Page 79 of Sweeter Than Fiction

What kind of women does this lady think I’m into?

“Enough,” I begin. “Look, I get that you have this view of your daughter—as skewed as it may be—but that’s not how I see your daughter at all.”

She crosses her arms over his chest. “And how do you see her? As someone you can take advantage of? As someone who makes you feel better about yourself?”

“Not at all. I see a woman who has a kick-ass career that she makes a good living off of. I see a woman who fights every day to get over her anxiety and fears. I see a beautiful woman who has a huge heart who I would do absolutely anything for.” The more I talk, the more heated I feel myself getting. “She lights up my world, and I treasure every moment that I get to spend with her. Dina, I’m in love with your daughter.”

At this exact moment, Abby appears in the doorway, clearly hearing every word that I just said. She looks at her mom, staring daggers through her.

Even though she faces her mom, her words are pointed at me, “Are you ready to go? I think I’ve had about enough.”

“Yeah, beautiful. Let’s go.”

Chapter Thirty

Abby

What the fuck just happened?

Sure, my mom is always critical, but I swear she got even more so when I brought a guy home. You’d think she’d be happy about it, but she found another way to make me into even more of a weirdo.

She probably thinks I’m some type of witch who put a spell on Don that made him fall in love with me.

Does that sound insane?

Yes.

But she probably thinks it’s more probable than a guy like Donovan McDowell being into me. To her, that is just unheard of.

That’s just Mom. I doubt she will ever change.

The real shocker of the evening was hearing Don defending me.

And him saying that he was in love with me.

We still haven’t gotten a chance to talk about it since we apparently got the chattiest cab driver in all of New York City. He has talked non-stop from the moment we got in. Don, being the nice Midwestern guy that he is, has listened to him and engaged the entire time.

Traffic is awful, but we finally manage to make it back home in one piece. The moment the elevator doors close behind us, Don turns to me.

“Baby, I’m so sorry if I freaked you out. I didn’t mean to. I just needed to let your mom know how serious I was about you, and I—”

“Did you mean it?” I ask.

“Huh? Did I mean it when I said I was in love with you?”

I nod.

He pauses for a moment. “Absolutely.”

“You weren’t just saying it to get her to shut up?”

He sets each of his hands on the side of my face and looks down at me. “Abigail Jones, I am one hundred percent, without a doubt, completely in love with you. I meant every single word that I said.”

I look into his gorgeous eyes as my own start to water. I’ve never had anyone say such nice things to me. The only time I ever see a man talk like this is when I read my books.

And now, here is Don, standing here, saying them to me.

Seeing me getting emotional, he asks, “Are you okay? Did I say something wrong? I didn’t mean to freak you out. I know we haven’t been doing this thing for that long, but I know I’m crazy about you.”

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