know this comes as a surprise,” she laughed. “But…I’m hoping you know in your heart of hearts, as well as I do that we belong together.”
Derrick closed his eyes and expelled a long breath. After a nice evening out with his Kappa Psi Kappa Fraternity Alumni, he had not expected to come home to this. In hindsight, maybe he should have.
“You don’t have to answer right now,” Meghan rushed to say. “Just…think about it. I mean, we’re happy, right? We have so many things in common. So why not get married?”
“Meghan—”
“Derrick, I know you’re scared to settle down,” she continued. “But you don’t have to be. We don’t have to get married right away. If you want we can have a long engagement. You know, so you’ll have time to get used to the idea. We can even wait a few years to have children.”
Setting his new Distinguished Service Award on top of the coffee table, Derrick fingered his tie loose and then stood from the leather sofa in order to put distance between them. “Meghan—”
“Derrick, please. I—”
“Meghan, stop. Please.” He drew a deep breath and forced himself to stare into her sad brown eyes. “I can’t marry you,” he said as gently as he could. “I love you, but I’m not in love with you.”
Snapping the velvet box closed, Meghan choked on a sob, while her entire body imploded before his eyes.
Derrick returned to her side, kneeling on the living room’s plush carpet and pulling her trembling body into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Meg. I never meant to give you hope. I’ve always been upfront with you.”
Meghan tilted her head, her eyes swimming in tears. “Maybe you could grow to love me?”
Sullen, he shook his head. “I’m sorry.” He halfway expected more tears, prepared himself even. What he received instead was a burst of anger.
“You’re sorry? Sorry?” With one strong shove, Meghan sent Derrick reeling backwards onto the floor. “Is that all you have to say after three years—you’re sorry? Screw you!”
“Meg—”
“Don’t! You lied,” she screeched, jumping to her feet.
“I never—”
“Not with your words but with your actions. You’ve always made me feel special.”
“You are special to me.”
“You showered me with gifts, offered me security. You’ve done everything to give me hope that I would be Mrs. Derrick Knight one day. My father is a Baptist minister. I’m supposed to get married.”
Derrick wished with all his might that he could love her the way she wanted to be loved, but he couldn’t make his heart do it. He couldn’t lie to her or to himself.
Wailing, Meghan kicked over the coffee table, and even sideswiped a lamp on an end table as she stormed across the living room. “I wasted three years waiting for you!”
“I don’t consider them a waste,” he offered as he climbed to his feet, only to dodge a flying vase aimed at his head.
“I just bet you don’t! I’ve done everything a good girlfriend should do. I’ve been faithful—”
“I never asked you to do that,” he said. “We agreed that this was an open relationship.”
Meghan’s eyes widened. “You’ve been sleeping with other women?”
“We agreed—”
“Asshole!”
Another vase soared through the air. When it crashed inches from his head, a few shattered pieces ricocheted into his eyes. “Ow! Meghan you’re being unreasonable.”
“You’re damn right I am.” She snatched her purse and coat from the foyer’s closet and then turned to give him a final glare. “I never want to see you again. I hate you!”
Derrick watched as she snatched open the front door and flinched when she slammed it behind her. It rattled in her wake. “Well that went well,” he mumbled under his breath.
He looked around the high-rise apartment and realized he should be grateful she didn’t cause more damage. When he broke up with Mya, he had to hire a decorator to repair the place.
Sighing, he walked to the center of the room and picked up his award. A corner of the plaque had broken off, but it was nothing he couldn’t fix. After another glance around, he promised himself he would clean the mess up in the morning before his flight to Washington. Right now, he just wanted to climb into bed and put this whole fiasco behind him.
In his bedroom, Derrick peeled out of his clothes, showered, and then slid between the bed’s satin sheets. After two hours, he was far from dreamland. All he could see was Meghan’s angry tears.
And Mya’s.
And Genie’s.
And Lana’s.
Exasperated, he flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. They had all loved him. They had all expected a wedding ring. But he wasn’t in love with any of them.
“Maybe it’s time to face the truth,” he said into the darkness. “Love just isn’t in the cards for me.”
Chapter 2
Isabella didn’t float home on a cloud and she doubted she would dream of any happily-ever-after with her newly minted fiancé. Instead, Isabella wondered about the mess she got herself into.
“What do you mean, he proposed? You were supposed to break up with him,” Keri thundered into the phone.
“I know. I know. But what was I supposed to do? He had invited our parents to dinner. Everyone was sitting there staring at me.”
“You were supposed to say no.”
Isabella sighed, and slumped onto the bed. She heard a loud rip, jumped up and ran to the mirror to see a long tear in the back of her dress. “Just great!”
“What happened?”
“Uhm. How soon do you need your green dress back?”
“Izzy, you said you’d be careful!”
“I know. I know.” She sighed. Why was she always such a klutz? “It’s just a small rip,” she lied. “I can fix it.” Balancing the phone between her shoulder and chin, Isabella struggled to reach the back zipper. When it jammed halfway down, she opted to pull the silk dress over her head, which caused her to lose her precious balance, drop the phone and crush her toes.
“Ow. Ow, ow.” She hopped around the room blind on her good foot. Once the throbbing eased, she shouted down to the floor, “Just a sec, Keri.” Isabella wiggled and pulled and after a few long seconds managed to work her way out of the dress. “I’m back.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. I dropped the phone.” She sat on the edge of the bed and reached to take off her shoes when one heel came off in her hand. “Uhm, about your shoes…”
“Izzy!”
“I’m sorry. I just…I’m just sorry.”
“Forget the shoes. What are you going to do about Randall?”
Isabella checked behind her before easing back onto the bed.
“Isabella, are you there? Hello.”
“I’m still here,” she mumbled.
“So what are you going to do? I mean, you’re not going to go through with it, are you? You’re not in love with Randall.”
“I could learn to love him.”
“What?”