He paused his peeling and glanced over at her, expecting to see amusement on her face. She had to be joking. But there was no such sign that she was.
“I was going to say that your heart was in the right place.”
Mark snorted, earning himself two glares.
Nikki shifted in her seat. “I wouldn’t have gone about it the same way you did, but I wouldn’t have left things to fester, either. You love her. That much is clear.”
“Understatement of the century,” Marcus muttered.
She smiled. “So, you needed to tell her.”
“I did.”
“Not by proposing in front of your family.That,” she said and gave him a pointed look, “was manipulation at its finest.”
He froze then, only blinking. Shoot. She was right. He wasn’t even thinking about the audience he’d invited. He’d wanted to share the moment with the people whom he cared about most. But Wynter hated having the spotlight on her because she cared about what other people thought. She pretended she didn’t, but he knew better.
Oh, man! He could kick himself for being such an idiot. Why couldn’t he get something right for once? “What do you think I should do?” he asked, sorrow filling his insides. “I don’t think she’s going to be willing to talk to me any time soon. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she picks up and leaves after what I did.”
Nikki nodded thoughtfully. “You’re probably right.”
That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. It was definitely not where he thought she was going to take this conversation.
“I think that you need to give her some space. Maybe write her a letter with everything you think is important for her to know. And then leave it be until she’s ready.”
“And if she’s not? Ready, I mean.”
Nikki’s expression was sad. Empathetic.
He hated it.
“Then you let her make her own decisions. You can’t force her to see things your way. People don’t change their views just because someone has a more compelling argument. We’re made up of our experiences. To change, we have to want it.”
“Well, shoot, Nikki. That’s really smart,” Mark murmured.
She rolled her eyes. “Just get back to work.”
“What? I mean it,” Mark insisted.
Marcus ignored their conversation, especially when it turned into bickering. Wynter needed to know where he was coming from, but he couldn’t rely on her reading a letter. He didn’t want the words on the paper to come off wrong in any way. But Nikki was right. He couldn’t force her to see things his way.
All he could do was say his piece and then let her decide how she wanted to move forward.
“That’s it?That’s your plan?” Jason snickered.
“Ease off him, will you?” Mathew gave Marcus an apologetic look. “Excuse my brother. He’s not thinking clearly.”
“I’m sorry,” Jason sputtered, amusement still in his voice. “The guy invited over his whole family. Proposed to the girl. Then expected her to fall to her knees for him? Romance and love take work. You know that. Look how your marriage turned out.”
Marcus’s eyes bounced from Jason to Mathew, noting the hard lines that filled the latter’s face. Clearly, Mathew wasn’t happy about his own love life coming into the conversation.
Mathew gripped his fork firmly in his fist. “Yes, my marriage failed because I wasn’t prioritizing her. I was more focused on building a life we could both be happy in.”
“And look how that turned out. You’re making more money, but you lost the girl of your dreams.”
“It’s been years, Jason. Will you drop it already?”
Even Marcus could hear the pain in Mathew’s voice. Thankfully, Jason took note because he shrank back in his seat. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry, man.”
