“I just wanted her to have the car until she became familiar with the city. This place is prosperous, but it’s dangerous, Ted. You and I know that. How many times have we had to visit our employees in this building because something happened to them on the streets?” I asked.
“More than we care to admit. But you’re engaged to a woman who’s independent. Who doesn’t need or want your money or your protection. There’s a good chance Abby’s the type of woman that carries mace or a Taser around. Did it ever occur to you that she could protect herself?”
“No, it didn’t.”
“That’s why she’s scared. Because you don’t really know her. You have an image of her that you’re trying to get her to fit, but you’re not taking the time to know her. Is she complaining about the money you’re spending on her?”
“How did you know that?” I asked.
“Maggie has a big mouth. Okay, she’s not actually complaining about the money. She’s complaining about what you’re spending it on.”
“She said something about that on the phone call.”
“What did she say?” he asked.
“That I don’t listen. I send her flowers, but then they die and it just makes a mess.”
“Okay, it’s a good thing you pulled me away for the night. I’m practically the woman whisperer.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked.
“It means Maggie’s been a blessing in so many ways. She’s not a flowers kind of girl, so stop sending them. Why you’re doing it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t like the mess they create once they die. What does she like?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you serious? What the hell does Abby like? What are her hobbies? Does she collect anything? Does she read?”
I racked my brain for answers to any of the questions he’d thrown my way. But I was coming up with nothing. Was Abby really this foreign of a concept to me? Did I really know so very little about the woman I’d proposed to a couple of weeks ago?
“Colin, a word of advice?” Ted asked.
“Yes?”
“You don’t fucking know her, and that’s why she’s having second thoughts.”
“Then what do I do?” I asked.
“What any two people at this stage would do,” he said. “You take the time to get to know each other. Not intimately. Not sexually. But just on a base level. Trust me, asking someone about their favorite movie seems boring, until they tell you the story of why it’s their favorite. That’s where the meat of all this shit is. That’s where the good stuff lies.”
I turned his words around in my head as I finished my second drink.
“I’d say I agree with you,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Maggie is good for you,” I said, grinning.
“Don’t go getting that look in your eyes. Not all of us fuck our employees.”
“Talk like that about Abby again, and I’ll have your job,” I said.
“Spoken like a true protector. Only Abby doesn’t need protecting.”
“Then what does she need?” I asked.
“From you?” he asked, chuckling. “She needs your support. That’s all.”
We finished our drinks before I clapped Ted’s back, thanking him for his advice. I had a lot to think about as I headed back to my apartment, but the instant the elevator doors opened I was bombarded with her. Memories of her scent, her smile and her presence. Her warmth pressed against me, her body encompassing mine. I slowly walked around my home and closed my eyes, running my fingertips along the perimeter as I conjured the memory of her.
A memory that included the fact that her eyes lit up whenever she saw me.
I felt a bit better as I opened my eyes. We were still engaged, which meant I still had a chance. If time together to get to know one another is what we needed, then that was what I would make sure we got.
I would give her all the time in the world if it only meant she wouldn’t leave.
Chapter 10
Abby
I didn’t want Colin to know that I was still in town. That I was just at my apartment, lying in bed, and thinking. He would’ve been over here in a heartbeat, unable to keep his lack of control from controlling him.
His personality was pretty ironic sometimes.
I needed to call my mom. I’d had a couple of days to think on things, and everything inside of me wanted to leave. To stop this insane engagement in its tracks and just try being an employee for a little while. I took out my phone and turned over in bed, dialing my mother’s number before I held the phone to my ear.
And the moment she picked up I started crying.
“Abby? Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Is that Abby?” I heard my father say.
“I think she’s crying,” my mother said.
“Mom?” I asked.
“Honey, I’m gonna put you on speaker.”
“Okay—”
“Hey there, sweetie. Can you hear me?” my father asked.
“Hey, Daddy,” I said, sniffling.
“What’s got my honey-bear all torn up?” he asked.
“I’m so confused,” I said.
“About what?” my mother asked.
“About L.A. About Colin. About this job and everything that’s—happened.”
I sobbed into the phone as my parents fell silent on the other end.
“Sweetheart, what happened?” my father asked.
I told them the entire story. About how Colin hired a private investigator to look into me and how he found the lawsuit. About how Derek just turned up on my doorstep and proclaimed some idiotic love to me. How Colin paid Derek off and lied right to my face about it. I cried through the entire story, pulling the covers over my head as my unpacked boxes haunted me from the corner of the room. I told them about the car Colin was using to shuttle me to and from work and how I couldn’t even experience the city without being inundated with phone calls
