Page 81 of Marry Me, Right Now

“Yes, it is.”

“Just for eleven more months, or whatever.”

I didn’t like thinking about her leaving and always tried to change the subject immediately. But this time I couldn’t. I sat beside her, trying not to stare at the cute way a few waves were escaping her tidy ponytail.

“You know you don’t necessarily have to leave the second the year is up and things seem legal, right?” I blurted.

Her face froze. “What do you mean?” she asked softly.

“Well,” I stammered, “Maybe when the year is finished we can chat and if you want to stay longer you could. I mean, we’re a really good team in a lot of ways, and we could just see how things go.”

I’ve never babbled in front of women in my life, but Mia was driving me crazy. The stress of trying not to touch her, trying to figure out what was going on, was tearing me apart.

“It’s a long way away. We’ll see,” she said.

“Cool. I mean, we can stay open-minded, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, your agency seems to be going well. Everything still running smoothly?” I asked quickly.

“Great, actually,” she grinned. “Better than I could ever have imagined.” She suddenly looked at me dreamily. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything. It’s all you.”

“But it’s your money.”

“Our money.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “You know it’s yours. But also, without your initial idea and encouragement, and the ability to drop my day job, I’d never have the confidence to do such a thing.” Her hand gripped my knee, giving me a little squeeze. “So, thank you. Really.”

“I’m incredibly proud of you,” I said. “Hey, should we open a bottle of fancy wine to celebrate?”

“We don’t need to open anything expensive.”

“Well, no, but I have all of this stuff so that we can enjoy it.”

Taking her hand, I led her to the wine cupboard, and we scanned through the bottles until she found a Shiraz that I’d been saving for a special occasion. “Is this good?”

“I’ve heard it’s incredible,” I said, picking it up. “Let’s find out.”

I opened it and poured it into a carafe. “Fancy,” she observed.

“Well, this is a really nice one, so we need to let it breathe. Dinner will be here in a moment.”

“What do you mean? I was thinking of making burgers.”

There was a knock at the door, and I dashed to let the caterers in. Within five minutes they had dinner on the table, then disappeared.

Taking Mia’s hand, I led her to her seat, but she wouldn’t sit down. “What’s all this about?”

“It’s September twenty-seventh.”

“Oh my god.” She looked absolutely stricken. “I must have lost my mind. How does someone forget their own birthday?”

I gave her a big hug. “You’ve been so focused on work, and right after the whirlwind of the wedding. I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you’ve been this stressed.”

“I didn’t think I was.”

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