Chapter 6 CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SIX

Marie POV

"—and then I asked him to marry me," I blurted, cringing. Even to my own ears those words were unbearable.

"Oh my God," Sara exclaimed, fanning herself dramatically.

"And what did he say?" she asked, leaning forward for the rest of the story, of which there was none.

"Nothing," I grumbled, collapsing into the chair and sucking the ice cream off my spoon.

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing?"

"I mean he said nothing," I groaned, "because I got so embarrassed I ran out of there immediately."

Sara paused for a beat, I peeked at her from under my lashes

“ Just say it” I groaned and she sighed

"I couldn't decide if you were brave or stupid but I guess that answers that," she mumbled, licking her own spoon.

I glared at her. "I take offence to that."

"Of course you do. But darling, why the hell didn't you wait to hear what he said?"

"Because it was a stupid question. And he would have said no," I groaned.

I really wanted the earth to open up and swallow me, rushing out of that cafe and taking the bus back to my and Sara's shared apartment had not changed that at all. I was sure Xavier thought I was some dumb female who married the first man who got her pregnant.

"Well you didn't find out, did you." she drawled wryly and I slumped on the chair.

"I guess I'll find out eventually. He is the father of the child," I muttered.

"So how are you dealing with the parent situation?" Sara asked.

I shrugged.

"I still need a husband but I'll have to find someone willing to play the part."

"Which will be difficult," she muttered.

"I'm aware," I glared.

"So what do you actually want to do?" Sara asked, setting her spoon down and looking at me properly.

"Do you really plan on marrying him?"

I sighed, staring at the melting ice cream in my bowl. "I don't really have a choice."

That wasn't entirely true and we both knew it. I did have one choice.

Bernardo.

And he was definitely not it.

Sara gasped.

I glanced up at her but she wasn't even looking at me— her gaze fixed directly at her laptop screen, her expression somewhere between delighted and scandalized.

"What?" I asked.

She grinned, tongue pressed against her teeth, the exact look she got right before she said something designed to ruin my evening.

"I didn't know you had it in you," she said.

"Had what in me? Sara, what are you looking at?"

She turned the laptop to face me without a word.

I read it and read it again.

A sinking, horrible dread spread through my chest as the numbers on the screen became clearer and I realized in all my haste and panic,I had completely failed to check one thing.

His age.

Twenty-eight.

The number stared at me from Sara's bright laptop.

"Apparently I'm a cradle robber," I cried out, dropping my head into my hands.

Sara burst out laughing, the absolute betrayal of it.

"I can't really blame you," she murmured.

"Now that I've checked him out. He is smoking hot."

I lapped at another spoon of ice cream, snorting

"I didn't notice."

Sara hummed.

"I'm sure you didn't."

"I'm not justifying that with a response."I mumbled.

Of course I'd noticed. I'd have had to be dead or blind not to.

Xavier Richards was a delicious specimen and under other circumstances I would have happily drooled over him from a comfortable distance. As things stood I could at least drool conveniently while having him close.

"It's not so bad," she managed, looking at the laptop screen again

"It's only six years."

"Only six years!" My voice climbed an octave I didn't know was possible.

"Sara, I proposed to a child!"

"He's twenty-eight, Marie, not twelve."

"I don't care, this is humiliating on an entirely new level," I wailed, and she laughed harder, clearly enjoying my suffering far more than any good friend should.

My phone rang.

I froze.

Sara's laughter cut off immediately. "What?"

"It's him," I whispered, staring at the screen like it might bite me.

"Well answer it!"

I shook my head, paralyzed.

Sara, who had never once in her life respected my personal boundaries when it mattered most, snatched the phone off the coffee table and answered it before I could stop her.

"Hello?" Her eyes went wide and she immediately thrust the phone back at me like it had grown teeth.

I caught it, my heart hammering somewhere up near my throat, and pressed it to my ear, breathing too loud to be casual about any of this.

"Marie?"

I made a noise in my throat that was not pretty and sounded closer to a croaking frog than human if that was possible.

"It's Xavier."

"I know," I managed.

"Did you get home alright?"

"Yes." I pressed my eyes shut.

"Look, about earlier — I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me, I panicked and I said something completely inappropriate and I should never have—"

"That's not why I'm calling."

I paused immediately, stunned.

"It's not?"

"No." A pause, brief enough that I almost missed it. "I'd like another chance. One more meeting, if you're willing."

I sat up straighter. Sara, who was very obviously listening to every word, leaned in so far she nearly toppled off the couch

.

"About what?" I asked carefully, not sure what I wanted to hear from him exactly.

"About discussing marriage."

I had not been expecting that.