Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Shiloh snorted. “How nice of him.”
“He’s not wrong,” I begrudgingly admitted.
“Soooo… Have you told him about the engagement?”
I whipped my gaze to hers. “No. I haven’t told anyone.”
“How has no one noticed that rock you’re flashing around?”
“I haven’t been flashing it around. I’ve been hiding it in a mostly empty office.”
“How much longer do you think you can pull that off?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about Lucian? What has he said about all of this? Doesn’t he plan on telling people?”
“We…didn’t really get a chance to talk about it.” Her brows shot up, and I rushed to explain. “After I agreed,”—i.e., he finished eating me out on his coffee table—“he got a call that pulled him away. Then he had a trip to California, and I’ve taken that time to avoid his phone calls so I could continue hiding.”
“Wow.” She blinked. “You never hide.”
“I know,” I said with a glare. “And I don’t like it, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than the impending chaos for whenever he returns.”
She winced. “Well, spoiler alert, but he’s here today.”
“Sweet,” I deadpanned.
“So, what’s the plan now?”
“Keep hiding the ring until I can buy myself time to talk to him about the details of how we plan to tell people. Ooo!” An idea hits, and I perk upright. “Or maybe I can ask him to keep it all a secret and no one will ever have to know a thing. Especially my dad.”
Shiloh just stared.
“I know.” I fell back against the couch again. “You don’t have to be mean about it.”
She huffed a laugh and laid her hand atop mine. “Unfortunately, I can’t offer much beyond listening and supporting you through whatever decision you make. I’m always here.”
I turned my hand to clasp hers. “Thanks.”
“I’ll also offer unsolicited advice because I’m your friend. You need to be sure to tell your dad before he finds out from someone else. If you take control of anything, make sure you take control of that.”
“I will. I just need to talk to Lucian first.”
“I would get on that. Today,” she clarified with a no bullshit look.
“Fine, Mom.”
“Also, I’m sorry about his godfather. As much as I’m questioning him after his petty asshole ways and kind of hate him for even suggesting this wild engagement, I hate that he’s losing someone.”
“Me too,” I agreed softly. I hated Lucian for a multitude of reasons, but I also understood his reasoning. I understood what it was like to watch the person you love slowly die and be willing to do anything to make it easier on them. I would have done anything to make my mom smile at the end. “I guess it’s time to go back out into the office.”
“Yup.”
“Are you sure I can’t just hide in here until forever?”
“Hah. Yeah, right. I have meetings, and you need to remember that you’re Aspen Quinn, and Aspen fucking Quinn doesn’t hide.”
With that last boost of encouragement and reminder of who I was, I nodded and walked out with my head held high.
And my hand securely stuffed under my right arm.
CHAPTER 25
ASPEN
I leaned against my closed office door and sucked down a relieved breath after passing Emily in the hall after lunch. As if I needed any more reasons thrown in my face to hunt Lucian down and figure out a plan to announce our engagement. Or maybe she was a reason to keep hiding from announcing our engagement to avoid the impending doom.
When I passed her, I almost waved with my left hand before offering a nod instead and increased my pace to deter her from stopping to talk.
“You are Aspen fucking Quinn,” I whispered.
With that reminder, I peeled myself from my door and rounded my desk. With a deep breath, I rested my palms against the smooth white top and stared at the ring. The diamond sparkled beautifully, and some stupid girly part of me preened under the fact that such a stunning vintage ring was mine.
However, it also weighed on me.
Maybe…maybe if I just took it off for a bit. The idea filtered an ounce of extra space in my lungs and when I slid the jewel from my finger, it filtered a little more. When I placed it in the drawer of my desk, I took a deeper breath than I had all week. I closed my eyes and cherished the full expanse of my lungs before releasing it. Just as slow, I slid my eyes back open and looked up to find a message scribbled on a Post-it note stuck to my computer.
Turned out it didn’t matter what reason I saw Emily, because the note made the decision for me.
I scoffed at the please and wondered how much back and forth he had with himself before finally adding such a simple politeness.
Crumbling the note, I looked at the time. One-forty-five.