“I’m afraid I must excuse myself, gentlemen. My beautiful bride to be and I have lunch plans.” I nodded at Charles, his mouth agape, and escorted Kat to the door. The minute we were out of there, I planted a firm kiss on her lips, not even caring that the rest of the office could be watching.
“Wow, what was that for?” She beamed, and I couldn’t help stealing another kiss.
“I love you, and I want the world to know it.”
With a glance over my shoulder at Ivy, who quickly pretended not to be looking, I led Kat to the conference room where we could eat in peace. We settled in, unpacking the bag of Chinese food and sharing a few more kisses as he chatted.
“So who was that guy?” Katherine picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the fried rice, dropping some onto the table in front of her.
“No big deal.” I waved off her attempts to clean it up. “We’ll have the cleaning lady wash up in here later. It happens all the time. And that guy was Andrew Barker. We’ve been trying to get him to sign a retainer for a few months.”
“Oh? He’s hesitant? I’m surprised. I’ve done my research. Your firm is very successful.” Despite my words, she used her napkin to wipe up the mess as she continued chewing.
“Yeah, well you know. Some people just have their peculiarities.”
My phone vibrated and I pulled it out between bites, seeing Adam had sent me a message. Swiping right, I unlocked the phone and opened the messaging app. The message read: “Vic, we got ’em.” He went on to say that because I was engaged, Barker felt 100% confident our firm could handle his business. Apparently, Barker not only wanted people who weren’t flighty and prone to risk taking, but he wanted to work with partners who weren’t all about making money. For whatever reason, in Barker’s mind, me being engaged made me more appealing, essentially sealing the deal. Adam must have been ecstatic, but all I could think about was Katherine.
“So, dinner tonight?” I raised my eyebrows at her as I bit into an eggroll. “My place?”
Katherine nodded. “Yes, but we need to start thinking about making it as our own place soon. Don’t you think?” She took a huge bite of rice. Her eyes sparkled with mirth. God, I loved this woman.
“Are you saying you love me for my house?” I cocked an eyebrow and wiped my mouth with the paper napkin. “Because you can have it. It’s all yours, remember?”
“I have my own house, thank you very much. And it will suit me just fine. I just thought maybe having you sleep in my bed every night would be better than this back and forth and paying two mortgages.” She shrugged playfully. “But I don’t mind. I’ve gotten along thus far.” Katherine had a drop of broth on her cheek, so I used my thumb to wipe it away.
I tickled her ribs. “Enough of that. There is more than enough room at either place. You just decide which house to sell, and we’ll make it work. I am eager to make you Mrs. Beringher.” My phone vibrated again, and I looked down at it. This time it was a text from Ivy. “One sec.”
The text read: “You’re welcome.”
I responded, asking her what she meant, and she told me how she knew I was in the call with Barker, and she felt like a visit from the woman I loved might sway him. Turns out, the meeting was over, and Charles told her what had happened.
I ignored the rest of the messages to spend the rest of my lunch hour with my beautiful fiancé. Clients like Barker would come and go, but I knew Katherine was forever. And I couldn’t be happier.
24
KATHERINE
Standing in the produce aisle with a huge mango in my hand, I listened to Victor telling me a story about how he tried durian fruit once. I couldn’t help but laugh at the face he made when discussing how horrific the scent was. We were shopping for a small dinner we were hosting for his new client and his wife. I suggested we make dinner together and give Mimi the night off, and Victor thought it was a great idea.
I was a bit nervous considering I’d never made chicken rivels for him before. I wasn’t even certain he would like them. The soup was a family tradition—dough made like noodle dough but dropped into a boiling broth, then thickened with a roux of butter, flour, and milk. I thought it was just the most amazing comfort food ever, and I hoped he did too. We were just selecting some fruits to make a compote for my homemade muffins.
“Once we got past the stench, the fruit was actually quite good.” Victor’s joy was infectious. I couldn’t help annoying the other customers nearby with our laughter. When we settled, he helped me select a fresh mango and some blackberries.
“I think this dinner is going to be a hit. It’s too bad Adam and his wife couldn’t make it.” I placed the fruit in the produce basket draped over my arm and walked alongside him as he led me toward the registers.
“Yeah, but you’ll get to meet her soon enough. Taffy is a really sweet lady.” Victor let me walk ahead of him and I chuckled. Taffy was sweet.
Before we got to the register, my phone began to ring from inside my pocket. I reached for it, but with my arm loaded down with goods, I couldn’t reach it. Victor was nice enough to pull it out, but when his face blanched, I knew it couldn’t be good. He shrugged.
“Your mom.”
I handed him the basket of fruit and took my phone, unlocking it. “I’ll take this outside. You don’t mind paying?”
He waved me off and I marched to my doom, finding a bench in the sun to sit down as I talked to her. The day was pleasant, though chilly, but my jacket kept me from being too cold.
“Hey, Mom.” I tried to sound cheery, though I was anything but. I wondered what part of me felt so obligated to be kind to her when she was nothing less that horrible to me. The unwritten rule of society that just because someone gave you life meant you owed them something really sucked. I’d give anything just to have a functioning relationship with her.
“Kitty!” Mom squealed. She sounded just giddy about something, and for whatever reason, that made me feel better—until she continued. “I heard he got engaged. Wow, you really dodged a bullet there. Do you know who it is? Was there an affair? Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. Did he hurt you?”