“Pepper, come here, please,” my father says.
“See you then,” I say.
“Looking forward to it.”
I make my way over to him. “Yes?”
“Go to my office. I’ll be up in a moment.”
“Okay.”
I go upstairs to his office and find Lester there. What does Dad have up his sleeve?
“I suppose my father asked you here too,” I say, settling in the chair beside him.
“He did.”
“Is something wrong?”
“We’ll discuss it when your father gets here.”
This can’t be good.
“You two make a lovely couple,” my father announces as he enters the room and sits behind his desk.
“We’re not together.”
Dad scowls at me disapprovingly. “That’ll change very soon.”
“What’s this about?” The sooner this conversation is over with, the better.
“Lester tells me you’re disinterested and aloof towards him.”
“I didn’t mean to seem that way.”
“Lester is a good Christian man, and you’re lucky to have his attention.”
Once Mia and I move in together, this charade ends. I’ll finally be free of both men. Right now, I have to bite my tongue.
“Lester, please accept my apology.”
“All I ask is that you give us a real chance.” He squeezes my hand. “I’m falling in love with you.”
It’s worse than I imagined. “This is moving too fast for me.”
“We can take it slow.”
“Thank you.” I slide my hand out of his grasp. “I really should get going. It’s late. Good night.”
“Pray. God will guide you,” Dad says.
I nod and rush from the room.
“How did I get sucked into refereeing a fight between you two?” Drew asks, sulking. “I should be spending my Saturday afternoon in the company of a beautiful woman.”
Jensen, Drew, and I climb into the boxing ring located in my home gym. The day of reckoning is here. No rules, headgear, mouth guard, or boxing gloves—just Jensen and me, bare-knuckle.
“This is long overdue,” I say.
