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GAGE
At work the next day Violet avoids me until I bark at her to get into my office so we can go over my schedule for the rest of the week. I’ve got a lot of important things on my plate, and I can’t afford for anything to fall through the cracks.
“After the Tillion meeting, I’m going to need you to block off two hours for me to review those reports. I’ll need to concentrate. Don’t letanyoneinterrupt me, understand?”
Violet nods and makes a note in her planner. She’s unusually quiet and focused and keeps avoiding my gaze.
I wonder if it has something to do with whatever I said last night. I remember telling Violet that I agreed with her about updating the artwork in my apartment, getting her opinion on the engagement ring, and explaining that I wanted to buy the Colorado Coyotes. But some of the other stuff I remember must have been a dream because there’s no way she would have curled up on my lap and let me nuzzle her neck like that.
But it was a really,really, vivid dream. I can still feel her soft weight pressed into me, her soft mouth mere inches from mine.
I clear my throat. “That brings us to my proposal. I think we should do it at that fancy French place near the park. I know some of the women who work here do brunch on Saturdays, so word will get back to the office quickly. I don’t really want to do the ring in the dessert thing, but if you’d like that—”
“I don’t think we need to do a proposal at all,” Violet says. She tugs at the collar of her blouse, and I’m immediately hit with a vivid memory of the scent of her neck.
“Why not?” I ask, distracted.
“Everyone believes we’re really dating now. Trust me. And we already told Lorelei you’re engaged.” She taps her pen against her notebook. “At this point, an elaborate proposal is just...inefficient. Wouldn’t you rather have Saturday free so you can read that proposal on acquiring Clapp & Rose Industries? Your team needs a definitive answer on that by next Tuesday.”
“Oh.” I look down at my own notebook, filled with half-scrawled notes about carriage rides and string quartets. The kind of things women like when you propose to them.
Then again, maybe Violet would just think all that stuff was boring and unoriginal. She’s not like any of the other women I’ve dated.
Maybe that’s why I’m strangely disappointed to realize I’ll be spending my Saturday working instead of sipping over-priced champagne with the woman I live with.
“Right,” I make myself say. “Efficiency. That’s definitely a better use of my time.” I cross out all my notes and ideas about the proposal, feeling strangely annoyed.
My phone buzzes with a text from my mom.
Are you free? I need you and Violet to come to my office.
I’m hit with a wave of foreboding.
“What’s wrong?” Violet asks, clearly concerned.
“Maybe nothing,” I say grimly. “Or maybe my mom figured out we’re lying to her. We’ve just been summoned to her office.”
“We?” Violet repeats weakly. “As in, both of us?”
I sigh. Then I reach into my pocket and toss her the engagement ring. “If we’re ditching the proposal, you might as well start wearing this now. Also, it might make my mom a little more hesitant to call our bluff.”
Violet stares down at the ring and swallows. “You’ve just been...carrying this around?”
Now that she says it out loud, I realize it’s a bit ridiculous. It’s the kind of thing a man in love would do because he wants to be ready for the right moment. Or because a ring like this is the most precious thing he owns.
That ring isn’t the most precious thing I own. Not by a long shot.
And I’m definitely not in love with Violet.
I clear my throat and nod to the ring. “I was just staying in character. Now put the damn thing on.”
For a second we lock eyes, and something electric crackles under the surface.
Then Violet looks away, stands, and slips the ring on her finger. When she meets my eyes again her expression has been smoothed out into a neutral, professional smile.
“Right,” she says. “Let’s go talk to your mother.”
She grabs her assistant notebook and walks out the door.
