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Nichole
I wake up slowly, stretching, when something on my finger snags the comforter. What on earth? I look down to see a stunning square cut diamond ring on my finger. I close my eyes and reopen them; sure I am dreaming, but the sparkling ring is still there. It is so big, but absolutely gorgeous.
“Did he propose and I missed it?”
“No, sweetheart. He didn’t, because it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
I look over at Ryder and smile widely, thrilled that things are moving so quickly, and we are on the same page. I mean, we have known each other forever, but we’ve only been together for a couple of weeks. I could understand if he wanted us to date for a while first, but I’m thrilled that’s not the plan. “Really? So, when is it you plan on marrying me?”
“As soon as humanly possible, baby girl. I can’t live without you. I love you with all my heart.”
“I love you, too.” I’m so glad he wants us to be together forever, too. I throw my arms around him. One kiss leads to another, until we lose all sense of time. It is well past lunch before we finally start our day.
***
Twelve
Ryder
“Come in,” I call to the person knocking on my door.
“Sir, may I speak to you for a moment?” Steven Smith, a board member asks.
“Sure thing. How can I help you?”
“There are some rumors going around, sir. The board is concerned about the company’s image.”
“What rumors?”
“Well, sir, that you are having an inappropriate relationship with the woman who is your very young ward, and now your employee.”
I clench my teeth together before I can tell him to go fuck himself. “Steven, she is twenty-two, an adult, and I’m planning to make her my wife as soon as possible.”
“Oh. I see.” I can see the wheels turning in his head. “Let me talk to the other board members.”
He comes back a short time later. “Since she is of age, and you are getting married soon, we could get ahead of the story and put a positive spin on it.”
“Sounds great.” I grin. One more reason to get the ball rolling. I’m going to marry my baby girl before she has a chance to change her mind. I’m thrilled the board approves, but there was never a choice to be made. If I had to choose between Nichole and the company, I would pick her, hands down, every single time.
Speaking of which, I finally put a call in to Mom. “How quickly can you throw a wedding together?” Her squealing nearly deafens me, but I’m glad to know she is so happy about our upcoming nuptials.
***
Thirteen
Nichole
Friday night, I come home from running errands to find Ryder packing a bunch of stuff into our suitcases. “Are we going somewhere?”
“Yes, we are, baby girl,” he says, giving me a lingering kiss. “You might make sure I didn’t forget anything important of yours. We’ll be gone for several days. You should probably bring your laptop, just in case.”
A short time later, we are in the car driving to our mystery destination. Trying to get information out of him is like pulling teeth. He should have been a spy. No secrets would ever be given up by him.
“Where are we going?”
“I told you, it’s a surprise.”
I huff loudly. “I don’t like surprises.”
