Page 34 of A Bossy Roommate
“Tired?” I ask.
“It’s been a long day.”
“I’ll say.” I keep twirling the rings around my finger. “You spent a lot of money on wedding bands that I’m only going to be wearing for two days. I would have been just as satisfied with costume jewelry or something.”
“For the last time. No wife of mine, fake or not, is wearing costume jewelry. Don’t worry about the price of the rings. Besides, you wanted me to be the doting husband who fawns over his wife, didn’t you?”
“I meant flowers and hand-holding,”and kissing, I think, but I don’t say that out loud. Mentioning hand-holding feels audacious enough, but he doesn’t react, so I add, “or showing me more of New York City, not blowing obscene amounts of dollars on rings that are just for show. But hey, it’s your money. You do you.”
Carter leans back in his chair, studying me for a moment. “Tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?” I ask. A spur of excitement rushes through my veins, until I realize he’s just trying to use the time to collect data about me, so we don’t have too much to go through tomorrow night.
“The basics. Where you come from, your parents, you know, things like that. Things I would know if I was your husband.”
“My parents died when I was young. No grandma or grandpa. My sister, she’s many years older, made sure I was fine. She took over Dad’s company, a small home-based eco-friendly landscaping business. Also, it’s comforting to know that I’ll have a family and a job to return to in six months, when I leave New York again, just as I promised her. I owe her a lot, even though sometimes we don’t see eye to eye.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story.”
Carter glances at the watch on his wrist. “We still have time. What happened?”
I sigh heavily. “I’ll give you the short version of events. I fell in love. I asked the man to marry me. He said yes. He left me during the ceremony. My sister never liked him, and when I told her I needed a change, she accused me of running away from my problems.”
Carter studies me with his carefully controlled expression. It’s hard to know what’s going through his mind. When I finish talking, he makes a face. “What fucking lowlife asshole ditches their fiancée at the altar?”
“Rob. That’s his name. Robert Winthrope.”
“He has no right calling himself a man.”
“On that, we can both agree. Apparently, he never loved me. I’m sure he’s off sowing his wild oats and leaving a stream of brokenhearted women in his wake.”
Carter narrows his eyes. “That has to be the most downbeat thing I’ve heard from you in the few days we’ve known each other. You’ve got a knack for keeping things positive.”
“On the contrary, it’s actually a very positive thought.”
“How so?”
“He’s gone.” I try to laugh.
Carter nods, and there’s warmth in his sincere eyes. It almost makes me keel over. It’s a nice, genuine expression, and it makes his stunning face deadly captivating.
Then I remember that the topic we’re talking about is quite sad. But still. It feels good to get it off my chest and be joyful, if even for a moment. I don’t even want to think about the poor women who might fall for Rob in the future.
Our short conversation is over the moment my work phone rings again, and I answer it. Harbor View. Sure, it’s late, and I could have just let it go to voice mail, Carter wouldn’t have minded, but at this point—now that I’ve personally met them and know what’s at stake—I’m fully invested. After pleasantsmall talk with Joe and a nod from Carter indicating that he’ll take the call, I forward it to his phone.
Not long after,the plane finally lands in New York, and before I know it, we’re back at the apartment building. Today has been such an emotional roller coaster. I’m exhausted. All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for as long as I can. I need to get some rest if I’m going to be useful at work tomorrow. The second we get off the elevator, Hattie’s door creaks open, and she nosily peeks out.
“Nothing to see here,” Carter says, unlocking our door and immediately stepping inside.
I ignore his rudeness and smile at Hattie. “It’s just us. Sorry if we disturbed you.”
“Oh, please don’t mind me, I’m just a bit nosy. So…what might you have in that box?”
I look down at the box I’m holding. Inside is the wedding topper of our cake. Well, it isn’t a cake-cake. With the short notice, I got a collection of cupcakes. (Okay, I would have gotten a cake, but I figured wedding cupcakes were way more fun and relatable after the “almost” fire incident, plus they won’t go to waste like a huge wedding cake would have.) The cupcakes are decorated with a luscious vanilla cream topping and a bright red, succulent, juicy strawberry on top. Carter said they were only needed for photos, but I insisted on bringing them home because who wastes cupcakes? Nuh-uh. Not this one.
“Cupcakes. They’re vegan and delicious. Here, have one.”