When the spotlight hit the figure striding towards the lead microphone, Suzy almost dropped the drink she was holding. There standing at center stage in an old pair of faded jeans and a Bon-Jovi shirt from their Crush Tour, stood Gray.
Beth grabbed her arm, pulling frantically. “Did you know about this?”
“OH MY GOD, of course not. What is he doing?”
Suzy’s eyes were riveted to him as he started to speak. “Hey everyone, sorry to interrupt this fabulous band, but they have been nice enough to humor me. I’ll warn you now I have very little singing talent so this might be a good time for a bathroom break.”
As laughter rang out in the room, Gray continued on. “There’s a special lady here tonight who has no idea how much she means to me or the lengths I’d go to in order to show her that she’s now and will always be first in my life.” Then squatting down to eye level with the audience, as if they were old friends, he said, “The woman I love is a free spirit. She was always accusing me of being something of a stuffed shirt, and maybe she was right.”
Gray smiled at the choruses of “no” that rang out in the audience. “Ah thanks guys. One of the things that Suzy said about me early on was that I was probably too uptight to own a Bon-Jovi tour shirt, but as you can see in the name of love, I now have one.”
Suzy couldn’t help but laugh at the way the audience was hanging on his every word. As he looked towards where she was standing in the back of the room, she could have sworn he could see her even though she knew it was impossible. My God, what was he doing? If he tried to drag her on the stage, she’d kill him.
“Well guys, since I now own the tour shirt, I thought it was only right that I also do something to show Suzy how much I love her. Anyone who knows me knows that I’d normally never do anything like this. There is only one person in this world that I’d do or be anything for and that’s Suzy Denton.”
Suzy was glued in place when the opening strains of Bon-Jovi’s Born to Be My Baby suddenly filled the room. Oh shit, he’s not going to sing that. No way would her uptight man be up there in front of an audience preparing to belt out a rock song for her.
Beth grabbed her arm, squeezing it tight. “Oh Suzy, I can’t believe what he’s doing for you. He’s crazy, but oh man, how romantic.”
When Gray started singing the first part of the song, there was absolute silence in the audience. “Holy moly, he’s actually good, sis, I mean really good and that hip action, wow!”
“Hey, keep your eyes off my man’s hips,” Suzy growled. Oh brother, Beth was right. Gray was good. He wasn’t Jon Bon-Jovi, but he brought his own brand of sexy to the song. She wanted to march up to that stage and rip his shirt right off his back. When he got to the part of the song that said, ‘I know you’ll live in my heart until the day that I die,’ Suzy felt tears well up in her eyes. He was doing something that he knew would take him completely outside of his comfort zone. He was trying to show her with actions rather than words how much he loved her. She could never doubt the love of someone who would do something like this for her.
Suzy started making her way to the front of the room before Gray finished the song. Gray’s eyes tracked her progress as she drew closer to the stage. When he finished the last line of the song, the audience started chanting, “Suzy, Suzy, Suzy.” Oh God, they wanted her to go up on the stage. Well hell, try to stop her. If Gray could belt out a song in the name of love, she could at least kiss the man.
Nick stood at the top of the stairway to the stage as she made it up the last step. “Wipe that shit-eating-grin off of your face,” Suzy joked as she ran by him. His laughter followed her as she was suddenly under the bright lights with Gray. She didn’t bother to act coy, she literally launched herself into his arms, and he caught her in mid-air. “Oh my God, you’re crazy, but I love you,” Suzy shouted as her lips locked on his.
The cheer from the audience was deafening as Gray’s mouth devoured hers. How long they stood locked in each other’s embrace she had no idea. When Gray settled her back on her feet, he immediately went down on one knee. Suzy froze, hardly able to believe what her eyes were telling her. The audience had like-wise stilled, completely captivated by the events unfolding on the stage.
When Gray drew a box from his pocket and looked up into her eyes, Suzy could feel the tears starting to flow. “Suzy, I hardly remember a time when I haven’t loved you. Before we met, my life was mostly in shades of black, white and gray. When I first met you, color exploded in my world making everything in it exquisite and vibrant. You’re my love, my life, my heart and every color under the rainbow all rolled up into one. Please marry me and keep me outside of my comfort zone every day of my life.”
With tears running down her cheeks, Suzy shouted, “Yes! You’ve completely lost your mind, but I love you with all my heart.” Holding a trembling hand out to him, Suzy watched as Gray slid a beautiful blue sapphire ring set in platinum and surrounded by pave set diamonds onto her finger. My God he did know her. A normal engagement ring after this evening would have seemed just wrong. This ring suited her completely; it was fiery, sassy and unique.
The applause continued as they made their way from the stage. When she saw Jason and Nick standing near the steps, she walked up to hug them both. “Sorry about this, Jason, I’m sure you would have rather we took our profession of love elsewhere.”
Jason laughed and said, “Are you kidding me? We already have people scrambling to sign up for the conference next year. You can’t buy this type of advertising. I’m happy for you both, you guys deserve it. I’m pretty impressed with the singing, my brother. It took some balls to do that.”
Gray clapped Jason on the shoulder and pulled Nick in for a quick hug. “Thanks for the help. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like some time alone with my fiancé.”
Suzy snuggled against him as they made their way through the crowd. Gray had apparently picked up something of a fan club, and she figured someone would be throwing their panties at him if she didn’t get him away soon. They finally made their way to the back, and she spotted Beth waving frantically as she made her way to them.