I Don’t Want the Reunion Voucher You Never Meant to Give Me Chapter 03

I Don’t Want the Reunion Voucher You Never Meant to Give Me Chapter 03

Adrian really did give me the whole night.

The restaurant was where we’d had our first date—the table by the window, the steak medium, even the dessert swapped for my favorite sea-salt caramel.

He turned his phone off and slid a deep blue velvet box across the table.

“Open it.”

Inside was a ring.

The center stone wasn’t large, but it had been recut from the old diamond my mother had left me.

I sat there, stunned.

Before she died, my mother had never stopped worrying about my marriage.

I’d handed that diamond to Adrian three years ago.

He always said he was busy, never had time to take me to get it reset.

I thought he’d forgotten completely.

He took my hand, slid the ring slowly onto my finger.

“Pick the wedding date. Stop lying awake thinking someone’s going to steal your spot.”

I stared at the ring and didn’t speak for a long moment.

He pinched my cheek.

“Too touched to talk?”

“Why the sudden urge to get married?”

“It’s not sudden.”

Adrian leaned back in his chair, voice loose.

“You’ve been with me this long. Who else would I marry?”

It wasn’t a romantic line. But for one second, I still almost cried.

He looked back at me, unusually serious.

“Elise. You know exactly who I’d marry, don’t you?”

Of course I knew.

Because I knew, I kept staying.

He pulled me into his arms, kissed my forehead.

“The seventh reunion—big prize for you. Stop saying you’re going to let yourself go. It’s bad luck.”

I leaned into his shoulder, so close to telling him the suitcase by the door was already packed, that I’d bought a ticket to leave next week.

The server brought the cake over just as Adrian stepped away to the restroom.

His phone, left on the table, lit up.

Ivy had messaged.

[Mr. Cole, did you give her the ring? Was she moved to tears?]

[Told you the mature-and-mild type is the easiest to win over.]

[Using her mom’s old diamond makes it look thoughtful instead of like you bought something new—and it keeps her from bringing it up again.]

Then another message.

[Don’t forget what you promised me. At the launch tomorrow I want to use the Unconditional Favor. Whatever I ask, you can’t say no.]

I stared at the screen. My fingers went cold.

So even this—even this one tender moment—Ivy had coached him through.

When Adrian came back and saw me with the ring off, his face darkened.

“What now?”

I slid the phone across to him.

He glanced at it, switched off the screen.

“She helped me figure out how to win you over, and you’re still not satisfied?”

“This was my mother’s.”

“Which is exactly why I used it for the ring.”

He grabbed my hand, forced the ring back onto my finger.

The band scraped my knuckle. I flinched, but he didn’t let go.

“I turned down two meetings to have dinner with you tonight, and you’re going to ruin it over one message?”

I asked, “Whatever she wants tomorrow, you’ll just say yes?”

“A promise I made doesn’t get broken.”

“And if what she wants is you?”

He looked at me for a few seconds, then laughed.

“Then I’ll lend her a day. I’ll still come home to you at night.”

I didn’t say anything.

He turned the diamond to center, his voice going fully cold.

“Elise. Me agreeing to marry you is already more respect than you deserve.”

“Whatever Ivy wants, I’ll give it, and you’ll just have to be uncomfortable with it.”

Adrian stood, grabbed his jacket.

“Keep the ring on. After the launch tomorrow, we’re going to look at wedding venues.”

I looked down at the ring.

My mother’s light—he’d locked it onto my finger, like a shackle I couldn’t unlock.