I wrap my arm around his neck and pull him into a long delicious kiss. "Plus, you'd ruin the dress."

"That'd be a shame. You look amazing in this dress, but I bet it'd look even better off."

He sets me down and slowly unzips the back of my dress. "I really thought you were gonna say no at the party even though you said yes earlier."

"I was gonna say no."

Phillip's hands glide up my back. He slides the dress off my shoulders, which makes it hard for me to remember why I said no. I'm pretty sure whatever the question would be right now, the answer would be yes.

"I'm really glad you said yes," he says as his lips graze my shoulder.

God, he's adorable. "I'm glad I said yes too. Can you believe we're gonna get married? Can you believe Pastor John told me we need couple's counseling?"

He turns me around to face him, kisses my neck, and unhooks my strapless bra. It drops to the floor. He cups my face in his hands. "He's probably right. You do need counseling, and the first thing we're going to counsel you on is how you should always say yes to me. Do you have any idea how crushed I was when you slammed the ring into my hand and marched away?"

I instantly feel bad. Bad I could make Phillip even one teeny bit sad. "You know, even if I would've said no, it wouldn't have been because I didn't wanna marry you. I just thought maybe it was too soon to get engaged." I grab both of his hands, hold them tight, and look into his eyes. "Phillip, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For Cancun, for tonight. I love you. I'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose. I just....."

"It's okay. I got so excited and caught up in planning it, I didn't stop to think about how crazy it sounded."

"Are you changing your mind? Do you wish you wouldn't have?"

"No, this is exactly where I wanna be."

"In a bathroom with me practically naked?" I ask with a laugh. He leans down and strips off my thong. "Make that completely naked."

He wraps his strong arms around me. "With you. Naked is just a bonus. Get in." He holds my hand to help me into the warm fragrant water.

I lean my back against the tub to relax, but then I notice Phillip's taking off his shirt. I watch raptly. I've seen Phillip's chest a million times. He and Danny were always running around with no shirt on, but it still takes my breath away. Especially now that I know exactly what it feels like. Now that I've run my hands across his abs, felt his weight on top of me, and massaged every square inch of it. I used to rub his back when we were just friends. Even then, I loved feeling every muscle, every curve, but now all I can think is how hot he looks and how lucky I am. All of a sudden, the bath feels ten times warmer, my face feels flushed, and other parts of me seem to heat up as well.

"I thought you were gonna say no. What changed your mind?"

"I was gonna say no. I was really mad at you. I couldn't believe you sprung that on me. We'd just agreed to kinda keep it a secret. Then, BOOM! You tell me we're at our surprise engagement party, and everyone knows!"

He chuckles. "You were really pissed. You even cut my hand with the ring."

My eyes get big. "I did?"

He walks over and holds his hand up. Shows me a teeny little scratch. "My war wound," he says in a very fake pathetic voice.

I grab his hand and kiss the scratch.

"So what made you change your mind?" he asks.

I was going to answer, but then he unbuckled his belt. I watch his slacks fall to the ground and then his boxers. All I can do is stare at his beautiful body.

"You're totally checking me out, aren't you?" he says, busting me.

"Maybe."

He does a few silly bodybuilder poses. His muscles ripple across his broad chest. He's being goofy, but he's naked. Which makes me feel very serious.

He slides into the tub with me. I lean back against him as he absentmindedly cups water in his hand and pours it down my chest.

I sigh. Close my eyes. Think this must be what heaven feels like.

"You're avoiding the question."

"What question?" Did he ask me a question?

"I asked what made you change your mind. You haven't told me yet."

"You distracted me with nakedness."

"I'll have to remember that. Seriously, tell me."

"When I was looking out into the crowd, telling them I said no, I saw you standing there. You looked sad. You weren't even looking at me. You were staring down at my ring."

"Go on," he says. He runs his hands down both my arms. I close my eyes again.

"Then I wondered what you would do if I said no. Like would you still date me? Would you give up on us forever? And just as I was about to say no again, I spotted Danny and Lori. My mind flashed back to when we were walking home after their big engagement. Do you remember how you asked me if I'd ever wanna be surprised like that in front of a bunch of people?"

"I do remember. Why do you think I did it? You said you thought it would be amazing to know a guy planned all of that just for you."

"I realized that. That's when I knew I had to say yes. I realized you did it all for me. The three dozen roses, sending me to the spa with your sister, the gorgeous dress, all the charms, the limo, the scavenger hunt, the ring, the party, all of it. I still can't believe you did all that. Planned it all out."

"I was trying to impress you. Did it work? Do you like the ring?"

I pull my hand out of the warm water and hold it in front of us. The diamond sparkles. It looks the way I feel. Sparkly, glittery, full of promise. "The ring was a slam dunk."

"You seemed shocked that I kept the drawing of your dream ring."

"I was shocked. What made you keep it?"

"When you looked at the other jewelry, Danny ripped the drawing off the pad, threw it at me, and said, You better save this, you'll need it someday."

"Did you laugh at him?"

"Not really. I kinda hoped he was right. We had a conversation about you a couple months before that. You asked me to your winter formal."

"I remember wishing you were my real date, not just my friend."

"I felt the same way. Then you came to my spring formal with me, remember?"

"Yeah, but we went as friends. Again."

"Danny chewed me out about that. Said I was a chicken shit for not asking you for real. Got me to admit I was in love with you."

"So you kept the drawing and had the ring made. It is my dream ring, but it was just that, Phillip. A dream. You spent way too much on this. On the ring, the party, all of it."

He lowers his voice and whispers into my neck as he's kissing it. "I'd spend everything I had on you." Then he laughs and runs his hand across his eyebrow. "Actually, I pretty much did. I may have to live with you now."

"You have been living with me."

"I've been spending the night with you."

"Are you trying to guilt me into letting you live with me? I know you live at your parents' for free."

"Yeah, but it's not as much fun there as it is at your place. Speaking of that, I think we should go see if that bed's as comfortable as it looks."

We get out of the tub and dry off quickly. When he picks me up and carries me into the bedroom, I'm pretty sure I know exactly what kind of fun he's referring to.