Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“Woah, really? Impressive. Let me guess, Papa Bear felt threatened by the new cub’s ingenuity?” Her face looked eager for confirmation.
“Ah… no. That’s not exactly what happened,” I said, holding up the little metal piece. “You see, I made the mistake of presenting it to Darci as an anniversary gift… in a tiny little box. You know, like a ring box.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yep.”
Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open in a little round “o” shape. “No kidding? Really? You didn’t. You’re pulling my leg.”
“No, ma’am,” I said. “I wish I was.”
Her laugh, when it came, was low-pitched and cackling. And absolutely did not end. I noticed two other little old ladies across the aisle craning their necks to see what was going on.
“Right,” I said in an attempt to quiet her down. “So it was a disaster. Her mother was screaming with excitement. Her sister had begun videotaping the scene. And her father was already going for the bottle of champagne.”
“What happened when she saw the doohickey?”
“Um, well… it looks like a ring so…” I felt the familiar heat of embarrassment crawl up my neck. “She put it on her finger and said yes.”
At this point, I realized my audience had grown. Instead of just my seatmate and the ladies across the aisle, I also now had two flight attendants and four additional first-class passengers craning their necks to hear. My humiliation was going to make for some rip-roaring good stories when everyone got where they were going later.
“Liar,” she laughed. “What happened next? Surely you went along with it and popped the question.”
I felt my eyes bug out. “Me? Marriage? That soon? What? No. Heck no. No. We’d only been going out a year. It wasn’t part of the plan yet.”
Ten pairs of eyes seemed to bore holes into me.
“So, what then? What did you say?” one of the flight attendants asked into the anxious hush.
“I…” I gulped and looked around, unsure if they deserved the actual truth. Oh, what the hell. “I stammered something like, ‘No, oh god no, you don’t understand. This is just so I can give your dad a little head.’”
At least someone could benefit from the damned experience. Because it certainly wasn’t me. The crowd around me went wild as I knew they would. I tried not to recall how my brothers had reacted.
“Go on, laugh it up,” I muttered. “Glad my humiliation is good for something.” I began twirling the ring in between my fingers to calm my jittery nerves as even more people began tuning into the humiliating conversation.
The young woman in the seat in front of me frowned from her spot facing backward toward me. “Och, sweetie. What happened after that?” Her Irish accent was lovely just like the rest of her, but it did absolutely nothing for me. I’d sworn off women and love.
Fuck ’em.
“It forced the big conversation about where the relationship was going. And that’s when I learned that saying, ‘It’s going fine,’ was not the right response.”
More giggles from the peanut gallery.
I sank lower in my seat.
The old lady next to me sounded disgusted. “So, what? Now you’re running away? Chickenshit?”
“No. Needless to say, she broke it off with me. And to make matters worse, before any of this happened, I’d let her father talk me into coming to work for him. Now I’m kind of stuck. He’s sending me to Ireland to assess a company for acquisition. He’s not happy with me.”
I’d taken the job with Darci’s father’s investment company after he’d implied I’d be quick to make vice president there. Getting to that level would help my career tremendously. I’d worked my ass off for over a decade at one of the largest mergers-and-acquisitions firms in Dallas, but when it had come time for me to be considered for the higher-level positions, they’d come with mandatory relocation to other parts of the country.
I was ambitious, but nothing was worth me leaving my family. With Ames International, I’d be able to have the VP title and stay in Dallas. But first I needed to prove to Bruce Ames I was damned good at my job despite being not as great at relationships.
“You let that man make you his bitch?” asked the tiny grandma from across the aisle.
I immediately went on the defensive. “I feel like I owe it to Darci. I don’t know… to prove I’m not a total loser. We finally worked things out as friends, and I care about her. I don’t want to let her or her family down. If only I’d been able to prove my commitment this way before the ring fiasco, maybe she wouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss me.”
I looked around, expecting nods of support and encouragement, but only found looks of sympathy.
“What?” I asked.
“Lovie,” the mother of the young lady in front of me said with a sigh. “The girl didn’t want your business commitment. She wanted romance. She wanted you to tell her she was the only one for you. She wanted you to tell her you couldn’t live without her. Sweep her off her feet and all that.”