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Her reflection in the mirror went back to ecstatic. She took a deep breath in and pushed out all of her negative thinking. She hurriedly finished getting ready and joined her two men.
Tomorrow morning, she’d face the world as an engaged woman. This time it would be different, and she couldn’t wait.
* * * *
Several hours later, Jessica woke in the middle of the night centered between Seth and Garrett. They were both sleeping hard, and likely nothing would wake them. She reviewed the recent evening once more wondering what on earth she was going to do now.
Things had not gone according to any of her expectations. After a poignant, romantic evening, including a delicious, quiet dinner, expensive wine, and three particularly gratifying rounds of wicked sexual calisthenics once they returned home, Jessica was still not engaged to be married. She’d been so certain they were about to pop the question.
In fact, when they’d acted like they were about to fall asleep after the second enthusiastic round of sex, she’d been the one who instigated the third round, hoping a question about their future was imminent instead of sleep. But they satisfied her a third time and then simply slept. No question. No hint of a future together.
Had she been mistaken? She tried to remember the dinner conversation, but it had been centered on what they planned to do to her once they got her home alone. All through the night, she kept waiting for a ring box to appear and a question to go along with it, but nothing like that happened.
She reviewed the earlier conversation in the entryway regarding them telling her she should consider taking Mr. Barrington’s job offer. And then joyfully offering to help her move back to Chicago.
If they weren’t trying to throw her off the marriage proposal trail, where did that leave her? Were they truly suggesting that she take her old job back? Jessica stared at each one of them, sleeping solidly. She left the bed carefully, so as not to wake them.
She snuck down to Seth’s office—looking over her shoulder the whole time—and opened the drawer where she’d previously found the ring box.
The space was empty. The box was no longer there. A sob escaped before she could stop it. Bracing her arms on the desk’s edge, she reviewed the earlier conversation one more time.
If they were not going to propose to her, did they truly want her to take that job and move away? Should she ask them before they left on their week-long trips away from her? Probably not a good idea.
She hated even the hint of an awkward conversation. Right before they were leaving was a bad time to start up a difficult relationship discussion.
Besides, Jessica hadn’t had enough sleep to make any good decisions. So she prepared to make an emotional one. She was leaving. Tonight. Now. If they wanted her to be gone, she’d go.
As she usually beat them out the door on any given day, they probably wouldn’t notice she was gone before they left anyway.
The only thing she knew for certain was she didn’t intend to go back to Chicago. Not even if they cast her aside. Another sob rose in her throat as she climbed the stairs, but she shoved it down deep.
Jessica needed some space. She would leave, take advantage of them being gone a week, and decide if she could realistically stay in Montana and not share her life with them.
She went to the guest room, gathered all of her things into one suitcase, and carried it outside to her car. Probably it was cowardly to leave like a thief in the night, but she wasn’t certain how long she could hold it together. If she cried, they might wake up, and she’d have to explain to them how she’d been expecting a marriage proposal. How embarrassing would that be if they’d never had any intention of proposing to her?
What if she’d completely misread everything? What if awkward, embarrassed looks ensued? What if they hemmed and hawed and told her she was better off in Chicago again?
Honestly, she didn’t think she could stand to hear them say it again. Besides, she did have some pride left. Not much, but she didn’t want to stay where she wasn’t wanted, so she was running. Her head hurt because she was tired and hadn’t had enough sleep. But her unrealized expectations sent her quickly out the door.
Another sob escaped as she rolled her bag along the driveway to load it in her car. She chucked it in the backseat, jumping quickly behind the wheel. She was out the gate door less than five minutes later.
