Chapter Ten
All of his carefully ordered plans had been completely messed up. Drew paced up and the long hallway of his house as he waited for the delivery of what he hoped was the damn ring he was going to propose to Raven with. Last week, when the ring was supposed to arrive it was delayed because the jeweler was taken sick. Then he missed the delivery early Monday because he had to finish work, and so he had to lie about taking a delivery for Brice so Raven wouldn’t suspect.
It was now Friday, and he wanted to propose to Raven in an elaborate, really romantic scene at her bakery, but it wasn’t looking like it was going to happen because the damn man who was supposed to be delivering the blasted thing was late. Totally late.
Brice coughed.
“What?”
“I’ve never known you to be this crazy.”
“I organized everything, and now that could all get screwed over. I even have plans for us to go to a rescue center to get a dog and a cat.” Running fingers through his hair, Drew was pissed, more than pissed.
“It will turn up. You’ll laugh about this one day, and say you were stressing about nothing.” Brice waved his hand in the air as if it was nothing. As if the love of his life wasn’t at a bakery in town thinking her life was going to be tied to a man who was so unromantic.
God, this was killing him. “You’re an asshole!”
“That’s all you’ve got to say? I’m the asshole? You’re the one that decided to get the ring down, move your woman in, and tell her you were getting married after sex.”
“How do you know about that?” Drew asked.
“Cathy talks. We talk about you guys. We’re both in agreement, you’re cute as hell. I never thought I’d see the day that Drew Reynolds got snagged by Raven Howard, one of the sweetest girls around.”
Pacing up and down, Drew didn’t have time to argue with Brice. There were times, late at night when Raven was asleep in his arms, that he had to wonder how the hell he got her to be with him.
The doorbell rang, and he charged toward it, desperate to get that ring back in his hands.
“I’ve got a delivery for Drew Reynolds,” the man said.
Signing for it, Drew forgot about all the hateful words he was going to spill out, and simply grabbed the little package. Slamming the door closed, he unwrapped it and checked to make sure everything was perfect. “Thank fuck, it’s good. We’re all good.”
“Are we ready to get this show on the road?”
“Let’s get this show on the road.”
Climbing into Brice’s truck, they headed toward town, and Drew’s heart was racing. He’d never known anything like it in his life. His hands were sweaty, and the fear was so strong, and yet at the same time, it all felt right. When it came to Raven he would run to the ends of the earth to do anything for her. She was his heart, his reason for living, and he loved her more and more every single day.
“Are you sure about this? Her father has a shotgun. You do anything to hurt her, and you’re on your own.”
“I’m not going to hurt her. I love her. This is not something I just decided to do. I want to be with Raven for the rest of my life. The sooner you realize that Cathy is a keeper, the sooner you’ll be happy.”
“She doesn’t want me.”
“You ever thought that the reason she doesn’t want you is because you’ve never showed her that you want more than sex? Give her a chance, and she might surprise you.”
“You’ve got to get one woman to fall in love with you. Stop trying to deal with my love life.”
“What love life? You don’t have one. You fuck, that’s it.”
“Well, I haven’t fucked another woman in over a year, I’ll have you know.”
“Does Cathy know that?” Drew asked.
“No, I didn’t tell her. To be honest, I don’t know how to get her to move from this thing we’re having into something more. It kind of sucks. Most women think us men should take the reins, and do shit like that. Me? I’m always so fucking scared. What if I do something wrong?”
Drew laughed. “You’ve got to learn to speak up for what you want. If Cathy doesn’t want you, then she doesn’t want you, and you can’t do anything about that. What’s wrong with taking that leap of faith though?”
Brice sighed. “I hate you. Why don’t you concentrate on making your own woman, and anyone within hearing distance fall in love with you?”