“Have you ever heard of Walsh and Jefferson?” I ask.
“Uh…”
“They’re a leading law firm on the West Coast.”
“Right?”
“Well, I’m a Walsh.”
“O-okay.” His eyes bounce between mine as if he’s hoping to read all the answers he needs within them.
“Well, I was. I severed all ties with my family when I walked away. I’ve been written out of the family estate and basically disowned.”
Everett’s eyes widen in shock.
“There is only one thing that I can still claim. A trust fund my grandparents on my mother’s side set up that will pay out when I get engaged.”
He nods. He’s clearly heard the words, but I’m not entirely sure he’s fully understanding them.
“If I agree to this to help you out, then that’s what you can do for me in return.”
“Ask you to marry me.”
“Yeah. We don’t actually have to get married. So you dodge that bullet. I just need a ring. I don’t even care if it’s a real diamond or not. I just…getting my hands on that money will really help us,” I say, my hand resting on my belly.
“A ring. Right,” he mutters before turning back to his waffle and demolishing it in record time.
I, however, can’t eat another bite of mine for fear of vomiting it all over my feet.
39
EVERETT
“Ask me to marry you?”
“I just need a ring. I don’t even care if it’s a real diamond or not.”
Those two sentences spin around my head almost all night.
No matter what I do, I can’t switch them off.
I hate to admit it, but I totally shut down after her confession. I didn’t mean to, and I didn’t want to, but her talking about marriage and it only being for convenience…well, it felt a little too real.
Now, I’m not opposed to breaking the rules to get ahead. But this…this feels different.
Pretending we’re in a relationship to save my ass is one thing. But taking away a moment that should be so special in Beatrice’s life. That’s…yeah. Fucking serious.
I’ve already ruined any ideas she may have had about having her first child. We haven’t talked about it, but I hardly doubt that she’s spent her life dreaming about being fucked by a hockey player she didn’t really like against a wall in a club and ending up pregnant. I’m sure like most other women, she wanted the romance, the wedding, the house, the white picket fucking fence.
But no. What did Beatrice Walsh get?
Me.
She got lumbered with me, all because I couldn’t take no for an answer.
The weight of knowing I’ve ruined her whole fucking life presses down on me.
On top of all that, I can’t steal any dreams of her being proposed to by her perfect man.
