Then He Kissed Me Read Free Page A

wrong with making money? Absolutely nothing, that’s what I say.”
    For a successful businessman, he sounded remarkably bitter. Like somehow, Whispering Bay had “bested” him and he still hadn’t gotten over the loss. She wondered if he kept a scorecard for things like that. Whispering Bay: 1. Ted Ferguson: 0. The evening was quickly disintegrating into a solid six.
     “So, my mother told me she met you at an Alzheimer’s charity event.” Hopefully, they could find some common ground here and turn the evening around.
    Ted nodded. “Damn shame what’s going on with your father,” he said, his mouth full of lettuce.
    “Thank you, but I’m optimistic that we can stop this before it advances.”
    Sympathy flashed through Ted’s gaze. “Good for you. Never take no for an answer, I say.”
    A violinist suddenly appeared, walking slowly amidst the tables. He was playing something soft and pretty, but when he got to Nate’s table, he switched up tunes to play My Heart Will Go On .
    It was obvious this had been planned in advance. Lauren wondered briefly who’d made the song choice. The violinist? Or Nate? Or maybe it was the redhead’s favorite song. It was lovely, to be sure, but there was all that depressing imagery that went along with it. Ships sinking. People dying. Leonardo DiCaprio floating away…
    The violinist finished his serenade, then shuffled himself off to the side to wait. Yep, that had definitely been planned out in advance. Noticing the sudden lack of music, most of the restaurant’s patrons turned their heads in curiosity.
    Nate got up from his chair and went down on one knee.
    “Oh, boy,” Ted said gleefully.
    Lauren laid down her napkin and discreetly turned her chair. Just a notch. Nate took the redhead’s hand in his. He reached inside his jacket and produced a diamond solitaire ring (at least two carats from what Lauren could see). Go, Nate !
    “Jessica,” Nate said, “will you make me the happiest man on earth and do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
    As far as proposals went, it sounded a bit scripted. Like something he’d probably seen on T.V., but hey, at least he was putting himself out there. Lauren had always thought public proposals took a lot of hutzpah. A guy had to be pretty sure he wasn’t going to be turned down to lay his heart out there for the whole world to see.
    A few seconds went by. Waiters stood frozen. Diners shuffled their chairs into the best position to watch the scene unfolding in front of them. A woman, a few tables over, came up behind Lauren and stood with her cell phone in the air, videotaping the event. Lauren wondered if she would offer to send the video to Nate and his future bride as a souvenir. They would probably play it at their wedding reception. Or at their engagement party for all their friends to ooh and ah over.
    Jessica pursed her lips together. Her eyes went wide with… oh no . Lauren sucked in a breath. Was she the only one who noticed that the future (maybe) Mrs. Nate Miller didn’t look pleased?
    “Can we talk about this later?” Jessica whispered, but loud enough that Lauren could hear.
    Nate, still on his knees, shook his head in confusion. “I…you said you wanted a big gesture.” He raised the ring higher in offering.
    Lauren glanced around the paralyzed restaurant. She wanted to tell everyone to turn back their chairs and mind their own business, but like the rest of the captive voyeurs all she could do was look on in horror.

A fter a few more seconds, the silence became unbearable. “So, does this mean, no?” Nate said.
    Lauren cringed. She wanted to leap from the table and pull Nate off his knees. But poor guy, he must have been in shock, because he continued in the classic proposal position, despite the fact it was obvious that Jessica was turning him down.
    Jessica, realizing that everyone was staring at them, plastered a smile on her face. “Nate, sweetheart, can we discuss this somewhere more… private