Page 15 of Why Not Forever?

If what she wants is for me to leave, that’s what I’m prepared to do. Regardless of what my feelings might be.

Wyatt lets me go, and we continue down the tile and cobblestone sidewalk. We cross the street, walking past the steam clock without glancing at it, stepping around a crowd of tourists and into the side street that leads to the restaurant.

When we get inside the fancy Italian place, the hostess greets us, but I point to the far corner.

“The reservation is for Tanner Marcus. I see the rest of my party there.”

The hostess looks over her shoulder to where I’m pointing. “Ah yes. They arrived a couple minutes ago.”

She leads us to where Spencer and Vic are already sitting. Spencer is telling Vic something as she looks at the menu, an indulgent smile on her face. I remember the first time I’d seen Spencer and Vic together. It had reminded me strongly of how I am with Wyatt, always trying to make him laugh and him thinking I’m being an idiot, but indulging me anyway.

Wyatt and I take our seats across from Vic and Spencer.

“Hey,” I say. “Thanks for coming. Do you guys remember my brother, Wyatt? Wyatt, this is Vic and Spencer.”

They shake hands and talk about how they remember meeting him at a party years ago. The hostess asks if she can get me and Wyatt anything to drink. We order Cokes and spend a moment looking over the menu. When we’re done and everyone has ordered, Vic folds her hands in front of her.

“Let’s discuss what will happen here,” she says.

“Wait,” I say. “You agree? We’re getting married?”

She meets my eyes, and I concentrate on not holding my breath.

“Yes. I agree.”

I can’t stop the huge grin that spreads over my face. I remind myself this is a business arrangement and nothing more, but she has agreed to marry me. My last chance has officially begun.

“Here are the terms I’ve been considering,” Vic says, taking a sheet of paper from her pocket.

I take some paper from my pocket as well and slide it over to her. It’s not flat. Or big. In fact, it’s blue and folded into the shape of a ring.

“I’ll get you a real one later, but figured you could take this for now.”

She picks up the blue paper ring, rolling her eyes, but her mouth is curved upward in a similar indulgent smile like she’d had for Spencer and that’s all that matters. She sets it carefully next to her place setting and returns her attention to her list of terms.

“I figure we should get married pretty fast, but not like tomorrow,” she says. “Spencer has convinced me that my father won’t believe a relationship if we don’t have an actual wedding.”

“That’s probably true,” I agree. “I spoke to Richard today. He made a few comments, and I think I understand why he’s pushing this. You’re not going to like it.”

“Let me guess. He wants me to marry a man and start a family.” Her tone is dry, like she doesn’t care, but I note the way Spencer nudges her hand with his. He knows how much this hurts her. I wish I could be on that side of the table, offering my support as well.

“Yes. Plus, with Karen pushing him to retirement, I figure he’s thinking, two birds, one stone. I got him to agree to sign over the shares within six months of us getting married. I also got him to agree to fifty-one per cent, like you suggested. We’re going to sign a contract tomorrow.”

“You got him to agree to the additional percentageandto sign a contract?” she asks, and she sounds impressed.

I shrug like it was no big deal, but we both know how difficult it is to get Richard to do something he doesn’t want to do.

“I’ve been thinking about this since my meeting with him. Richard needs to believe we’re getting married for the sake of it and not because we’re working together. He’ll never give me anything if he thinks I’m going to give it to you. Which means,” I grimace, “I probably shouldn’t sign over any shares immediately.”

I’m certain this will be a hard sell, but to my surprise, Vic nods. “You have a point.”

The waitress interrupts, setting out our dinners. As soon as she’s gone, Vic is back to business.

“Let’s start with the wedding details. When should we do it?”

“May I make a suggestion?” Spencer asks. “The renovations on the new location will be done in the middle of July. We’ll need to get the designers in right after that, but if we pay a little more, we could probably have everything complete by the beginning of August.”

“The first wedding is on the second Saturday,” Vic says.

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