Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
My mom nearly swooned. A man taking charge. I almost rolled my eyes. I would have if I wasn’t so grateful that he’d shut her up. Had he seen that I was this close to strangling her?
He glanced down at me, and I mouthed a thank-you.
“That sounds good to me. Where are you staying?” I asked my parents.
They rattled off the hotel, just south of Central Park. It was nice, but it wasn’t Percy Tower. That sounded like my parents.
Gavin insisted they take his car downstairs. I thought my mom would kiss him, but in a matter of minutes, he had them out of my apartment without a fuss. He sent a text to his driver before glancing up at me.
“Wow,” I muttered. “You handled them.”
He blinked at me. “That’s half of my job.”
“Is it?”
“Pretty much. Lots of meetings and charisma and directing people to do the things I want.”
“Well, you were excellent at it,” I admitted. “I’ve never seen anyone get my mom to do anything she didn’t want to do.”
“So, you have that in common?” he teased.
“Hey!” I swatted at him. “I’m nothing like my mom.”
He snatched my hand up and pressed a kiss to it. “You’re still wearing the ring,” he said softly.
I tugged my hand back self-consciously. “I’d taken it off. I was just … trying it on again.” My cheeks colored. I started to tug it off. “You can have it back.”
He stilled me. “Keep wearing it. We’ll have to figure your parents out before you take it off.”
“What the hell am I going to tell them? We’re going to have to stage some elaborate breakup at dinner.”
“Hold on.” He set his coffee down and then put his hands on my shoulders. “Let’s figure this out.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then, help me understand.”
I wrenched away from him. “You’re exactly the kind of guy my parents want me to marry.”
He gave me a quizzical look. “Thank you?”
“Gavin!”
He laughed. “What? Should I be insulted that your parents like me?”
“They don’t like you. They don’t know you,” I insisted. “They only care that you’re a King from Texas oil money and that I’m finally letting a man take care of me.”
“Is that so bad?”
I snorted. “Gavin, I’m telling you that all they have ever cared about is me marrying the right guy and giving up my life for him. That is bad. And worse,” I said as I began to pace, “when they came to LA to see me, my mom was furious that I was dating Safia. She barged out of there after insulting my girlfriend and taking my dad with her. They’ve never accepted me for who I am. I don’t want them to accept me for this.” I glanced up at him. “For something that isn’t even real.”
Gavin’s face hardened at those words. “I see. Well, that’s terrible of them. I have to imagine that your relationship with your girlfriend was every bit as real as any of your other relationships.” His voice was hard and unyielding when he added, “More real than this one.”
“Exactly,” I said, though some of my bravado evaporated at the way he’d said that.
“But couldn’t we tell them after dinner or after they go home? We can pretend for a few more days. Then, just tell them we broke up.”
I shook my head emphatically. “That would work with your family, but not mine. You met my parents. My mom would a hundred percent blame me for ruining my only chance at what she considers happiness. She’d go out of her way to make me try to work it out with you. Even if it was your fault, it would be my fault.”
“How would it be different if we broke up in front of her?”
“Well, she would see that it’s your fault.”
Gavin’s expression was flat. “Would that change her mind? After everything you’ve told me about her, I don’t see a good out for you in all of this.”
I deflated at his words. I was being hysterical. I knew I was being hysterical. My mom always put me on edge like this. I’d done everything I could not to be her little princess and to defy all her expectations. I didn’t want to be the little girl who married the right man for her praise. And still, the prospect of having her approval was so tantalizing.
But I wasn’t marrying Gavin. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get married at all.
I didn’t see a way for this to work out in my favor. Again, the same old, same old with my family. I was going to be the disappointment once more. Well, what else was new?
“You’re right. We can tell them after they go home. I’ll … I’ll give you the ring back then.”
His face was perfectly blank at those words. “Are we still going to talk about all of this after that’s done?”