Mr. Black's Proposal Read Free Page B

be.
    I swallowed. My mouth was dry.
    “It is complicated. Many, many complications.”
    “Sounds pretty simple to me. Get one of your fawning supermodel girls—”
    “I don’t want them!” I said.
    Steph pressed her lips together. She seemed like she had run out of patience.
    “Wait here one second,” she said.
    She went around the couch and pulled a laptop up from the floor. I waited while she clicked a few buttons. Then she spun the computer toward me.
    I cringed, rubbing the bridge of my nose to block out the angry feeling that was welling up inside of me.
    She’d done an image search for Lucas Black date… and the result wasn’t pretty.
    Or, rather, they were pretty. They were all gorgeous. Supermodel after supermodel. What had she been expecting? I shrugged my shoulders.
    “There isn’t a single girl repeated on the front page,” she said.
    I frowned and leaned forward. There was no way that was true. But as she scrolled, I saw face after face. Most of them I didn’t even recognize.
    Fuck. This was me. I was just like my dad. My mom was right; I needed to settle down.
    “Why do you think that is?” she asked, probing.
    “My relationships don’t last very long, I guess.”
    “Is that because you’re always asking girls to marry you?” she asked. “Is that how you scare them away at the end of the night?”
    “You’re the only one I’ve ever scared away with a marriage proposal,” I said. “For better or for worse.”
    She set the laptop down and turned to face me.
    “Lucas,” she said, “Why did you come here?”
    I paused.
    Because I love you.
    Because you’re the most intelligent, funny, beautiful woman I’ve ever met.
    Because I still want to marry you.
    None of those answers would work. She had nearly jumped across the room the last time I’d told her I loved her. I swallowed them back and smiled, a tentative smile.
    “I’d like to start over,” I said. “Is that alright?”
    “Start over?”
    “Yes.”
    She rolled her eyes.
    “Sure. I’ll go down to the bakery, and you bring in one of your girlfriends, and we’ll do everything over again.”
    “Steph—”
    “What?” She sighed. Exasperated . No girl ever acted exasperated with me. If I wasn’t so worried about losing her, I would think that it was adorable.
    “I’m not seeing anyone right now, if that’s what you’re worried about. I promise.”
    I sat down on the couch next to her. She stood up as soon as I sat down. I stood back up.
    “Okay. What do you want?”
    I spoke carefully, trying not to make things worse.
    “I want to take you on a date.”
    “Fine. Where?”
    My mind went blank.
    “Uh. Where?”
    “Yes. Where were you planning to take me on a date?”
    “Well, actually, I hadn’t even gone that far, to be honest. I had planned on you saying no and slapping me across the face again.”
    Her face contorted in a short grimace.
    “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”
    “I’m sorry for proposing to you so abruptly. How about Saldane’s?”
    “What?”
    “For our date. How about I take you on a dinner date tonight to Saldane’s?”
    Her eyebrows raised at the name. Was that too fancy? But then she softened. Her shoulders relaxed back.
    “Sure,” she said. “I would like to go on a date with you. As long as, you know…”
    “What?”
    “No proposing.”
    “You got it,” I said. “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”
    I leaned forward to give her a quick kiss, and her body stiffened. Instead, I gave her a brief kiss on the cheek and straightened up. I was going to leave before I went too far. Just looking at the curve of her neck made me ache to kiss it.
    But I had to wait.
    I was going to do things right this time.
    “When I said you should marry her, I didn’t mean tomorrow.”
    “Shut up,” I said.
    I was trying to get ready for the date, but Jake was being a pain in the ass. And Otis wasn’t helping, either. He was shedding so much on my pant legs, I didn’t even bother trying