Page 141 of The Valentines Day Proposal

“Fine,” Nick said, standing up and walking toward the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at me, a coy smile on his face. I knew whatever this was, it was not going to be good. “By the way, I have a date with Ronni tonight. Enjoy being alone in your office.”

I shook my head and watched Nick walk out of my office laughing. He was such an asshole, and I blamed my father for spoiling him and never putting his foot down. I didn’t know why it was a surprise to me, though. Nick had been a spoiled little jackass since we were kids, always flaunting his money and skirting his responsibilities. I was pretty sure the only reason he got into an Ivy League college was that he had someone else do all his work and had my father send them a very large donation.

Now he was taking Ronni out, the girl our mother had begged us to treat like our sister. I was slightly taken back by just how upset I was over this turn of events, but I knew it had to be because I was concerned for her, especially because of Nick’s playboy ways. I had seen the kind of man he was when it came to women, and it was shameful. Irritated by it all, I sent Nick a text message.

Nick, you cannot take Ronni out on a date. Did you forget everything that Mom asked from us? Ronni is like a sister to both of us.

I sent the message and sat back, waiting for a response. I knew he wasn’t going to have a lightbulb moment and cancel the date, but I hoped that the memory of our mother would be enough for him to leave poor Ronni alone. However, after about fifteen minutes, I realized that he wasn’t going to text me back. I picked up the phone and dialed my assistant’s line.

“Mary, I need you to call Nick’s assistant and butter her up,” I said. “I need to know where he is going to dinner with Ronni.”

“You got it, boss,” she said, hanging up the phone.

Getting more work done for the rest of the day was completely out of the question. The rest of the day, I quarreled with myself, trying to convince myself that Ronni was not my responsibility. In the end, though, I knew my motivations for wanting to interfere with this date were not completely innocent in nature. The truth was, I was attracted to Ronni, but at that moment, it didn’t matter. I didn’t want to see her get hurt.

I sat there for the rest of the day, fiddling with paperwork and jumping every time my phone went off. I also tried to decide whether I should go to the restaurant where Nick and Ronni would be. My secretary had gotten all the details, and I even knew exactly where they would be sitting. But what if I went and Ronni got angry at me? Nick could be a really convincing guy, even though I figured Ronni was too smart to fall for his bullshit. The only thing was, I knew she’d had a crush on Nick since she moved in with us all those years ago. He was her first real crush, and that was hard to walk away from.

I went back and forth with myself for hours. On one hand, Ronni was a grown woman now, but on the other hand, she was still young, just getting started in the real world, and there was a very high likelihood that Nick would break her heart into a million pieces. Just the thought of Ronni upset irritated me to the point that I made a firm decision. I would go there and see what I could do to diffuse the situation and keep my dumb ass brother from hurting Ronni. She didn’t need anymore pain in her life after what she had been through.

I stacked my papers on my desk and started to pack up. I was going to use the excuse of a meeting, but I wanted to go and change my clothes. Nick would never believe I had a Tuesday meeting in a polo and khakis at one of the hottest restaurants in San Diego. I went down to the garage and threw my stuff in the passenger seat, jumped in, put the top down, and made my way to my house on the beach. I lived in Coronado just outside the city so it only took me a few minutes to get there.

I jumped in the shower, did my hair, and put on one of my best suits, figuring if I was going to save the day, I might as well look good doing it. I decided to take a cab back to the city since it would be easier than finding a place to park. When the cab pulled in front of the restaurant, I paid him and walked in to claim the table that my secretary had reserved for me at the last second. I glanced over to where they were sitting and saw Ronni, looking bored as hell as my brother rambled on about something, probably talking about himself. As I walked, I kept my head down but coughed loudly, hoping to get her attention. Luckily for me, it worked, and I quickly heard her voice.

“Nathan?” She sounded happy and confused at the same time.

“Oh, hey guys,” I said, walking over to the table. “Crazy seeing you here. I had a meeting, but it was canceled, and I figured why not get some food anyway.”

“That’s interesting,” Nick said in a monotone voice. “I thought Tuesdays were your no meeting days.”

“Well, Nick, when you run a company, sometimes you don’t get to pick your meetings,” I said in a confident tone that I knew would strike to the heart of him.

Nick was the kind of guy that could dish it out but not take it. Knowing he was here to put the moves on Ronni, with no intention of sticking around afterward, I didn’t feel bad at all in embarrassing him. He thought our parents’ money and hard work gave him the right to be a complete asshole, to ride on their shoulders and claim everyone else’s hard work as his own. As long as I had the ability to change that, I would never let him get away with it in front of me.

I was the person that actually worked hard. I was the person that was there for Ronni when she was learning English, when she was orphaned, and when she would come back every year to give thanks for what she had been given. I was the one that helped her pack up her things and get them to her car. He knew all of this, but he took the way my mother and I acted toward Ronni and rode on those coat tails. I never even gave a shit about his audacity until he decided to use it to hurt someone that was close to us.

“Well, why don’t I just join you guys,” I said, smiling at Ronni. “No reason to waste a table.”

They both answered at the same time, Nick said “no,” and Ronni smiled, saying “of course.” She looked over at Nick and wrinkled her brow, irritated by his asshole response. She looked back at me and pulled out the chair next to her. She patted the seat and nodded her head.

“Of course, you can join us,” she said, smiling. “Have a seat. We’ll have the waitress come take your order.”

I smiled kindly at Ronni and turned to Nick, trying to stifle a chuckle at the look of anger on his fa

ce. I was cock blocking him, and I was making no attempts to hide the fact. There were millions of women in this city, and there was no reason that he should be sinking his claws in someone as innocent and sweet as Ronni, especially knowing how our mother felt about her. As far as I was concerned, Nick had brought this on himself, and I was going to make sure he was miserable.

Chapter Four

Ronni

I never thought in a million years that I would be on an actual date with Nick. After so many years daydreaming about him, wishing he would look at me that way, we were finally on a date. Too bad it was a terrible one.

I was actually pretty shocked at myself when I realized how relieved I had felt to see Nathan at the restaurant. I immediately said yes to him crashing our date, desperate for a change of subject. I mean, Nick was sexy as hell and hadn’t aged a bit, but he was easily distracted, jumping from topic to topic, which all had the same thing in common, him. I’d never actually heard someone talk so much about themselves. At first, I thought he was trying to impress me, but in the end, I realized he didn’t give a damn how I felt. He was talking because he liked to hear himself talk. Before Nathan showed up, I had turned to leaning my head in my hand and just staring at him, seeing his lips moving, but zoning out to whatever was playing on the speakers in the restaurant.

When the conversation turned to business, I perked up, wanting his advice on my best friend, Maria, and my business proposal. I sat there patiently, listening to him talk about the real estate company, obviously frustrated with his inability to have Nathan take him seriously. When he paused to take a bite of his salad, I chimed in.

“So my best friend is a designer,” I said nervously. “And she has a line of bikinis that she has been working on. We are planning on getting everything together and starting that as a business. We figure we live in San Diego, everyone wears bathing suits, and—”

“You’re too young,” he said, interrupting me and waving his hand dismissively. “Besides, the market is absolutely inundated with swimwear lines. Someone like you wouldn’t stand a chance against the big boys out there. You should focus on whatever it is you went to college for. Get that job, land yourself a rich husband, and then play with whatever business proposals you want. I mean I’d let you do it.”

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