Eli
Eli
E van had called during his morning meeting and Eli excused himself and stepped into his temporary office to take his brother’s call. He’d have to come up with some excuse to tell Mina, but he wanted his brother’s honest opinion on something, and he couldn’t wait. He only had one more day with Mina in Colorado and he wanted to figure out his next move before they got back on the plane to fly home.
“Hey,” Eli answered, “thanks for calling me back.”
“Not a problem,” Evan said, “is everything okay out there?” The company that Eli was investigating was Evan’s baby—well before his actual kid was born.
“Everything is great,” Eli assured. “This company looks like a solid risk. I think you guys should snatch it up before they figure out what a deal you’re getting. I’m not calling about business though.”
“Are you all right?” Evan asked.
“I’m fine and before you ask next, Mina is good too. She’s why I’m calling. I want to ask her to marry me, and I need to know how you would feel about that,” he said. He could hear Carrie’s squeals on the other end of the call and Eli groaned. “Tell me that you don’t have me on speaker,” he begged his brother.
“I wish that I could tell you that, but I can’t,” Evan said. “I can tell you that my wife thinks that it’s a fantastic idea.”
“And you?” Eli asked. “How do you feel about me asking Mina to marry me?”
“It seems a bit sudden. Hell, I didn’t know that you two were even together,” Evan said.
“Yeah, that kind of happened this week. I asked her to give me a shot, and she did. I’ve wanted her since your wedding and honestly, I think that I’ve been in love with her since about then too,” Eli admitted.
“Have you two discussed marriage?” Evan asked.
They hadn’t discussed anything past this week. “No,” Eli breathed. “Do you think she’ll turn me down?”
“I have no idea,” Evan admitted. “I guess all you can do is ask and find out if she feels the same way about you.”
“You’re not making me feel very confident,” Eli grumbled.
“Sorry, man,” Evan said. “You’re kind of catching me off guard. Do you have a ring?”
“No, I was hoping that you’d know of someplace out here where I could get her one.” He hadn’t really planned any of this out properly. All Eli knew was that he couldn’t imagine not having Mina by his side and in his bed for the rest of his life.
“I actually have a guy out there. He helped me out when I bought Carrie’s ring. He has a store out there too if I’m not mistaken. Let me give him a call and I’ll give him your contact information.”
“Thanks, man,” Eli said. “Can you tie your wife down and keep her from telling Mina about all of this?”
“I can, but I’m not promising that I can keep her from spilling the beans if you end up taking too long,” Evan admitted.
“I plan on asking Mina tomorrow before we head home. Well, if your guy can help me out,” Eli said.
“Let us know how it goes, man,” Evan said.
“Will do, thanks, Evan,” Eli said, ending the call. He wasn’t sure if he was making the right decision to tell Evan about wanting to marry Mina. But he was one hundred percent sure that he was doing the right thing by asking Mina to be his wife. That part was a no-brainer.
Eli had spent the day in meetings with Mina by his side, but he did manage to get a few minutes to sneak away and pick up the special surprise that he had ordered for her. He just hoped that it was going to be a good surprise.
His brother was right, the jeweler that he sent him to really helped him out. Now, all he had to do was get up the courage to ask Mina to marry him and convince her that it wasn’t too soon.
She followed him to his office and sat down on the chair in the corner of the room. He hated that she was using it as her office. She had pulled another chair over to sit in front of her seat and was using it as a desk to hold her laptop.
“You know, I really hate that you won’t share my desk with me,” he said.
“Your desk is almost as small as my little makeshift one. I’ve been doing just fine. Besides, it’s only for a week. We’ll be back home tomorrow and then; I’ll have my desk back.” She looked so sad every time she spoke about them returning home. He felt the same way about having to go back because it might mean that their time would be over. It was why he’d come up with the plan to ask her to marry him. Every time he thought about going home, back to his lonely life without her, he wanted to beg her for more than a week. At first, he told himself that it was a bad idea. He didn’t want to push her for more than she was ready to give. But the more days that passed, the more he wanted to beg her to be his for more than just the promised week. He was sure that she felt the same way about him. All he had to do was ask, and she might say, yes, to his crazy request.
“Are you looking forward to going home tomorrow?” he asked.
“Um, sure,” she lied.
“Mina, you don’t have to do that with me,” he said. “You can talk to me.”
“I’m afraid that if I tell you how I’m feeling, you’ll turn me away.” Hearing that she was afraid of the same thing he was gave him some strange hope.
“I’d never do that, honey,” he said. He stood and crossed the small office that they were sharing, holding out her hand to her. Mina took it and he pulled her up from her seat, against his body. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m afraid that once we go home, this all ends. I’ve really enjoyed our week together,” she admitted. “So much.”
“I have too,” he agreed. This wasn’t quite how he had planned to ask Mina to marry him, but he also didn’t want to let the moment pass. “That’s why I ran out this morning. I had to pick this up.” He pulled the ring box from his pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked. Mina popped open the box and gasped. “Is this what I think it is?” she asked.
“If you think it’s an engagement ring, then you’re correct,” he said. “Marry me, honey.”
“Marry you?” she asked. “You can’t be serious. We’ve only been together for a week.”
“I know that, but honestly, I’ve loved you for a lot longer,” he admitted.
“You love me?” she asked.
“I do,” he breathed. “I was hoping that you felt the same way and would want to marry me.”
Mina looked down at the ring box and back up at him. “I’m not sure how I feel right now, Eli,” she admitted. “I need time to think. This is all happening so quickly.” He released her and took a step back from Mina, wanting to give her some space. Eli wanted to kick himself for rushing into asking her. He had a whole evening planned with dinner, dancing, and then, a romantic night where he’d ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. He blew it, and now, all he could do was backtrack and give her some time and space as she requested.
“I understand,” he lied. He didn’t understand any of this, but he would after he took some time to regroup. “Listen, why don’t you go back to the hotel for the night? I’ll meet you on the plane. You take all the time you need to think about my proposal. I won’t rush you, Mina,” Eli assured.
“If I go back to the hotel, where will you stay? That’s not fair to you, Eli,” she insisted.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll have someone come by to grab my things and I will stay in town for the night,” he said.
“That’s not what I meant when I said that I needed to think about your proposal. I don’t want you to go away. I just need time to think,” she said.
“Well, I’m giving you that time. If I stick around, I’ll keep bugging you for an answer. I know me, Mina. Just let me know when you’ve decided.” He wanted to be celebrating by now. He had so many plans that weren’t going to happen now—possibly ever. What if Mina decided not to accept his proposal? What would he do then? This was his biggest fear when he was trying to decide if he and Mina could even work together. How were they going to face each other on Monday and work together?
“I’ll meet you at the hangar in the morning,” he said. Eli grabbed his car keys and walked past Mina, leaving her standing in the corner of the office, the ring box still in her shaking hand. “Please don’t do this,” she shouted after him. He wanted to turn around and tell her that she was the one who was doing this to him—to them, but it would be pointless. His only way forward was to try to save face and give her the time that she had requested from him. He wouldn’t push her into something that she didn’t want and apparently, Mina didn’t want him.