Page 91 of Surprisingly Us

“Impressive. And what about you, Rhys? What are your aspirations?” he asks.

I had a whole list of things of intelligent things to say, things I figured the board members would want to hear from a prospective board president candidate, but looking into Sandeep’s kind eyes, I find it impossible to embellish.

I’ve got nothing, I might as well own it. “I don’t know.”

He smiles. “You’re in good company. I don’t know a lot of thirty-year-olds, or almost thirty-year-olds that do. The cool thing is, you’ve got time. And from what it sounds like, an open mind to figuring it out.”

After Sandeep’s reassurance that I’m not completely hopeless, I finally let myself relax.

Later, once dinner is cleared, and the group is having after-dinner cocktails in the living room, I notice Lettie heading for the bathroom and follow her there.

“Hey,” she says, when she finds me standing outside the door.

“Thank you for being here tonight. I had no idea we wouldn’t be sitting together.”

“It was nearly impossible, but I survived one meal without you,” she teases. “Jerrod was asking a lot of questions about us, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Her response fires up my blood again. I should have known Jerrod was playing games by separating us, but now hearing he was questioning Lettie about our relationship has me livid.

Lettie must see how tense I am. “Don’t worry. I defended your honor and told them what an amazing boyfriend you are, and that we’re madly in love.” When I don’t laugh, she reaches out and places a hand on my chest. “You’d do the same for me, right?”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have to justify being with you or explain what an amazing person you are. Everyone knows what kind of person you are. It’s easy to stand beside you. The hard job is standing next to me. Rooting for a guy that doesn’t have anything going for himself.”

“That’s not true. And, yes, your reputation has been built on behaviors that don’t serve you anymore, but that doesn’t mean it’s the kind of person you are. The kind of person you want to be.”

I’m caught up in Lettie’s kind words. The way she’s helping me in this moment. How even though we haven’t been beside each other most of the night, she’s been on my team.

My eyes drop to her lips. I want to kiss her, but no one’s around. I have half a mind to drag her back to the living room and kiss her there so it’s allowed.

I do the next best thing and wrap my arm around her waist to pull her into a hug. She wraps her arms around my shoulders, closing the space between us. The way her body feels pressed against mine should be illegal. And she smells fucking amazing.

I take a long inhalation to trap her scent in my lungs, hoping our proximity will have me smelling like her later. I’ve never wanted a woman’s scent to linger, to have it settle on my clothes and my skin, but with Lettie, I want to wrap her scent around me like a security blanket and take it with me wherever I go.

I pull back an inch, leaving our faces only inches from each other.

I’m this close to saying fuck it and kissing her when I hear a woman’s squeal of excitement coming from the other room.

Lettie pulls back. “What was that?”

“Didn’t even hear it,” I lie.

She shakes her head, then lifts on her toes, pressing a light kiss to my lips. It’s so soft, there’s barely any pressure to it. I’m desperate to chase her retreating lips, but she grabs my hand and pulls me toward the living room.

“Come on, let’s get back in there.”

With Lettie’s hand in mine, we make our way down the hallway and into the living room.

We find Corinne buzzing around the room, a mega-watt smile plastered to her face as she wipes at her eyes. Everyone’s cheerful and talking. The energy of the party has shifted for some reason.

“Congratulations!” I hear Edith say as she pulls Corinne in for a hug. Then Edith turns to my grandfather. “See, Ward, great-grandbabies aren’t as far off as you think.”

Is Corinne pregnant?

Then, Corinne’s right in front of us, all pink cheeks and glossy brown eyes.

“Can you believe it?” she asks before extending her left hand out to me and Lettie. “We’re engaged!”

With the movement of her fingers, a large diamond twinkles up at us. No, large is an understatement. This diamond is massive.

---