“Evan,” I said softly. “I don’t hate you. I just need some time to think about this and talk it over.”
“I understand,” he said unhappily. Then he rallied and addressed the audience. “As no wedding is happening today, we have a very nice reception planned for anyone who’s hungry.”
“No!” Imogen said, trying to block guests from leaving their seats. “None of you are allowed to use any of this food. I demand that it be thrown away.”
“I paid for it,” Evan said stubbornly as Imogen tried to snatch the microphone from him. “You are all welcome to head upstairs for the reception.”
“Actually,” the hotel manager said from the back of the room, “there will be no reception. Per the terms of your contract, you are not allowed to have alcohol here. We will need to ask you to vacate the premises.”
“What am I supposed to do with all this food?” Elsie demanded.
“And this cake!” Sophie added. The hotel manager looked uncomfortable to have my two friends bearing down on him.
Evan grinned and spread his arms wide. “Take it to Ivy’s place!”
I was suddenly furious. “Take it to my place? I’m homeless! You ruined my place!” I shrieked.
Evan smirked. “I told you I had a grand gesture planned.”
I gazed at him in disbelief.
Next to me, in Mika’s arms, the puppy projectile vomited all over Imogen.
“Oh, Immie,” Mika said, her voice sickly sweet. “I found your earrings!”
The bridezilla let out an unholy scream as Evan tied a satin ribbon around my eyes and led me away from the wedding carnage.
55
Ivy
“Keep your eyes closed,” Evan said, leading me to the elevator.
“You didn’t!”
“It’s a surprise, Ivy!”
“You couldn’t have possibly!” I let him guide me into the elevator.
“I mean, I was trying to tell you…” he said as the elevator took us to the very top of the Brookview Hotel.
“Oh my god!” I exclaimed as Evan removed the blindfold to reveal the clock tower penthouse. “Did you buy this?”
“I did, but unlike the wedding food, this all belongs to you and you alone. No strings. You can kick me out if you want,” he promised.
There was a whirring noise, and a Roomba chugged into the room, Fergus perched on top, surveying his new kingdom. When he saw me, he hopped off and pranced over to me to rub against my ankles, purring. I gingerly picked him up, and he snuggled in my arms.
“He just needed more space,” Evan said, petting the cat. “He’s a big boy, and he needed room to spread out.”
I spontaneously hugged Evan, squishing Fergus between us, then kissed the handsome man.
“I told you,” Evan said, pulling back and looking me in the eye, “this isn’t a ‘please get back together with me’ gift. There are no strings. This is an apology for getting you evicted.”
I dumped Fergus out of my arms then grabbed Evan’s tie and pulled him back to me.
“But if I want, can I still have you as a bonus apology present? Like how when you buy a car, you get six months of Sirius radio for free?”
“You can have me for more than six months,” Evan promised. “I’ll be with you till death do us part.”
