The Proposal - Kitty Thomas Page 0,22

are oil baron, janitor, firefighter, police chief, and CEO of a startup.

“Good guess,” he says after that last one. “You're right.”

I lean forward over the table, not missing how his eyes go straight to my cleavage. I grab his tie and pull him to me for a kiss far too sweet for that level of aggression.

“What was that for?” he asks when I pull back.

“Oh, so prizes just flow one way?”

He chuckles.

The ice now broken, we get into a variety of topics that seem safe for a first date. Then the food comes and we have something to occupy us besides nerves and small talk. I'm surprised I still get first date nerves. I should be more afraid of this date going well and how that might disrupt the balance of the roster. I also wonder briefly during dinner if he picked a place he knew I could afford to see if I'd go for the check at the end. The answer to that? Not even if someone dangled him over a cliff.

I've been told if the guy has money I should at least offer to pay part so I don't look like I'm just after his money, but absolutely not. A man that obsessed with the evil of a woman who wants a man who can provide for her is too damaged for me to deal with. If men can excuse their wandering eye with evolution, I can use the same argument for my need to have things paid for. Besides, he invited me. It's rude to invite someone out to dinner and not pay. You can find this rule in any standard etiquette book.

For dessert we share an order of cherries poached in red wine with mascarpone cream, which is just as sexy as it sounds.

After the meal, Dayne stands. “If you'll excuse me for a moment.”

He's gone a few minutes, and when he returns he asks if I'm ready to go. It occurs to me as he pulls my chair out that he got up and took care of the bill out of sight so it didn't even touch the table. Damn that's smooth. Jack who?

Dayne walks me to my car and goes for another kiss. I let him because it's not as though I can play the I don't kiss on the first date card after I already kissed him in the restaurant.

I thank him and tell him I had a lovely time, and he gracefully disengages and leaves once I'm safely inside my car.

He calls two days later to set up another date. Jack has started running hot and cold on me. I find I can't justify this anymore because I definitely can't juggle four men.

So Dayne is now on the roster taking Jack's place. I'm not sure how I got to this moment of dating three men that are actually serious candidates at the same time. Right now everything is wonderful, perfect. But I can't help my mind moving forward in time.

After all, I can't just rotate men in and out of my life forever. That was never the plan. The idea was that at some point the right man would step up and propose and then this life I was told I was supposed to want, the one that would make me happy would finally get started.

I allow myself for the first time to truly consider the new risk. What if I fall in love with more than one man? My problem is I attach too hard. This dating plan seemed perfect on paper. With three men I could never overattach to one if that one decided to string me along. I didn't truly consider that instead of solving all my problems I might have made them three times worse. Because I've already attached to Griffin and Soren. And I could see myself attaching to Dayne.

What if one of them proposes and I have to break three hearts... the other men I'm dating... and my own? What then?

But my mind remains silent, refusing to offer up an answer to this new dating problem I've created. I'm tempted to call Dayne back and say I can't do it. A love triangle surely is more manageable than a rectangle. But I don't make that call, instead leaving it to fate to untangle.

Griffin

I Met This Great Girl

Seven and a half months ago. Early November.

I'm at the most boring charity art auction I think I've ever had the displeasure of attending, but my company made a large