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"I should've known," I continue, reaching for another olive. "I mean, when a guy doesn’t want to have sex before the wedding, that means something, right?"
"He did what?" Christopher expresses such a cute amusement that it makes me laugh.
"Yeah." I nod, knowing exactly what he's thinking about, "I never slept with my fiancé."
The food has already arrived, interrupting our conversation, and I feel a little relieved. It gives me time to think about what to do next. Why did I offer to sleep with him? Now I look even more pathetic to him since he’s realized that I haven't had sex in ages. Maybe Christopher doesn't even want me anymore, realizing how stupid I am.
"Even he thinks that I'm pathetic." I point to the waiter who’s walking away.
"No one thinks that; he didn't even hear," Christopher tries to convince me, extending his hand and placing it on mine. It feels so good. Even better than on the airplane.
"Thank you," I whisper and cross our fingers together. "We were together for eight months." I exhale after a long pause of staring at each other. "How could I not notice?"
"You didn't know what to look for," he assures me, and I smile because it's so sweet. "And that means that he proposed to you after..."
"Six weeks," I finish the sentence, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that should've alerted me."
"But why did you agree?"
I shrug. "He's sweet, kind, a good cook, and loves to watch romcoms with me, even though now I know why..." I laugh, trying to find an answer to that question, but I don't have it. "Honestly, I don't know. He proposed to me in a room full of my friends, during a party. How could I say no?"
"He left you no choice."
"Kind of," I agree, unable to believe how naïve I was to think that a guy would fall in love with me without even having sex first. "As it turned out, he needed a wife for his grandmother to include him in her will. She found out he was hanging out with some boy in college, and she told him that she wouldn't give him any money if he's gay."
I start laughing, and in a second, Christopher smiles, too. Maybe we're both tipsy, but probably it's just because it all sounds so unrealistic. If I'd seen that in a movie, I'd say that it couldn't happen in real life.
"You should eat," Christopher says with his usual 'boss voice' and lets go of my hand. For some reason, now it feels empty and lonely without his hand in mine. "You have to eat so you don’t get drunk and aren’t able to remember my darkest secrets."
I smile at him and start eating, and so does he, and the silence filling the space of our table doesn't seem awkward at all. I feel relieved that I’ve shared this with someone. Not someone, but Christopher, my boss, the most attractive man alive. The feeling of him supporting me is incredible.
And for the first time since we met, I don't want to strangle him. I don't even think I hate him anymore. Now I just want to kiss him.
Chapter Ten
Christopher
As we eat, I scroll through the memories of our day together in my head. After Celeste and Abigail went home, Michelle and I looked over the hotel, every single corner of it, checking to make sure everything was precisely as Michelle had drawn on her iPad. She gasped with excitement each time we walked to another room. She commented on every detail, reminding me how we’d argued about them. I only nodded in response because I don't remember any of it. I mean, I remember arguing; I just don't remember why. All I wanted was to keep Michelle longer in my office at that moment.
After checking everything at the inn, we took a long walk around it, enjoying the incredible view. The hotel is located almost on the top of the mountain overlooking the river. Fresh air and the scent of pines reminded me of my childhood. I decided to show Michelle my favorite spots in town, so we went to the city center and had lunch at the local diner, where I used to eat almost every weekend with my parents.
We've been talking nonstop, mostly about our childhood. Michelle laughed, adjusting her wild curls behind her ears, looking at me with those huge brown eyes full of joy. At that moment, I felt the happiness I hadn't thought of for a long time. I wanted to kiss her, but I knew I shouldn't, not yet.
"What was the most embarrassing day of your life?" Michelle asks, interrupting my thoughts, and I look into her beautiful glittering eyes again.
"There were lots of them; I can't even choose one," I say with a smile, and she gives me a sly smile in response.
"You're lying." She wrinkles her nose, narrowing her eyes. "You're too perfect to be in an embarrassing situation."
"You're so wrong about that. You have no idea." I shake my head, trying to remember my most embarrassing day. That probably was in high school. "I was the shortest one in my class until the eighth grade, wearing braces and long hair because I wanted to become a rock star, and I thought that's what a celebrity rocker must look like."
"No way!" she exclaims, laughing and widening her eyes in shock.
"In seventh grade, I fell in love with a girl named Maggie," I continue, remembering that day as if it was yesterday. "She wanted to become an actress, so she auditioned for Juliet. I wanted to kiss her so much that I decided to be Romeo. But during the audition, I was so nervous that I got nauseous."
"No!" Michelle gasps loudly, covering her mouth with her hands. "You didn't...did you?"
"No, I didn't throw up on her, but I barely was able to reach the toilet." We both laugh, and I wonder at how easily I can tell her these stories, the stories I've never told any woman before. And not because I felt ashamed; it was just too personal. You don't share this stuff with everyone. Just those special people who have a place in your heart.
