She gives me a quizzical look, but then turns and starts feeling around for the latch. After a few seconds, I’m tired of waiting, so I reach across her, squeezing the little lever so she can lift the lid.
I wait as she looks inside, reaching in to pull out the item I purchased shortly after she first arrived.
Brooke stares down at the small velvet box in her hand. “How long has this been in here?”
“Since right after I gave you the keys.” I was hoping she’d find it. That it would give her something to think about. Show her where I was hoping this would lead.
But my brave, beautiful Brooke is apparently not one for exploring the vehicles she drives.
Slowly, she lifts the lid, revealing the cushion cut solitaire inside.
I kept it simple, figuring she could design whatever she wanted to go around it, or redo the whole setting. Doesn’t really matter to me. All that matters is that one day it finds its way onto her finger.
“You have had a diamond ring in this carfor months?” She turns to me, eyes wide. “What if someone broke in and stole it?”
I snort. “This car has been through my shop. If someone can break in, I deserve for it to be stolen.” I would also deserve to be out of a job, because obviously I have no business doing what I do.
Brooke’s eyes lift, moving around the SUV. “This has been through your shop?”
“There’s been a mercenary sitting outside your office for months. Do you really think I would let you drive around in something that wasn’t as safe as I could make it?” I shake my head. “Because if that’s what you think, I haven’t done a very good job of showing you who I am.”
Brooke turns in the seat, knees pointing at me. “You’ve done a good job.” Brooke’s expression goes far away. “Sometimes I’m just not great at seeing what’s in front of me.” She lifts the ring between us. “Or beside me, obviously.” Her eyes drop to the solitaire. “Do you want me to put this back where I found it, or?—”
“Iwant youto put it on your finger.” It’s another thing I feel like I’ve made pretty clear. “I wanted you to put on your finger the day I saw you in my mother’s gift wrapping?—”
She reaches up, pinching my lips together again. “You don’t have to go through it a second time. I get it.” Her eyes drop to the ring. She sighs, snapping the lid shut before holding the box in front of me. “I want a proposal. A real one.” I start talking and she lifts a finger, cutting me off. “Not while we’re fucking. And you don’t just get to just shove it at me and say ‘here I got you something.’”
“That’s oddly specific.”
She smothers a smile. “It’s what Titus did to Mariah.”
I take the box, because if Brooke wants a proposal, she will get a proposal. “But it worked, didn’t it?”
Bradshaw Family Group Chat
Tucker
i think i won the baby holding contest
Tobias
It wasn’t a contest. If it was, we all know I would have won. You saw the way Mary Beth smiled at me.
Walker
SHE SMILED AT YOU BECAUSE SHE HAD GAS.
Tobias
She smiled at me because I’m not an asshole who is still using caps lock.
Mariah
She smiled because sheloves all her uncles.
Tobias
Especially the one with a swimming pool.
