Pulling my hand back, I offer her a shy look before tidying up the table. “He did, I just…” Her eyes are piercing me, and I force myself to meet the blue orbs staring back that Garrick clearly inherited from her. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel real. Like I forget this is happening. It’s a lot to take in, I suppose.”
She straightens, eyes going down to my bare hand again. “I’d like to see it if that’s all right. I’m curious as to what my son thinks is appropriate jewelry. I used to worry that he’d ask one of his friends to help him pick something like that out, and I think that scares me more than him doing it himself.”
Something about her chiding tone makes me smile, and it’s the first real one that’s graced my face since seeing her. For a second, I wonder if she can tell the difference. “The one he chose is perfect for me, though I would have been fine without one at all. I’m not big into…well, big things. Expensive things make me uncomfortable most of the time.”
Her abrupt laugh surprises me, one of her hands settling on her hip. “Sweetheart, you married the wrong man if that’s the case. But it’ll be interesting to see how quickly that changes once your relationship blooms. And based on what I’ve been seeing online and hearing from my book club girls, the world is waiting to see how this will work too. This has only just begun for you.”
My throat feels like it’s closing in.
I knew this would happen.
Welcomed it.
Wrote about it like a challenge to the world.
But I knew I’d never be ready for the truth, especially not when my name becomes attached to the articles.
Elaine reaches out, a sincere but serious look on her face. “Yasmin seems to think this is going to last, and I trust her word. She’s always been a good judge of character. It’s my boy who has a heart of gold and will do anything for the people he cares about that I worry about.”
My brows pinch. “Why?”
“Because very few people in his life extend him the same curtesy.”
I hear the words she doesn’t say perfectly clear, nodding as I press my lips together.
Don’t hurt my son.
“He deserves someone who will treat him with the same kindness he offers others,” I agree, not giving anything away.
I don’t know what to expect her to say in reply, but all she gives me is, “I have a feeling about you, Rylee.”
She doesn’t elaborate about whether it’s a good or bad one, and I’m grateful. I’m not sure what all of Garrick’s dealbreakers are, but something tells me if his mother doesn’t approve, it’s probably best that my bag is still packed.
When the man in question joins us back downstairs, hair damp and body smelling clean and masculine from whatever bodywash he uses, we sit side by side so close that I can feel his body heat soak into me.
His leg bumps my thigh.
His arm presses against my arm.
When I look at him, he smiles.
And I wonder what he sees when his eyes take in my face slowly, first one eye, then the other, until his eyes roam toward my lips.
I don’t know what he’s thinking.
And I’m glad.
The resignation letter attached to the email for Sarina is still left unsent as I stare at the computer screen. The telltale ache in my eyes says I’m seconds away from getting another headache, the third one this week from stress, while I will myself to hit the SEND button.
My thumb raises to my lips, my teeth nipping at the crooked edges of my nail, until I feel another set of eyes on me from the curly-haired boy sitting on the couch across the room. So, I bite the bullet. “Can I ask for your advice?”
Chase glances up at me from his laptop, blinking slowly. “You want advice from me? Didn’t our mother give you enough earlier?”
Elaine Matthews definitely gave me a lot to think about, but considering my job never came up even though she tried digging, nothing she said could help me now. “Would you give up your job if you were in my situation?”
A gargled snort comes from him. “I’d never be in your situation. Marriage has never been for me, especially not to someone like my brother. Total attention-seeker. Talk about draining.”
I force myself not to frown. Chase has never struggled like I have, so I doubt he’d be able to put himself in my shoes. Leaning back in the dining room chair, I internally sigh and drop my hands into my lap. “I’m not saying I love this job because I don’t. But it’s still mine.”
The excitement I’d had over being free of Sarina went away the second I saw the money deposited into my account. It’s money I earned. Not some given to me or supplied by someone else in control. I’d been in a relationship like that in the past, not a serious one, not one I’m scarred from, but one I learned from.
I don’t want to rely on anyone and feel like I’m never able to contribute.
Chase’s head cocks as he stares at me for a few seconds before smirking. “You’re going to give Garrick a serious challenge. I’ve met some of the bimbos he’s had around. They never want anything of their own as long as they have him. He probably has no idea what to do with you.”
I’m not sure I like the feeling that buzzes under my skin. It reminds me too much of past jealousy over petty things that riled me up—an ex getting into a new relationship, or someone at work getting a promotion when they don’t put in as much effort as me. My voice is quiet
