After the toast, breakfast settles down and runs through, the same way that it always has. Everything feels like it’s finally starting to fall into place. No more secrets. No more competitions. No more trying to be people that we aren’t.
All this time, without meaning to, we’ve been working against each other. But none of that exists now. I came out here on this trip hoping to trick my way into the position— that didn’t actually happen. Instead, we’ve removed any reason for tricks or lies.
My father and my brother no longer have any reason to be going at each other. My father will have to grapple with his feelings about Charlie not settling down outside of the confines of Denfield Global. And he will. My mother is smiling, in an honest conversation with the girl that I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with. And when all of this is said and done, I’m going to be able to go home and live an honest life with Ashley.
Thomas would be proud of the whole family, I’m sure of it. There’s just one more thing that I need to do before we leave London. And honestly, I can’t wait.
Chapter twenty-four
Ashley
There’sonlyanhourbefore Grant, Charlie, and Don have to be at their final meeting. We head back to the hotel room so that he can change. I let myself into the bathroom where he’s getting ready, feeling particularly brazen. I wrap my arm around his waist, leaning against him from behind. Because Grant is so much taller than me, my forehead presses against the back of his shoulder blade.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey yourself,” Grant tells me. He turns around in my grip and says, “Alright, hold up. I know what you came in here for.”
A playful expression crosses my face. I press my hand to his bare chest. He’s changed into his slacks for the meeting but hasn’t gotten his shirt on yet. I run my fingers over the stretch of skin between his pecs and then down, onto the flat of his belly. Right above the waistband of his slacks. “Do you really?”
A curl tugs at Grant’s lips. The bright bathroom lights are a halo behind him, a burst of white. He reaches up, tucking blonde hair behind one of my ears. The tips of his fingers brush over my cheek when he does. “I do. But I have something to give you, instead.”
“I’m not the one who just got promoted,” I say. “We should be celebrating you!”
“And there’s going to be plenty of time for that later,” says Grant with a wink. His hands fall down, settling on my hips. He backs me up, just a step or two, and then takes hold of my hand instead. “Come on, come with me. It won’t take too long.”
“It better not,” I tell him. “You don’t have long. You know, my idea might be faster.”
It’s just a tease at this point. I’ve mostly lost momentum in my task, anyway. The embarrassment of trying to get him off before he went into work is enough to quell any excitement that might have been building in my belly.
I let Grant lead me out through the room and over to the balcony. Morning sunlight still washing over the city. London is a lovely place. The architecture, the people, the food. I’m glad that I was able to come out here and see the city with Grant, though I don’t think that I would want to live here. I’ve been missing home.
Or rather, Grant’s home.
Does the lake house count as my home too, at this point? I’ve been living there for a while now, with him, and now that we’re not pretending to date anymore— I wonder, does that mean that I’ll give up the guest room when we get back to the states and take up residence in his room instead? Does it mean that when I think about home, I’ll be able to think about his home?
My thoughts are interrupted by Grant coming to stand beside me. He leans over and presses a kiss to my cheek. “You know, this isn’t what I was expecting.”
“I know,” I tell him, turning to face him properly. “Have you changed your mind then? About wanting it to be real?”
Grant shakes his head. “Never. But there’s one thing that I do regret.”
Unease floods through me, cracking the pleasant warmth that had settled over me. The sunlight suddenly seems as though it’s tainted.
“Something that you regret?” I can’t quite keep the shaking from my voice. The nerves have grabbed onto me, and they’ve grabbed on hard.
“That’s right,” says Grant. “When we came out here, it was all about putting on a show for my parents. We needed it to play out according to plan, but now that we’re together—now that we’re really together—it’s kind of messed a few things up for us.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know that I’m following you.”
“Well, we’re already engaged,” says Grant. “Right?”
I nod. “Right.”
Grant tells me, “And that was all just part of the show. We wanted them to know we were serious—but now, we actually are serious, and that important step, getting engaged, is already done and over with.”
I look down at my hand, where the ring still rests upon my finger. Confused, I ask, “Do you… want this back?”
“No, no.” Grant takes hold of my hand, and he sinks down onto one knee. It’s like that dinner all over again, except that there’s no one else around.