be happy, then don’t do it. Money can’t fix the differences between you two.”
I nodded, understanding completely what she was saying. It was something I had thought about constantly since Robert and I decided to try again. It was great to have him in my life again, but I couldn’t wrap my head around all this. Deep down, I knew that I would never fit into his life, and I wasn’t sure that he would ever consider giving up his fancy lifestyle for me. Things would come crashing down and I would lose him again, and I knew I wouldn’t recover from that.
I was still wearing the same outfit I had worn to lunch when Robert walked through the door later that night. I had been pacing around the apartment, biting my nails as I thought over my conversation with Rebecca.
“Hey, what’s going on? How was lunch?” Robert asked, walking up to me cautiously.
“It was…interesting.”
“Interesting. In what way?”
“Just…there were things she said that made me think about us.”
His brows furrowed and he forced a laugh. “Like, you’re thinking that we shouldn’t get married right now?”
I stared at him, shrugging slightly. “Are we doing the right thing?”
“What do you mean? We’re dating. The whole engagement thing is just a scam.”
“I know, but are we fooling ourselves into thinking that this could work between us?”
“You know, it sounds to me like you already have one foot out the door.”
“I just don’t see how this could possibly work between us. What would life look like for us if we continue to see each other? You work in the city and I work an hour away from here.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. “Hey, where is this all coming from? Anna, I have no clue what will happen in the next few weeks, let alone the next twenty years. But I know that I’ve missed you over the years. There wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t kicking myself for letting you go. And now I have the chance to see where this could go with you and I’m taking it.”
“But what if-“
“What if what? Do you really want to end this before we even see if it could go somewhere? Anna, all that other shit is just in the details. Either of us could move to be with the other.”
“You would move to be closer to me? Drive an hour to work every day just to be with me?”
“If I was going to move an hour away, it would be because I married you. And I know neither of us is ready to talk about that. Stop thinking about what could happen and just enjoy our time together. We’re just trying to find our footing again.”
“Right,” I laughed, “with a little thing like your job hanging over our heads.”
“Well, that won’t last forever. Once Rebecca moves to New Hampshire, there’ll be no reason for us to keep up this facade. No more pretending. Just the two of us and a normal life,” he smiled.
I returned his smile, feeling a little lighter about this. He was right. I was being crazy. I was worrying about something that wasn’t an issue yet. Robert and I had just started seeing each other again. There was no reason to think about the future. We had to see first if we were even still compatible.
“You’re right. Just forget I said anything.”
“Good. Now, what should we do for dinner tonight?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say no to some Mexican food.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, a sly look on his face.
I thought about it for a moment and grinned. “Italian.”
“You’re sure this time?”
“No.”
He laughed and walked over to the drawer that held the takeout menus. “Oh, by the way, I transferred the money into your account.”
“What?” I asked, confused at his statement.
“The money,” he said, turning back to me, raising his eyebrows, “for the down payment.”
“How did you transfer the money? I didn’t give you my account information.”
“I talked with Mr. Groverton at your bank. I didn’t need your account number. I just told him that I was making a transfer into your account.”
“But…” I shook my head slightly. Surely he couldn’t just transfer money without my consent. “I don’t understand. Don’t I have to approve that?”
He grinned that sexy grin, crossing his arms over his chest. “You forget that I robbed that bank once with my brothers.”
“And that endeared you to him?”
“Well,” he shrugged. “He’s not going to say no to a