Marriage is about the man, not the bling.
—Brynn Dalton’s Rules for an
Exemplary Life, #17
You’re quiet.”
“Just tired,” Brynn said, giving James a wan smile.
He gave her a boyish smile back, reaching across the car to tuck her hair behind her ear and admire her new earrings.
“Those really do look great on you,” he said, sounding annoyingly self-satisfied.
They’re two-carat-each diamond studs. They’d look great on a burro, Brynn thought.
Not that she wasn’t appreciative. Diamond studs were right up her alley, even if the size of these were a bit ostentatious.
But for one heart-stopping moment, she’d thought she was receiving something very different.
Granted, he hadn’t been on his knee or anything, but hadn’t the guy ever seen a romantic comedy?
A small box presented to a serious girlfriend meant engagement ring.
Not big-ass earrings.
Being considerate wasn’t perhaps one of James’s strong points, but neither was he normally completely oblivious to social appropriateness. Hadn’t he considered what everyone would think when he made a big show of presenting her with a tiny box?
Hadn’t he considered what she’d think? She glanced down at her unadorned left hand before forcing herself to reach up and touch the new earrings.
She gave him the widest smile she could muster. “They’re gorgeous. Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome,” he said softly, before they settled into the companionable quiet of two people who had known each other for long enough to be comfortable with silence.
Sometimes Brynn thought they were too comfortable with the silence.
The steady click of his turn signal caught Brynn by surprise, and she sat up straighter when she realized where they were headed.
“You’re not taking me home?” she asked.
James glanced across the dark car at her. “I thought we’d stay at my place tonight.”
“You could have asked.”
He blinked in surprise at her tone. “I can take you home if you want.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said, slumping back slightly against the seat.
“It’s just that you’re so out of the way…”
Brynn closed her eyes and let James’s lecture roll over her. He didn’t like the fact that she lived thirty minutes away from the “action,” and told her so at every opportunity.
The move had seemed a good idea at the time. She was sick of downtown living. Moving to the suburbs had meant more space, a garden, actual grass…and lots of family-minded neighbors. The move was supposed to be a prompt for James. A chance for him to see how happy the young families were pushing strollers on the sidewalks and having impromptu BBQs.
But Brynn’s plan backfired. James hated her house. Hated that she had to hire someone to mow the lawn and water plants when they went on vacation. And the guy never missed a chance to remind her that she was too young to be so far away from everything. Apparently he was so sick of the “wilderness” of suburbia that he’d resorted to kidnapping her.
After circling several blocks, James executed a perfect parallel-parking job. “You okay walking? We’re a few blocks from my place.”
“Now, see, if we were at my place, you could have just parked in the garage,” she couldn’t help griping.