Page 80 of Forbidden Whispers

“You know,” she said, playing with their intertwined fingers. “I did plan to confess my feelings to you once when we were in high school.”

Noah’s face registered surprise. “When?”

“It was just before graduation, when you had that performance with your band.”

His face cleared, his eyes taking on a strange light. “I remember seeing you there. But then you were suddenly gone. What happened?”

“I thought my idea was ridiculous when I saw that girl smothering you with kisses on stage,” Maggie said, looking down at their hands. “I figured you two must’ve been involved.”

Noah frowned. “I remember that. I was so angry when she did that. I wasn’t expecting it, and I didn’t invite it. I got away from her as fast as I could without humiliating her in front of the crowd. But apparently not fast enough, because by the time I looked for you again, you were gone.” His gaze was intent. “Do you want to hear something even more ironic?”

“What?”

“I was planning to confess my feelings for you that same night.”

“You were?” She lifted her eyes to his once again.

“Yeah, I had a whole plan in place.” One corner of his mouth lifted. “Actually, it was the plan you just witnessed tonight. I was going to openly dedicate that song to you and sing it. I envisioned...well, I envisioned exactly what just happened tonight—that you would hear it, you would hear the truth in my words, and finally make my dreams a reality.

“But I never got to sing it to you. Then I left to spend summer here with my grandparents and you seemed to be avoiding me. When you stopped responding to my texts and phone messages, I just assumed you didn’t feel the same way about me and had moved on with your life.”

“Oh my gosh,” Maggie said, her grip on his hands tightening. “We’ve lost so much time to miscommunication, our own insecurities, and...”

“Bad timing?”

She laughed. “And bad timing.”

“But we can make up for it now,” Noah said softly. “Now that we know how we feel about each other, I have a question for you.” To Maggie’s shock, Noah got out of his chair and down on one knee. “Maggie Milena, will you...”

“Noah, what are you doing? Get up!” She looked around wildly, hoping nobody was watching. They’d just revealed their feelings for each other, but this was a far cry from that. “Noah, please! We’re definitely not ready for—”

“...go out on a real first date with me?”

Her mouth fell open and then she threw back her head and laughed.

He gave her a mischievous grin. “I realize it’s possible you could be taking your life in your hands, but—”

“Yes, yes, and yes!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

“Whoa! Check out Mr. R. and his lady!” Ben called out.

Maggie vaguely heard another person whistle. But she was oblivious, lost in the pure, unadulterated bliss of finally being held in Noah’s embrace, their bodies intertwining in a perfect fit. All the years of longing and missed opportunities melted away as their kiss deepened. She focused on the feel of his arms around her, the touch of his lips on hers, each tender movement sending sparks through her body. Time stood still as they poured all their pent-up longing and love into that one kiss.

That is, until she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Reluctantly, she broke away and turned to see Jaime and Jack standing there smiling at them. “So, what exactly are we witnessing here?” Jaime said with a playful tilt of her head.

“He just asked me out. And I said yes!” Maggie cried.

Jaime and Jack looked at each other and then back at the two of them, broad grins on their faces. “Finally!” they said in unison.

The four of them stood chatting as the few lingering members of the crowd cleared out from the patio. Noah refused to let go of her hand and Maggie felt as if she might never stop smiling.

Suddenly Noah’s phone that was sitting on the table lit up with an incoming call. She and Noah both looked down, saw the number, and exchanged a glance.

“Excuse me, I’ve got to take this,” Noah said. He quickly picked it up and stepped away to answer it.

While Jaime hugged and congratulated her on this exciting new change in her relationship with Noah, Maggie was only half listening. Instead, she was straining to catch anything regarding the conversation Noah was having right now. Were Valentina and Eric finally ready to put their plan in motion?

Noah hung up and rejoined them all at the table. He gave Jaime and Jack an easy smile. “If it’s okay with you guys, I’m going to steal my girl here for a bit.”