Four.
Nick
I wasn’t able to convince a single family member to not come with me to the airport to pick up Miss Bell— Joy , I remind myself. Shit. I can’t be slipping up and calling her Miss Bell in front of my family.
I was , however, able to convince them to let me drive the rental car alone. While my parents, Natalie, Martina, Tucker, baby Izzy, Rich, Leah, and my Aunt Sara and Uncle Allen—who came in just in time for all the excitement—ride separately in a parade of vehicles.
And by excitement , I mean my proposal to a woman I barely know.
We’ve worked together for the last three months, give or take, and I know nothing personal about her life or who she is outside the office. I’ve been in my own world since Dad’s diagnosis.
My mother tried to have me change into a suit for this, and somehow, I got out of it. Telling her Joy is a simple woman and she would rather I be comfortable —a complete assumption on my part. I couldn’t stop her from insisting I buy flowers to make some sort of ‘scene’ for when I proclaim my love, though.
I don’t know how this spiraled so out of control so damn quickly, because I’ve got a bouquet of two dozen red roses in my passenger seat and a box of fresh petals to lay at my feet on the spot I’ll be proposing to her.
In the middle of the airport.
My phone rings and I hit the Bluetooth connected to my rental to answer, “Hey, Rich. Did you get her HR file?”
Rich is the only one who knows Joy is my assistant and not my girlfriend…or soon-to-be fiancée. Well, at least not for real. I had to tell him, and the mortified expression he gave me when I did, has me on edge. He understands why I said what I said, but he’s just as nervous about how this is going to play out as I am.
“Yeah.” My cousin sighs, judgment coming through the speakers. “You sure you want to do this, Nick? I’m sure if you just talk to your dad, he’ll understand—”
“No,” I bite out. “That’s no longer an option. You saw his face. Mom’s, too. They need this. And like hell I’m letting fucking Eric take something that belongs to me.”
“It’s not them I’m worried about,” he replies. He’s worried about how Joy will respond to this. Me, down on one knee the second I see her, pleading with her to say yes and play along. But it’s the only option I have.
“I’ll explain everything to her and she’ll be compensated for all of her time.”
“You could’ve told her over the phone before you bought the plane ticket,” he mutters. “Give the poor woman a chance to know what she’s about to walk into.”
I thought about that, but I didn’t want to give her the chance to say no, that she wasn’t coming. Especially after she told me she would come at a last second’s notice. I’ll have to ask her how the hell she swung that and make sure she’s reimbursed accordingly.
“Read me what you have in her file,” I tell him. I need to know everything I can before I get to this airport. It’s the bare minimum, but it’ll have to do.
Rich says something to Leah, instructing her to read off the attached file in his email. I knew Leah would find out eventually. Rich isn’t one to keep secrets from her, rightfully so.
The less people who know this one, though, the better.
“Joy Mara Bell. She’s twenty-five years old. She went to the University of Houston for her bachelors in advertising and moved to Dallas two years ago. She worked with a few agencies before landing at Davis Sporting Goods as a promotions assistant. She has a clean record and an amazing credit score.” Leah trails off quietly, “How is she so young with a credit score like this, honey?”
“She probably—”
“Guys, focus,” I snap. We’re less than five minutes from the airport, we can’t be having these side conversations. “What else?”
“Um…” There’s a long pause. “That’s really it. She lived in Los Angeles most of her life and moved to Dallas after college. There’s not much here.”
Shit . “All right. Thanks, Rich.”
“Hey, uh, Nick,” Leah starts, “have you thought about what could happen if she says no?”
My chest feels tight at the thought alone.
I’ve been intentionally avoiding the very idea she might tell me no.
The plan is, if I can keep a good distance between myself and my family during this proposal, I should be able to convince her to play along. I’ll have to do a lot of pleading with my eyes, subtle cues. Let’s just hope she picks up on them.
“Just…keep everyone back so they can’t hear what I say to her, all right?”
When our parade of vehicles arrives at the airport, everyone heads inside. Her flight took off a few minutes late, but it looks like they’ll be arriving on time. My mother takes charge, mapping out the small area at baggage claim to get a lay of the land . Thankfully, she also wants everyone to give me a private moment with Joy before she’s bombarded by meeting the family for the first time .
I pick a spot and call it good. I lay out the rose petals at my mother’s instruction—my father looking on with amusement and a beaming smile.
I’ll take that smile, I decide. If I go through all this ending in Miss Bell suing me for harassment, at least my parents are thrilled.
Everyone moves back, and my sister gives me a suspicious side-eye. She wasn’t as easily convinced as my parents were six hours ago, and either she’s choosing to let them have this, same as me, or she’s waiting to get me cornered for questioning.
I ignore the dozens of prying eyes between passing travelers and take out my phone to check she’s landed. Another few minutes and she’ll be coming this way.
My palms start to sweat holding this cliché bouquet. My knees are locked with an anxious twitch, ready to buckle and drop down to one knee the moment I see her.
Should I wait to kneel? Try and whisper to her about the situation? Or go in full throttle?
She has no idea what she’s walking into…
I’ve got this , I tell myself. I can sell this to her .
Sell it to her so she’ll sell it to my entire family.
Fuck.
It’s not another five minutes before I spot her. I see her long before she sees me and I take the moment to look her over. She’s got a large bag slung over her shoulder and a carry-on wheeling at her side. I recognize her clothing as the DSG women’s yoga apparel. High-waisted, lavender yoga pants, and a light-grey cropped hoodie paired with white sneakers.
She’s stunning. I always found her appealing to look at, her body a perfect hourglass shape with full curves. But…looking at her now outside of the office, dressed how she is, with my mind focused solely on her and what I’m about to do…I realize how beautiful she truly is.
From her thighs to the pop of her hips and plump ass, the dip of her waist as it curves out to her ample breasts. All the way up to her lush lips and hazel eyes. Her long, dark hair is slung up high in a ponytail, swinging from side to side as she walks this way.
And the closer she gets, the harder my heart hammers in my chest.
I didn’t even think about her coming from sunny California to below-freezing Wisconsin. She went from perfect beach weather to several feet of snow. I’ll have to figure out an excuse, a reason for why she didn’t come weather appropriate.
She peers around for a second and, as the crowd clears a path to baggage, she sees me.
The smile she sends my way is…gorgeous. And it fades faster than I hoped it would as she takes in the sight of me.
Here goes nothing.