Page 83 of David's Proposal

In a way, that’s exactly what he wanted.

Not having people pay attention to her or him and the direction of his gaze when he’s looking at me, like now.

I hold his stare, although I shouldn’t.

Any of the men standing next to him could shift their eyes to us at a moment’s notice, and our staring at each other could get us in trouble.

“Hey. There you are,” a woman says, and I quickly peel my eyes away from David to face Dahlia and Eve.

Dahlia is the one talking.

She wears a long pink dress, while Eve rocks a blue-green dress that sets off her eyes.

“We were looking for you,” Eve says.

“Me?” I ask, a little puzzled.

“Yeah. There’s ice cream in the kitchen. A whole cake of ice cream,” Dahlia says. “And we thought you might be interested in a slice.”

“Uh… An ice cream cake?”

My eyes must be glinting since they start laughing.

“Come on,” Dahlia says, looping her arm through mine. “You’ll think about it later. I want a slice. Lex doesn’t like sweets, and I rarely have company when I treat myself with ice cream. I thought you might like it too.”

“I do. I sure do. Don’t they bring it to the table?”

“It’s not for the party.”

“Okay.”

We walk into the vast kitchen, chatting and smiling, and I forget about David.

We find plates, silverware, and the cake Dahlia has talked about. She cuts a slice for each of us.

“It looks delicious,” Eve says, her eyes on her dessert.

A beautiful diamond ring sparkles on her finger, and I can’t help myself and ask.

“Have you set a wedding date?”

Sinking my dessert fork into the layered cake, I focus on the dessert.The flavors of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and whipped cream mix in my mouth.

“Mmm… This is better than an orgasm,” I say before she has the chance to answer.

We laugh around the kitchen island before she speaks.

“Sometime next year. In the summer, most likely.”

We’re all busy tasting the delicious cake while several staff members enter and exit the room.

“Let’s go into the reading room. Anyone else wants a slice?” Dahlia asks, and we both say yes.

We fill our plates with ice cream cake and move the party to the reading room.

Frankly, I’m not that familiar with Thea’s house, so Dahlia leads the way.

We find a nice room with a comfortable sofa and two armchairs, the nocturnal view of the backyard lining the windows.

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