“I’m not engaged,” she says softly, catching me off guard.
“What’d you say?” I glare at the ring on her left hand. “Then what does that ring mean?”
“Caleb asked me to marry him, but I haven’t said yes.” Her jaw flexes and her eyes ice over. “I don’t plan to say yes, but he wants me to wear it for now—wants me to think about it.”
“I don’t get it.” The more she reveals, the less I understand.
“I know, and I can’t fully explain, but one day I will. I have to work this out on my own.” She drops a kiss on Sarai’s head resting on her shoulder. “Just know that she’s the most important thing—securing Sarai’s future is the most important thing.”
“Securing her future? You mean money? Do you need money, because I can—”
“Please don’t insult me. I’m not with Caleb for the money.” A quick frown pleats her dark brows. “I mean, money is a factor, but not the way you might think.”
If hope is the gap between what if and what is, her words, these few moments shorten that distance. I tentatively run a hand over Sarai’s soft curls. She giggles and buries her head in Iris’s shoulder, shyly peeking back out at me. God, these two could tie me in a knot with their hands behind their backs. Effortlessly.
“I better go.” Iris looks at her watch, her eyes wide and panicked. “My ride’s probably waiting, too.”
“You didn’t drive?” I walk beside her, holding the door open so she can pass ahead of me.
She glances across the street and up the sidewalk in the direction of a large black SUV. Her eyes go wide and she swallows, looking back to me.
“Don’t walk with . . .You don’t need to walk with us. We’ll be fine. My ride’s here.”
She swings her head back to look at the SUV once more before flashing me a quick smile and wave.
“I gotta go,” she repeats. “See you tomorrow.”
Before I can reply, she dashes across the street. A huge body-builder looking guy steps out and helps her and Sarai into the back seat. He stares at me once they’re inside, his presence like a threat—like a warning. He makes me want to snatch Iris and Sarai away from him. I stand there frozen, feeling helplessly protective until the red taillights disappear around the corner.
“Gus!”
I turn toward the only person who calls me that. Jared is parked a few feet away. I’m still not driving much, so he dropped me off.
I tap the hood of his low-slung sports car. “Dude, you’re such a poser.” I laugh and slide into the front seat, careful of my throbbing leg.
“You’re just jealous of my whip,” Jared replies.
“The fact that you used the word ‘whip’ in an actual conversation makes my point.”
We share a grin, but Jared’s ebbs as quickly as it appeared. “Was that who I think it was?” he asks, never one to pull punches. “Walking out with you? The chick with the kid?”
“Who?” I conveniently find something outside my window fascinating. “Was that who?”
“Cut the shit. That was Caleb’s girlfriend, Iris DuPree, wasn’t it?”
I swivel a curious look around to him. “How do you know Iris?”
“I interviewed her maybe two years ago for an internship,” he says. “She’s sharp.”
“Yeah, she is. Why didn’t you give her a job then?”
“Because at the end of the interview, she threw up all over me.” Jared’s grin is rueful. “She found out she was pregnant. I offered her a job, but by then she was on bed rest and couldn’t work. I believe she was on bed rest almost the entire pregnancy.”
Pregnant. Unable to work or earn money. Confined to the bed for months. No wonder she said she’d had hard choices to make. It sounds like she did the only thing she could do—stay with Caleb.
It infuriates me. She barely knew me. Of course, she wouldn’t have turned to me, but I wish she had. I would have done anything to keep her free of him.
“Please tell me this hasn’t all been about her. Tell me you didn’t provoke Caleb and jeopardize your career, a thirty-million-dollar contract for some chick?”
