“Now who’s the corny one? Marry me. Don’t make me beg.” His hand caressed my side, his finger lingering on my breast, circling my sensitive area. Rinse and repeat.
“We’re together. That’s what matters.”
“I want to get married soon, Jules. Soon. Don’t forget.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my everything. And why the hell not? I don’t want to get corny or crazy romantic; I know that bugs you. But I want you to know you’re mine.”
“Now, you shhh. You’re going to piss me off.”
“Bet I can really piss you off ...”
“What?” I squeezed my eyes shut but smiled.
“I bought Darla aDnecklace.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“She’s already wearing it, so we can’t return it.”
“Tell me it wasn’t diamonds.”
“It wasn’t.”
I closed my eyes again, this time drifting off.
“It has yellow diamonds for my tennis superstar.”
I pretended to be asleep.
The following night wasn’t any better when it came to Drew making it known what he wanted. We went out for Italian with Sully and Rosie, and they insisted we bring Darla. Their kids were too busy for them, and Darla flirted like a pro with Sully.
“Uncle Sull, can you tell me again about your boat? Are we going to go on it soon? Will we see dolphins?”
“I can’t believe I let her call him Uncle Sull after what he did to me the first time I met him,” I said to Rosie.
“We didn’t meet then,” Sully said, and when I eyed him up, he changed his story. “Okay, I was acting like an arrogant jerk. It was men’s night out. Blame the cigars and the whiskey.”
“Sullivan, one more bad report about you and I’m leaving you for a tennis pro. Like Drew, young, virile, muscular,” Rose interjected.
I blushed. Drew was certainly virile.
“He’s not a pro,” Sully argued, his manhood under attack.
“He’s my teacher, Uncle Sull. That makes him a pro.”
“And he was your mom’s—”
“Sull, no need to go there,” Drew said quickly.
We figured when the time was right we would tell Darla the truth about how we met, and where and when she was conceived. More importantly, someday she deserved to know why her dad wasn’t in her life for the first six years.
“Speaking of calling you Uncle Sull,” Drew piped up. “We should make it official, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean, Daddy?”
I took a swig of wine and glanced at my foot in the boot stretched out to the side.
