Page 150 of Theirs to Take

“How about you go with me tonight on this business meeting dinner, and then tomorrow, we go on a real date together?” he asked.

“Just the two of us?” she asked.

“Just the two of us,” he agreed. “I want to date you, Mina. I guess we’ve spent all our free time so far this week in bed.” She giggled because he was right. They had spent every spare minute they had in bed, getting to know each other.

“I’d like to go on a date with you, Eli,” Mina agreed. “Thanks for asking.”

“You know, we could head out early and go to do a little bit of shopping, so you’ll have something to wear to both dinners,” he said.

“I brought some dresses, and I really don’t have the extra cash to spend on clothes right now,” she said. Even with her new salary, she was still struggling to make ends meet each month. Mina usually chose to shop at secondhand stores and waitedfor things that she really wanted to go on sale at the high-end boutiques.

“I can expense them out,” he said. “That’s what company cards are for.”

“Oh,” she breathed, “I couldn’t do that.”

“Listen, you’re helping me out by going with me to this dinner tonight. I’ll need you to work, and it’s a fancy dinner. We’re talking ballgown fancy, honey. Let me take you out and treat you to a couple of new dresses. The guys at McTavish would insist on it.” A couple of new dresses sounded like a dream to Mina, but she still felt bad about putting them on the company card.

“All right,” she agreed, “but if accounting has any issue with the purchases, you’ll tell me, and I can work out a payment plan with them to pay the company back.”

“That’s not going to happen, but deal,” he agreed, holding his hand out to her. She shook his hand, giggling at just how silly he was. It was one of the things that she loved most about Eli. Mina was finding that she loved a lot about the guy, and even though that should have scared the hell out of her, it didn’t. He was a pretty easy guy to fall in love with.

Eli

Evan had called during his morning meeting and Eli excused himself and stepped into his temporary office to take his brother’s call. He’d have to come up with some excuse to tell Mina, but he wanted his brother’s honest opinion on something, and he couldn’t wait. He only had one more day with Mina in Colorado and he wanted to figure out his next move before they got back on the plane to fly home.

“Hey,” Eli answered, “thanks for calling me back.”

“Not a problem,” Evan said, “is everything okay out there?” The company that Eli was investigating was Evan’s baby—well before his actual kid was born.

“Everything is great,” Eli assured. “This company looks like a solid risk. I think you guys should snatch it up before they figure out what a deal you’re getting. I’m not calling about business though.”

“Are you all right?” Evan asked.

“I’m fine and before you ask next, Mina is good too. She’s why I’m calling. I want to ask her to marry me, and I need to know how you would feel about that,” he said. He could hear Carrie’s squeals on the other end of the call and Eli groaned.“Tell me that you don’t have me on speaker,” he begged his brother.

“I wish that I could tell you that, but I can’t,” Evan said. “I can tell you that my wife thinks that it’s a fantastic idea.”

“And you?” Eli asked. “How do you feel about me asking Mina to marry me?”

“It seems a bit sudden. Hell, I didn’t know that you two were even together,” Evan said.

“Yeah, that kind of happened this week. I asked her to give me a shot, and she did. I’ve wanted her since your wedding and honestly, I think that I’ve been in love with her since about then too,” Eli admitted.

“Have you two discussed marriage?” Evan asked.

They hadn’t discussed anything past this week. “No,” Eli breathed. “Do you think she’ll turn me down?”

“I have no idea,” Evan admitted. “I guess all you can do is ask and find out if she feels the same way about you.”

“You’re not making me feel very confident,” Eli grumbled.

“Sorry, man,” Evan said. “You’re kind of catching me off guard. Do you have a ring?”

“No, I was hoping that you’d know of someplace out here where I could get her one.” He hadn’t really planned any of this out properly. All Eli knew was that he couldn’t imagine not having Mina by his side and in his bed for the rest of his life.

“I actually have a guy out there. He helped me out when I bought Carrie’s ring. He has a store out there too if I’m not mistaken. Let me give him a call and I’ll give him your contact information.”

“Thanks, man,” Eli said. “Can you tie your wife down and keep her from telling Mina about all of this?”

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