Page 115 of The Love Losers

Time…it can be a man’s enemy but also his friend.

“Does that mean you won’t let me drive you home?”

She smiles and shakes her head. “No, because you’d be marooned, and Pat the snowplow driver won’t be there to save your ass.”

“Speaking of Pat,” I say. “I invited him to the wedding. He wants to meet Joy.”

She squeals and wraps her arms around me, and suddenly I can’t wait any longer. I kiss the top of her head and then breakaway and open the desk drawer, taking out the little box I’ve kept in there since Christmas Eve.

Her eyes get wide as she watches me, and I hope to God it’s not with fear or regret, because a guy can get sensitive when he proposes twice to the same woman and keeps getting turned down.

“Will you wear my ring, Rosie?” I ask.

Staring at me with wide eyes, she says, “Didn’t Damien and Nicole want us to keep things quiet?”

I told her everything, although I wasn’t surprised to learn she’d already heard from Nicole personally. They don’t seem like the sort of people who’d abide by client confidentiality.

“Until we ambush Nina and Wilson at the bar. But I’d be honored if you’d wear it on your necklace. No one else needs to know, but we will.”

She kisses me and then threads the ring onto her necklace, and the feeling of satisfaction I get from seeing it there, layered over her heart, stuns me. I kiss her, and then I kiss the ring.

“I want you to live with me,” I admit. Her eyes widen with surprise, and I add, “I’m not saying it has to happen right away. I know we need time to catch up to…all of this. But I wanted to make my intentions clear to you. I want you to be my wife, and I want you to live with me. We can live at my house or we can get a new place. Whatever you want. Other than staying at Smith House. I don’t think I could do that.”

She hasn’t said anything yet, so I add, “And I know how important Joy is to you. I want her to live with us too.”

“Anthony.” She traces a finger over my lips and kisses me. “I’d like that very much.”

Then she turns to leave, and I have to watch her walk out the door.

Until tomorrow, I tell myself. Only until tomorrow.

After I make a few changes to the proposal based on Rosie’s feedback and send it to Simon, it takes me an hour to get to sleep, my brain buzzing with her and with ideas and with an excitement for the future it can’t quite process.

Most of ourstaff took Wednesday off, but the admin assistant who covers the front desk grins at me and asks if she can still call me Dancing Queen. I tell her that she’s one of nine people who were willing to show up to work today, and she can call me whatever she’d like.

I’m humming as I make my way to my office, but it’s not empty. Simon is sitting in the chair in front of my desk wearing his serious face. Someone should really tell him it’s a mismatch with his suspenders.

“I take it you read the proposal,” I say, removing my coat and hanging it on the back of my office door before closing it behind us. I walk over and lower into my chair behind the desk.

“I did,” he says, eyeing me as if I’m unfamiliar to him.

I suppose I am.

“Anthony,” he says slowly, his gaze catching on my bandaged hand. “I don’t know what to say.”

“And yet here you are, speaking.”

There’s an edge to the words, to me. I feel myself falling back into the self I have been in this office, with this man who worshipped at my father’s feet. A petulant child.

I want to leave.

I think of Rosie. I think of running my fingers down the purple strip in her hair. I think of her lips brushing the back of my neck. I think of her sinking down onto me while we discussed my proposal together.

I sit down and face Simon, taking a slow breath in and then out. “You’re not interested in changing course.”

“No,” he says bluntly, his expression incredulous. “Why would you put months of work into this deal only to destroy everything at the last moment? This isn’t like you, Anthony. And this proposal…you’ve made it a little more attractive, I’ll admit, but we discussed it years—”

“No,” I say flatly. “You weren’t interested in discussing it then. And you made damn sure no one else was either.”

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