You're The One (Very Irresistible Bachelors 1)

“Do you think Tess will catch on if we show up with another ring?” she whispered.

“No, I’ll just tell her I messed up and had the wrong ring brought up or something.”

“I’ll just say I changed my mind. Which one do you want to buy?”

I shrugged. “Whichever you want. Doesn’t matter to me. Something you see yourself wearing for some time.” I forced myself to sound detached, like it was all the same to me. When we returned to the living room, Josie glanced at the rings again, and ended up picking one with a round, modest diamond.

Kendra didn’t seem all too surprised that Josie had chosen another ring.

“Don’t sweat it. We women sometimes change our minds,” she said.

I just nodded curtly. What could I say? Josie hadn’t changed her mind. She still wanted the sapphire ring and a future. She just didn’t want that future with me.

I’d known all that, I had no idea why I was feeling so off-kilter. Because I’d wanted to do something nice for her, and it had completely backfired. That was the reason. The only reason.

As Kendra packed up the tray and Josie put the ring on her finger, I wondered if we shouldn’t act more like a couple.

No, this was just fine. We didn’t have to put on a show twenty-four seven. That would get tiring fast. Even real couples weren’t all over each other all the time. Buying the ring was probably one of those moments that did involve emotions though, judging by the disconcerted look Kendra gave us.

But I sensed that Josie needed some space, and I wanted to give it to her.

For the first time, it occurred to me just how much I was asking of her. I’d never given marriage any thought, mostly because I didn’t think anything could last. My own parents’ marriage crumbled when the financial problems started.

But Josie was more optimistic than I was. This was harder for her, going through the motions while possibly comparing it to what she’d imagined.

She was silent after Kendra left. I wanted to leave her with her thoughts but gave up after exactly twelve minutes.

“Let’s call this off. It’s not too

late,” I said.

Josie blinked up at me. “What? Why?”

“Because this is obviously going to be much harder than I anticipated. For you, I mean.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. Just... I imagined the day I was getting my engagement ring to be different.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Hunter. You’ve done so much for me. This is the least I can do.”

I stepped closer, tilting her head up.

“Josie. Look at me. I don’t want you to go through with this out of some skewed sense of obligation.”

“Right.”

“I don’t want you to feel like you owe me, because you don’t.”

“That’s a lot of don’ts.”

“There’s a lot more where that came from.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“I’m discovering a new side to you. Not sure how much I like it.”