I shoveled my food down and didn’t say another damn thing. I let her eat while I went to find the godforsaken file.
I plopped down on the couch and said over my shoulder. “Let’s summarize where possible. I’ll give you the highlights and then you can forget about this damn thing hanging over your head.”
“It’s a very large thing.” She held up her fork like she needed to point it out. “I still don’t understand what I should and shouldn’t be doing.”
“Do you want to make a plan for the rest of the six months?”
Her nose wrinkled like the wordplanmade her physically ill.
I chuckled. “It’s not that complicated or binding, Morina. Don’t look that appalled.”
“I just… plans make me crazy. They always veer off track or someone lets somebody else down.”
“Did someone let you down?”
“No.” She answered way too fast. “Just tell me, how are we going to pull this off? I’ll do whatever. I just need to know.”
She was flowing down whatever river I wanted her to. Honestly, the girl was a little too trusting and free-spirited. Until it came to certain things. God forbid I try to take her salt lamp or grandmother’s plants out of the damn house.
The plants were coming back to life after our talk though. Or maybe after I’d taken to watering them instead of letting her do it. I was quite pleased with how much better the orchid was looking after some of my research. I told myself she needed them alive for her grandmother and to feel comfortable here but her smile when she was them was reason enough for me.
“We will attend the gala for a charity the company does every year. It will be a great place to announce our engagement. We’ll make sure to get married quickly, live here, get through the legal probate of the will. You can attend board meetings and work at the food truck once we’re married.”
“I can go back to the food truck?” She stopped eating for that.
“Yes. We found the guys who ransacked it.” Cade had tracked the underground gang down. “They won’t be a problem again.”
Her blue eyes widened. “Please tell me you didn’t…”
I smirked at her hesitating to ask. “Kill them?”
She bit her lip.
“What if I said I did?” I tilted my head and waited. I’d wanted to kill them, I’d admit to that.
“Well, I don’t know.” She dropped her fork and threw up her hands. “It’s concerning, that’s for sure.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t kill them. I did have them beat badly enough that they won’t make the mistake of touching anything that’s mine again though.”
“They touched my food truck, not yours.”
“What’s yours is mine, love.” Thinking of someone harming her now made me want to destroy something, made me want to resort back violence in a way I hadn’t wanted to for a long time.
“Well, I guess all these plans and me going back to the food truck like we’re living normally is great for the cameras.” She sighed but waved away her disdain. “Okay, you said there’s a gala with some of yourbusiness associates.” She emphasized the words like she felt they were complete fiction. “The board will also be there. And we’re making a statement. If you’re proposing there, what’s pushing you to do that so fast? I mean, they’ve only seen us living here and visiting the park. Seems sort of quick.”
“What makes a man act quickly then?”
“My grandma always said you were all led around by measuring how big your…” She turned back to her food.
“My ego, Morina?” It was a small tragedy that I didn’t get to see her skin blush because I knew she was thinking about my dick right then. She’d teased me about it on the plane that first night. I remembered the way her mouth had dropped open, how she’d taken it down her throat so well.
I adjusted my trousers. “We can figure out the logistics later. The fact is we need a proposal there. We need to marry within a week after that, and then you’ll attend the first board meeting.”
“Can you come to that?”
“They’re old school. Spouses come, especially if they’re men.” Equality in business wasn’t exactly fair. I didn’t know if Morina really cared one way or the other.
“Well, that’s shitty.” Guess she did. She got up and rinsed her plate. “Anyway, what do I need to know about the meeting? The terminals run fine, right?”