Chapter 3♥Nice Guys Finish Happy
Six months earlier…
Edward knocked again and waited. He should ask Lucy for a key, but… he didn’t want to. That was a realization to pull apart and analyze later.
Lucy finally answered the door with her cellphone pressed against her ear, mid-conversation. “The man of the hour is here,” she said, breaking into a smile. But she wasn’t really talking to him, more likeabouthim. She was on the phone with her book agent, most likely. No surprise there. Edward followed her in and shut the door. He set the takeout bags on the counter and searched through them for his carton of fried rice with chicken. Knowing Lucy’s pattern, if he waited for her to be ready to eat, the food would be cold.
He ate while reading the financial news on his phone and then, after listening for a moment to confirm that Lucy’s conversation wasn’t losing steam any time soon, he unzipped his laptop bag and got out his computer to get some work done.
Things hadn’t always been this way. Back in college, Lucy would have been the one bringing him food, eagerly waiting for him to finish up a class or a study session. And it wasn’t that Edward needed that kind of adoration. In a lot of ways, it was a relief not to be the complete focus of her attention anymore. He just felt like he’d been waiting for a middle ground in their relationship for a long time.
Lucy was driven, and once she got what she wanted she moved on to a new obsession, a new mountain to conquer. Once upon a time, it had been winning Edward. Now it was her upcoming book.
Strange that his mother couldn’t stand Lucy, considering they both prized ambition above all else.
He stared at the same email from a client and blinked, trying to get the words to stop swimming in front of his eyes. It was no use. The doubts that began trailing him from a distance months ago had morphed into an all-out car chase, complete with helicopter blades whirring overhead, and FBI agents shouting at him to get out with his hands up before they pelted him with bullets. Was there anything more unromantic than picturing your fiancée as an assassin out to kill your future happiness?
He gave a strangled laugh and loosened his tie. How was he supposed to talk to Lucy about his doubts while she was negotiating a deal for a book titledNice Guys Finish Happy: How You, Too Can Snag the Man of your Dreams.
At the moment, Edward didn’t feel like a nice guy or the embodiment of anyone’s dreams.
He got up and walked around Lucy’s condo, stopping at her desk, the only mess allowed in the whole place. Lucy’s round and loopy cursive covered almost every bit of paper. She liked to brainstorm that way before transferring only the best ideas to the computer. He skimmed over her notes on the ideal way to approach a first date, and some interesting ideas on how to respond to text messages the day after a date.
Wait at least ten minutes before responding until you’ve struck up a conversation. Then keep his interest with open-ended questions and flirty banter. Let him have the last word.
Had Lucy done that with him? It all seemed so calculated. When his hand brushed against her mouse, the screen woke up.
There, in Times New Roman font, was his future laid out in the form of new book ideas.Nice Guys Finish Happy: Being Your Husband’s Biggest Cheerleader so Every Day is a Honeymoon.Nice Children Finish Happy: Raising Your Toddler to be the Sweetest Kid on the Block.
His logical side told him to slow his roll, that obviously book agents and publishers would want to spin her book into a series, but his shallow breathing told him Lucy planned to use him and their future kids as book fodder for the rest of their lives.
From the other room, Lucy laughed. “I’m working on that. We haven’t nailed down a wedding date yet.”
And thank goodness. He wouldn’t leave this condo until he told her how he felt. This had to stop today. He walked into the kitchen where Lucy was nibbling on bites of white rice, just enough that she wouldn’t starve to death but could still talk without sounding like her mouth was full.
She looked up at him and put her finger up. “Yes, of course,” she said into the phone. “Yes, I was thinking maybe chapter ten might need to come sooner. You’re right. Maybe we should lead with that. Give me just a moment to pull up my notes.” She walked right past Edward, making a beeline for her desk. When she saw the screen lit up, she paused for a moment and looked back at him.
“Do you even love me?” he asked.
Lucy covered the bottom of her cell. “With all my heart.”
“And is that you talking, or the author talking?”
Lucy’s face blanched, and she pulled her hand away from her phone’s speaker. “I need to call you back in a bit.” She ended the call and put her cell phone down on the desk.
“I’m sorry I’ve been preoccupied lately. I feel so much pressure knowing they’re giving me a fifty thousand-dollar advance.”
Even in an apology, she couldn’t hide her glee. It was a large amount of money, but he doubted they handed that to just anyone, regardless of the skill or idea behind it. Lucy Steele was a household name, thanks to the celebrity bad boy she’d dated right before him, the one who dumped her for his co-star.
Not for the first time, Edward wondered if this book was more about revenge and less about helping women make better dating choices.
He gripped the edge of the counter behind him. “That’s what I want to talk about. This pressure you’ve put on me to be the man of your dreams. I’m just a regular guy who wants a regular life. I don’t want to move back to L.A. after your book releases, and I’m having doubts about the two of us getting married as part of your marketing plan.”
“Getting married is not a marketing plan. You’re being ridiculous now.” She glanced around before her eyes landed longingly on her phone. She wasn’t even fully in this conversation.
“Lucy, I want to break off the engagement.”
Her eyes snapped back to his, and when he didn’t say anything for several seconds, they filled with tears. “You don’t mean that. I get it. I’ve been too busy with my book.”
