look from Dad then Abigail then back to Dad again. “Yeah, um, something came up. So we decided to give it a miss,” I say, trying to sound sincere. “I was just on my way out for a run.”
Dad nods, appearing to believe my story and walks past me in the direction of the kitchen.
“Hello, Anna.” Abigail’s grin widens as she paces in after him. “I’m glad we caught you actually. There’s something your father and I have been meaning to ask you. Do you think you could spare a minute?”
Even if I were the most horrible person in the world, I’d have a hard time letting Abigail down. She’s just so polite and unpretentious. Unlike someone else I know.
This whole situation is weird. Here I am, speaking with my new secret boyfriend’s mom, only I don’t think I can call him my boyfriend anymore. Not after what I’ve just witnessed.
So I guess she’s my ex-boyfriend’s mom now?
Oh, and she’s also going to be my stepmom in just over a month.
Just when I thought all the mind-fucking had gone on a sabbatical, it comes back early, and with a vengeance.
“Um, sure,” I say with a reluctant shrug of my shoulders and follow her into the kitchen.
I help Dad and her unpack the bags before he ushers us out on the back patio for some homemade lemonade. Even though it’s after six o’clock, it’s still hot out, at least, seventy-eight degrees.
Taking a gulp of my ice-cold drink, I peer over at the happy couple giving each other “goo goo” eyes. “So what did you want to ask me?”
Abigail sucks in a breath – quite an odd thing for an otherwise confident woman to do – and leans across the table. “We were wondering if you could do a speech at the engagement party. Lucas is doing one for us and well, we thought it’d be lovely if you did one too.”
Lucas . Just hearing his name rubs me up the wrong way. I feel the lump rising in my throat but fight it. Not here, not now, Anna.
“Oh, really? Are you sure? I mean I’m not great at the whole public talking thing,” I reply, giving a sheepish smile.
In all honesty, I don’t want to do it. But it’s not because I’m not happy for them. I just don’t like the idea of Lucas staring at me the whole time.
“Don’t worry about that,” Dad pitches in, holding his glass of lemonade up to his lips. “The fact that you’re willing to write something and read it out is all that matters to us.”
Well, that doesn’t give me much of a choice, does it?
It looks like all eyes will be on Lucas and I come Sunday afternoon. The engagement party is being held at my old boss’s (Sam Hartz) penthouse on West 56 th Street between 6 th and 7 th Avenues.
Apparently it’s worth a whopping one hundred million green ones, so I’d be lying my little ass off if I said I wasn’t a little interested in checking it out.
“Okay, if that’s what you both want. I’ll do it,” I tell them, carving out my best fake smile to cover the cloud of depression still floating over me.
After I down the rest of my lemonade, I leave the lovebirds to it and go for a run around the neighborhood.
Within minutes, I feel better.
What happened at the office today – seeing Lucas with that damn redhead – is becoming less tender to think about the faster I push myself.
And once I break out into a full-on sprint, I’m almost completely numb.
If only I could keep on running.
Forever.
Chapter 18
Lucas
Waiting for Anna to walk in is nail-biting agony. If she’d just give me a couple of minutes to explain everything before she tosses what we have out the window.
And then if she still doesn’t want to pursue a relationship… fair enough. Never being able to touch her again and stare into those misty, gray eyes would shatter me, but at least, I could live with knowing that I tried.
“So Lucas, how have your first few weeks being the director of the company been?” Uncle Sam asks, standing beside me at his home bar. He orders a whiskey on the rocks from
Dad nods, appearing to believe my story and walks past me in the direction of the kitchen.
“Hello, Anna.” Abigail’s grin widens as she paces in after him. “I’m glad we caught you actually. There’s something your father and I have been meaning to ask you. Do you think you could spare a minute?”
Even if I were the most horrible person in the world, I’d have a hard time letting Abigail down. She’s just so polite and unpretentious. Unlike someone else I know.
This whole situation is weird. Here I am, speaking with my new secret boyfriend’s mom, only I don’t think I can call him my boyfriend anymore. Not after what I’ve just witnessed.
So I guess she’s my ex-boyfriend’s mom now?
Oh, and she’s also going to be my stepmom in just over a month.
Just when I thought all the mind-fucking had gone on a sabbatical, it comes back early, and with a vengeance.
“Um, sure,” I say with a reluctant shrug of my shoulders and follow her into the kitchen.
I help Dad and her unpack the bags before he ushers us out on the back patio for some homemade lemonade. Even though it’s after six o’clock, it’s still hot out, at least, seventy-eight degrees.
Taking a gulp of my ice-cold drink, I peer over at the happy couple giving each other “goo goo” eyes. “So what did you want to ask me?”
Abigail sucks in a breath – quite an odd thing for an otherwise confident woman to do – and leans across the table. “We were wondering if you could do a speech at the engagement party. Lucas is doing one for us and well, we thought it’d be lovely if you did one too.”
Lucas . Just hearing his name rubs me up the wrong way. I feel the lump rising in my throat but fight it. Not here, not now, Anna.
“Oh, really? Are you sure? I mean I’m not great at the whole public talking thing,” I reply, giving a sheepish smile.
In all honesty, I don’t want to do it. But it’s not because I’m not happy for them. I just don’t like the idea of Lucas staring at me the whole time.
“Don’t worry about that,” Dad pitches in, holding his glass of lemonade up to his lips. “The fact that you’re willing to write something and read it out is all that matters to us.”
Well, that doesn’t give me much of a choice, does it?
It looks like all eyes will be on Lucas and I come Sunday afternoon. The engagement party is being held at my old boss’s (Sam Hartz) penthouse on West 56 th Street between 6 th and 7 th Avenues.
Apparently it’s worth a whopping one hundred million green ones, so I’d be lying my little ass off if I said I wasn’t a little interested in checking it out.
“Okay, if that’s what you both want. I’ll do it,” I tell them, carving out my best fake smile to cover the cloud of depression still floating over me.
After I down the rest of my lemonade, I leave the lovebirds to it and go for a run around the neighborhood.
Within minutes, I feel better.
What happened at the office today – seeing Lucas with that damn redhead – is becoming less tender to think about the faster I push myself.
And once I break out into a full-on sprint, I’m almost completely numb.
If only I could keep on running.
Forever.
Chapter 18
Lucas
Waiting for Anna to walk in is nail-biting agony. If she’d just give me a couple of minutes to explain everything before she tosses what we have out the window.
And then if she still doesn’t want to pursue a relationship… fair enough. Never being able to touch her again and stare into those misty, gray eyes would shatter me, but at least, I could live with knowing that I tried.
“So Lucas, how have your first few weeks being the director of the company been?” Uncle Sam asks, standing beside me at his home bar. He orders a whiskey on the rocks from
Similar Books
