“Suffice to say your boyfriend thinks you look magnificent in it.”

She caressed the spot between his brows. “You’re pensive tonight. You’re sure everything is okay?”

“Everything is as good as it has ever been.”

“Wow, that’s nice to hear.”

“It’s all because of you, you know.” He’d rehearsed this moment a thousand times in his mind, but now that it was upon him, the words he’d practiced didn’t seem adequate.

“What is?"

“Everything. Everything is perfect because of you and how much I love you. I was a wreck of a man when I met you, and slowly but surely, one day at a time, you put me back together. You gave me back my life, Daisy.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “You did the same for me,” she said in a hushed tone. “After everything that happened with Truck,” she said of the ex-boyfriend who had abused her, “I couldn’t imagine taking a chance with any guy again. But there you were, every night after long days at work, coming to check on me. You were so sweet and caring. You made me forget all my plans to stay single forever.”

“Thank goodness for that,” he said, smiling as he took her left hand and kissed the back of it. “You mean everything to me, Daisy. I hope you know that.”

She moved onto his lap, straddling him and taking his face in her hands to kiss him. “I do. Of course I do. How could I not when you tell me every day?”

David drew her in closer and fell into the kiss, his tongue rubbing against hers and setting off a predictable reaction. He broke the kiss and redirected his attention to her neck. “Do I tell you too often?”

“No,” she said, laughing as she tilted her head to give him better access. “I never get tired of hearing how much you love me.”

“I hope you’ll never get tired of that or of me.”

“Never. No way. I love you so much. Sometimes I think you have no idea just how much. You say I put you back together. How about what you did for me? You were the first guy I ever dated who treated me with respect and kindness and sweetness. I’d never had any of that until I had you.”

“You deserve all that and so much more. You deserve everything.”

“As long as I have you and us, I have everything I’ll ever want or need.”

She had given him the perfect opening to pop the question.

“Could I get up for a second?” he asked.

“Oh, sure.” She moved back to where she’d started out, legs under her as always.

For the rest of his life, he would never forget how her expression went from baffled when he moved the coffee table out of his way to astounded when he dropped to one knee before her.