Page 76 of The Workaholic Down the Hall

“I can't believe you did that,” Cody said. “Don't you remember what happened when I tried to surprise Carrie with a wedding?”

Cody and I were sitting on Cody and Carrie's back deck, bundled up so we could drink his wine and not disturb the kids. “I asked her to marry me, it's a completely normal and common thing to do. I didn't plan the wedding and wait for her to show up and fall at my feet.”

He scoffed. “You haven't imagined the wedding?”

The image of Aubrey in a flowing white gown flashed in my mind. I figured we'd get married at Cody's winery, keep it small, just the family and a few close friends. “Doesn't every man who asks a woman to marry him?”

He gestured with his beer bottle to concede the point. “The last you told me, you were trying to convince her to trust you, to let you in just a little bit. Did you think proposing in front of our family was the way to get her to open up to the possibility of you two as a couple?”

“She did open up to me. Two days ago. I wanted to prove to her I wasn't going anywhere. Proposing was the best way I could think to do that.”

Cody snorted. “Or you wanted to claim her as your fiancée before she shut down again.”

I shrugged, it amounted to the same thing in the end. “Can you stop beating up on me and tell me what to do next?”

“Naw. I think I'll beat up on you a little while longer, it's not often you do something this idiotic.”

I stood. “I knew I should have talked to Carrie first.”

He grabbed the elbow of my coat and pulled me back into my seat. “Sit. Carrie's been up with the kids since four. If you interrupt her me time, she won't have any energy left for Cody time.”

“Then start giving me some good advice.”

Cody leaned back in his seat and stared up at the night sky. The lights from the street interfered a bit with the view, but it was dark enough in the backyard to see more than a few stars and a bright, full moon glittering in the clear, dark sky. Cody hummed and then sighed. “Fucking hell. You should talk to Carrie.”

“Good.” I got to my feet. “I'm freezing my ass off out here, anyway.”

I could feel his smirk as much as I could see it in the dim light of the moon. “No way. I can't have you in there waking up the kids. I'll send her out to you.”

“You're going to force your wife to come out in the cold?”

He shrugged. “Maybe she'll say no and you can come talk to her in the morning like a civilized human.”

He went inside. I shivered, envying his escape from the cold. I checked my phone for the five-hundredth time, just in case Aubrey had called to say she'd changed her mind. It felt wrong to be at Cody's house instead of at Aubrey's with her and Sophie, but I'd done enough pushing for one day. I needed to give her some space.

I was ready to give up on Carrie stepping onto the deck, when the back door creaked open and she appeared. She took Cody's seat and wrapped a blanket around herself. I didn't know Carrie well, had only talked to her a few times, but I'd take advice anywhere I could get it. “Cody said you messed up with Aubrey and you want my help. What did you do? Did you abandon her for your job again?”

I sighed. “I didn't abandon her, I needed to work.”

She showed no sign of compassion or understanding. She just stared me down, waiting.

“I proposed,” I said. “And she said no, looked at me like I'd killed her favorite kitten, and ran like the house was on fire.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “I didn't realize you two were dating.”

“It's kind of hard to date when we have a newborn.”

“Oka-ay. You aren't technically dating, but there must have been some sort of romance for you to think a proposal was a good idea.”

It was my turn to glare at her. “Cody staged a surprise wedding for you while you were broken up and me proposing without dating her first surprises you?”

She gave me a small nod. “Fair point. So, you proposed out of the blue with no fore-warning? That's either really brave or incredibly stupid.”

“I'd go with the second option since she turned me down,” I said. “But it wasn't entirely out of the blue, I've mentioned marriage before and I've told her I'm here to stay. I love her.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open again. “You do? I thought…” She shook it off. “Did you tell her that before or after the proposal?”

I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. It was damn cold out here. “I was going to tell her during the proposal, but she stopped me before I could say anything.”

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