Page 55 of Evan

“Let’s have dinner.”

“When?”

“Friday night. Something formal.”

“Or we could go to Wendy’s or Burger King,” she teased.

“Not on your life. I want to show you off.”

“Like a trophy?”

“Precisely.” He was in between meetings and was heading out to lunch shortly, but he wanted to hear her voice. And he was already ring shopping. Emerald cut diamond would suit her. “What do you say?”

“Will I have to buy a dress?”

“Don’t you already have formal wear?”

“It sounds like you have every intention of taking me somewhere horribly expensive and people are going to be staring at us. I would like to look my best and not embarrass you.”

His smile faded. “That could never happen. Will you mind the publicity?” He asked anxiously.

“It’s going to take some getting used to.”

“How about I have Monique send some sample dresses to you? Monique Romano. I have an account…”

“No!” She told him firmly. “I can buy my own dress.”

“Cassandra, there is nothing wrong with me buying you gifts.”

“Not yet. What time on Friday?”

“I will make the reservations for seven if that’s okay with you.”

“I will be ready.”

“I cannot wait.” He told her and meant every word.

Chapter 14

He chafed with impatience until then and had to force himself not to pop over to see her before then. It would not be a good idea. Now that he had decided to court her with the intention of marrying her, he was going to be circumspect.

He wasn’t going to give anyone the chance to gossip about them. Speculations would be rife of course and people will wonder if he was marrying her to clean up the image of the company.

They would try and put two and two together and come up with an outlandish number that would not be the truth. He would be marrying her because he loved her, not because he wanted to clean up the tarnished image of his company. That was no longer an issue where he was concerned.

But there will be talk and reporters are going to try and get to her. He was going to have to warn her and as soon as they became a couple, he would get Kim to issue a statement. He was getting involved with a churchgoing female and that was something he would never normally be doing.

He had avoided going to church after he realized the incredible hypocrisy of so-called men and women of God and had stayed away from that crowd. Now he was smack dab in the middle of it. The irony did not escape him.

He was also beginning to reflect on the afterlife and had started reading the Bible out of pure curiosity to try and find out what had her so fascinated. She was enveloped in an aura of peace that confounded him. Every time he spoke to her, she had this positive energy about her that was contagious.

He looked forward to talking to her and was so eager to do so, that he found himself calling her at random times during the day. He would think of something and would pick up the phone. She also did not play coy and hard to get. She would call him to find out how he was doing, just to check on him.

“Hi.”

“Hi. If you are calling to cancel our date, I have to warn you that they charge for cancellation at that fancy restaurant,” he said lightly when he answered the phone.

He had been surprised and delighted when she called.

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