A Muse Her

Chapter 20

Maia's stomach was in knots as her boots crunched on the snowy path back to Mateo's house. Through all of their planning, not once had she thought about Mateo proposing to her or putting an actual ring on her finger. It might be a fake engagement, but everything was feeling a bit too real, like the fact that she had no idea what Mateo was going to do or what her sister was going to force him to do to make these photos look believable.

Maia smoothed a hand over her curls that were tied up in a high ponytail before she tugged out her phone to check that her edges were still laid like Demetri taught her. Taking a deep breath, she slipped her phone back in her pocket before she opened the door and a laugh sputtered from her lips at the trail of rose petals.

This was definitely Faye's doing. She had a knack for creating a scene with her soap opera dramas. Maia shook her head and followed the red and white petals through the kitchen and out the back door to the stone path that led to the rustic enclosed terrace where she and Mateo spent a few late nights and early mornings crafting scenes for her novel.

The drapes of the terrace were conveniently closed, blocking her view of the atmosphere Faye had created inside. Maia pushed the door open and her heart thumped at the fairy lights draped over the windows encasing the picturesque view of the snow of covered fields and mountains in the background. Her gaze followed the rose petals littered over the coffee table around a bottle of champagne and Mateo was standing by the small fireplace dressed in a pair of charcoal gray slacks and a cream turtle sweater with a smile tugging at his lips.

"Let me take your coat," Faye said, stepping out from behind the plush couch where her camera was set up on a tripod and tugging Maia's coat from her shoulders. "And you can just forget I'm here," she whispered.

"I'm not sure that's possible." Mateo chuckled, crossing the room. "She put x's on the floor where we need to stand," he said, taking Maia's hands aa he guided her to the two black x's on the slate floor centered in front of the mountainous view. "You look beautiful, by the way."

"Thank you," she said, laughing softly. "You look mighty handsome yourself."

Mateo grinned. "Thought I'd give you a glimpse of how I usually dress."

"I like it." She smiled. "We'll be a good compliment to each other."

"I'm glad you think so," he said, caressing the back of her hands. "I, um, I guess I should do this then."

"Yeah," she said, biting her lip as she glanced at Faye standing behind her tripod. "This is a bit awkward, isn't it?"

"Just a bit." He laughed. "This...isn't how I'd choose to propose to you."

"Well if it makes you feel better, I think this whole setup is cheesy."

"Hey! I did my best with what I had!" Faye scoffed. "You're lucky I even brought props."

"I know, I know and you're really good at setting a scene but, it's just...this doesn't feel natural to me."

Faye grinned. "That ring on your finger looks pretty natural to me."

"What?" Maia said, looking down at their hands and frowned at the gorgeous oval diamond ring set in a halo of tiny diamonds. "When did you–"

"Maia," Mateo said, bringing her hand to his lips before he bent down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

A laugh left her lips as she nodded. "Yes."

"That was perfect!" Faye said, taking the camera off the tripod and beaming as she looked at the photos. "And that was a nice twist with the ring, Mateo. How'd you know she wasn't going to feel it?"