" Okay, superstar. Here’s three words for you. You ready?”
I adopt a serious face, though my heart is hammering. “I’m ready.”
Looking into my eyes, she says calmly, “Let’s get married.”
I almost topple over onto the floor. “What?”
“You don’t have to shout at me. You did ask for three words, after all.”
I’m so astonished I almost can’t from a sentence. “B-but I thought… I meant… I love you!”
She smiles serenely at me. “I know you do, Mason. I love you, too. So much.”
“No—I meant I thought you were going to say I love you!”
“I know you did, honey, but I figured unless I popped the question first, you’d carry that big pink diamond around for who knows how long before you got around to asking me, so…” She shrugs. “Here we are.”
My jaw hangs open. “You know about the ring?”
Waldine throws herself onto one of the sofas, props her feet up on the arm, folds her arms behind her head, and grins at me.
“Son, half of Atlanta knows about the ring. You think you could sneak into a jewelry shop and plunk down millions on a piece of ice in that town and nobody would hear about it? Psh. "

― J.T. Geissinger , Rules of Engagement