he looks directly at me.
“I want to apologize for everything. I never planned to come
between you and Sara. I didn’t even know that was a plan for anyone
until … well, you know how things went down. Anyway, man, I’m
sorry and I hope we can somehow be friends.”

I stare back at him,
not saying anything. What can I say? After I learned Sara’s father
hired him as a plan to split us up and then it worked, causing our
relationship to hit the rocks for a bit, I had a strong dislike for
the guy. Then, Liam found out and helped me fight to get her back, so
what does that leave there to be mad about? In my book, we’ve been
friends since that moment.

“Consider yourself
already part of the group, man. Anytime you’re in Wind Valley,
you’ve always got a place with us.”

“Thanks, I’ll
definitely be taking you up on that.” He shakes my hand one more
time and then returns to his position for the night behind the bar.
Ethan gives me one more pat on the back and then disappears to find
Kelsey. I roll my shoulder. Jeez, at this rate, I’m going to have a
bruise.

Suddenly, the stage is
empty and the room is calming down. This is the moment I’ve needed
all night. Everyone is paired off in couples and happier than ever.
It’s the perfect time to make my move. My eyes scan the room almost
frantically until they land on Sara. She’s standing with her
father, and I’m relieved to see a smile on both of their faces.
More than likely this means her father approves of the bar. I take a
step toward them. My sudden movement must have caught her father’s
eye because he’s now watching my every move. His stare is intense,
but my feet keep moving. I’m not backing down now.

“Friends and family,
can I please have your attention?”

My steps slow as Mr.
Connelly’s voice booms through the open room—the way it always
does—capturing everyone’s attention. A flashback of Sara’s
birthday party plays inside my mind. He wouldn’t try to step
between us again—would he?

Without a second
thought, I lace Sara’s fingers with my own. Her hand clenches
around mine, and with that one simple movement my heart pounds inside
my chest. I slip my free hand inside my pocket and open the ring box.
I take the ring from its nestled spot and cradle it away from prying
eyes.

“As you all know,
this bar was a gift for Sara. She has put hard work and dedication
into the place you are all standing in today.” The crowd applauds
and a few cheer in the background. They are coming from Kelsey and
Beth from the sounds of it. Mr. Connelly taps the microphone to
control the excitement of the room. That’s the same moment I slip
the diamond onto Sara’s finger. I hear her sharp gasp and her hand
begins to tremble. In one step I’m behind her, wrapping my arms
around her entire body.

“I love you more than
words can describe. I know in my heart that we are meant to grow old
together, to have kids together, to love together, and to learn
together. Sara Connolly, would you be my wife?” I whisper into her
ear. Her body presses back against mine as she inhales.

“Sara, dear, could
you please come up here?”

The entire room’s
attention is on us, and when she moves out of my arms I almost pull
her back.

“Sara, you have had
to sacrifice a number of things to be here today. I am to blame for
part of that, and I am the luckiest father to raise such a forgiving
woman. I hope this is a night you’ll cherish forever, and I thought
it would be fun if I were able to assist in some way. Logan, can you
come up here as well?”

What
the
—
?

Silence is everywhere
as I join Sara. I look to her father to see if he will hint
something, anything to me right now. I have no idea what’s going on
and I’d really like to get back to finishing my proposal. Would it
be rude to cut him off until after she says yes? His eyes match mine
and he nods.

“Logan, why don’t
you pull out that box from inside your pocket?”

Wow. This is what he’s
assisting with. Weird, but kind of cool, too. I reveal the box from
my pocket and the crowd immediately starts to cheer. Mr. Connelly
steps back to give me this moment. I catch Sara’s eye as I kneel in
front of her. When she smiles and nods, it’s the most beautiful
moment of my life.