I nearly choke.
“Move in with you?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“As in move out of my apartment?” I ask.
“That’s usually how moving works, yes. Vacating one place to occupy another.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“What’s the big deal? You said it yourself; you hate your place.”
“But it’s still my home,” I clap back.
“Not anymore. Especially if we’re going to be engaged,” he says as he cuts a piece of his medium-rare steak.
I give him a deadpan look.
“Look, Mila. Prince Charming can’t have Cinderella living in a shack in the woods,” he says, and I squint my eyes in confusion.
“That’s Sleeping Beauty,” I say.
“Whatever. You understand what I’m saying. If we are going to be convincing, especially to my father, you are going to have to move in with me,” he argues.
“I am not going to be living with you, sharing a bathroom and sleeping in the same bed!” I say just as the waitress walks over with the check. Dominic hands her his card and shoots me a look.
“You won’t be sharing a bathroom with me, I can assure you of that. You know the entire southern wing of my house is a secondary master suite. You’ll have your own bathroom and king-sized bed. There are even french doors that open up to the patio by the pool. While we are doing Princess comparisons, I’ll have you know that this is not Beauty and the Beast–”
“Not even considering how grumpy you are all the time?” I ask.
“Not even considering how mouthyyouare all the time,” he combats. “My point is, no part of the house is off-limits. Not the pool, not the grotto, not even the theater room.”
“You’re sharing your big TV with me,” I say, pushing the last piece of salmon around on my plate. “How generous.”
“I think the entire offer is generous,” he says, and for a moment I feel guilty.
“You’re right,” I nod, setting my napkin on the table. “I’ll do it. All of it.”
“Good. I’m giving you everything I can to make this work,” he says.
His offer is very generous, but I feel like I’m giving up everything.
Chapter 17
Mila
“I just don’t understandwhy you can’t work here anymore,” Lainey says as I clean out my locker. Although I am supposed to keep things a secret, I’ve decided that I am telling Lainey everything. Except for the being pregnant part. As much as I love her, I’m just not ready to talk about that yet. I haven’t even been to the doctor.
“I guess billionaires don’t date waitresses,” I say as I look at the wig that has been a signature part of my uniform for a while now. Funny how we hold a candle for things we once despised after they no longer belong to us.
“Dom’s a billionaire?” she asks. “I mean, I knew he was rich, but…damn.”
“Yeah,” I say before biting my lip. “It’s wild. All of it’s wild.”
“Too bad it’s not real,” she says with a sigh.
“What do you mean?” I ask as I drop the wig into the box with the other things.
