“You work the front desk in a hospital and you’re a single mother of a four-year-old. You can come hide out for five minutes anytime you like. This is a judgment-free zone.”
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes following me as I slipped out from behind the counter to flip the sign on my door to closed. Her nostrils flared in alarm and her eyes widened before they dropped to her watch. Lifting her arm in my direction to show me its face, her brow furrowed. “For a second there, I thought I was really late to pick her up. Why are you closing so early?”
“I’m meeting Landon for dinner.” My heartrate kicked up a notch, baby butterflies hatching and stretching their wings in my belly. “We’re finally going to start planning the wedding tonight.”
April’s eyes clouded over, the air between us thickening as she shoved a hand through her fiery red hair. “You’re seriously still thinking about marrying him?”
“Of course, I am. We’ve been dating for two years. It’s time.” At the distressed look on her face, the butterflies hit my stomach lining one by one and knocked themselves out. “Look, I know you’re down on marriage, and I understand why, but I’m going to need you to put all that aside and just be happy for me. I’m getting engaged soon and I want you to be my maid of honor.”
“You know I’d do just about anything for you, babe, but I can’t do that.” She straightened up and lifted her chin. “I don’t want to bad mouth Landon, but I don’t trust him. Just because he made this huge success of himself and has money of his own doesn’t mean he can’t be a dick. He’s a piece of shit, Luna. I might not know why yet, but I can smell it from a mile away.”
My heart dropped to join the useless butterflies passed out at the pit of my stomach. “He’s not a piece of crap. He’s going to be my fiancé and I’m happy about it. Why can’t you be happy for me?”
“Because I’m not and I refuse to fake it, even for you.” She winked. “I refuse to fake orgasms too, which used to piss Joe right off. But I mean really, if you’re married and you have every opportunity, why wouldn’t you want to learn what brings your wife real pleasure?”
I waited her joke out, used to her attempts at comedy to lighten up the mood. Then I raised my eyebrows.
April huffed out a breath. “Fine. It’s been two years, right? It’s the logical next step, correct?”
I nodded but didn’t need to say anything. She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes on mine. “Wouldn’t the first logical next step be for you to go to his house? Because last I checked, in the entire two years you’ve been dating, you’ve never been there.”
She had me there. I couldn’t even argue. Landon had never invited me to come over, and whenever I asked, he made up some excuse.
Hell, I didn’t even have his address to surprise him. His home address wasn’t listed anymore. Apparently, he was that kind of big deal now.
When I’d looked it up at some point to try to plan a Valentine’s Day rendezvous to make up for him having to work late, I’d only found an address for an old apartment he’d told me about that he had lived in when he first moved to the city.
“I’m sure it’s nothing sinister.” I filled my lungs with air and ignored the dull ache in my gut that I got whenever I thought too much about all this. “He’s just been busy.”
“For two years?” She scoffed, then came around the counter to give me a hug. “I love you. You’re my sweetest, quirkiest friend, but you’re not dumb. Something’s going on with him. Just find out what it is before you let him slip a ring onto that finger, okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded into her hair, letting the soft strands and familiar scent of vanilla soothe my sudden nerves about dinner. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”
April left when I locked up my shop, grabbing a cab to fetch Adi from school. I opted to walk the few blocks to the restaurant where I was meeting up with Landon, joining the army of people choosing to enjoy the warm breeze and the crunch of the last leaves left behind by winter beneath my ankle boots.
He was already there when I arrived, waiting at a table in the far corner of the stylish yet low-key bistro he’d chosen for dinner. Landon liked to choose where we went and he always grabbed the seats with the lowest possibility of him being spotted.
After launching a popular social-dating site, he had become rather popular with certain people. He preferred privacy though, which was why he always tried to avoid being seen out and about.
I got it, even though it was another thing about him April didn’t trust. As I sidestepped past tables and dodged rushing waiters, I took a good look at the man I was planning on saying I do to next spring.
With his dark blond hair, angular features, and deep brown eyes, he was classically handsome. He stood about half a foot taller than my five foot four, which made it easy for us to kiss without either of us having to strain.
A clean-shaven jaw and preppy sense of style made him seem approachable, like the “typical millionaire next door,” as he’d been called by the media once. He wore a salmon-colored button-up shirt tonight, cream slacks, and a matching vest.
I smiled as I approached him, but he didn’t look up from his phone until I pulled my chair out and took a seat across from him. Even then, it was only a perfunctory glance to make sure it was me before his eyes were back on his screen. “Hey, Luna.”
“Hi, love,” I said, reaching across the table for his hand. He moved it to his phone well before I could touch him, all still without looking at me. “Having a busy day, huh?”
“They’re all busy these days.” He scowled at the phone, tightening his grip on it until his knuckles were white, then tossed it down and finally met my eyes properly. For a second.
Then he picked up his menu and studied it instead. “You look good. Shop doing all right?”
“It’s fine. I got an order in today for a wedding in about a month, so that’s exciting.”
“That’s great,” he mumbled, but it was easy to see he was distracted and not just by the menu. He glared at the pages, his eyes slightly unfocused.
I cleared my throat and sucked in a breath, pushing forward. Eventually, I’d get his attention. It was like this with him sometimes. He got so lost in his own world at work that it took some time for him to relax.
“Speaking about weddings, I thought we could talk about ours,” I said as I pulled my phone out of my purse. “I’ve saved some ideas I wanted to run by you.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked.
I frowned, ninety-nine percent sure he was only throwing out random phrases to make it sound like he was listening.
“That’s great, baby,” he said. “I’m so proud of you.”
My eyes closed and I shot up a quick prayer for patience. Making a scene in a restaurant was not my style, nor was it Landon’s. It could take him time to come out of his shell after a long day at work, but I’d honestly thought the prospect of our wedding would snap him right out of it. Apparently, I’d been wrong.
“You’re proud of me for coming up with some ideas for my own wedding? Or are you proud of me for wanting to run them by you?”