Page 26 of Acquiring Ainsley
He shook his head.
“It’s okay. It’s just me, so I don’t care.” I glanced at the other restaurant patrons. “But other people might. It’s the way they figure out who belongs and who doesn’t.”
He nodded. “Noted.”
“I hope I wasn’t rude.” I tossed him a reassuring half-smile. “I just… I notice things sometimes.”
“No, this is why I want us to do this.” He shrugged. “Frankly, I need you just as much as you need me, and I’m not just talking about your name. You know the little things that I don’t.”
As I considered this, my mother’s words came back to me. Getting to know Trevor McNamara better couldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen in my life. We were close to the bottom, anyway, and he’d just offered to help me develop the fashion line I’d been kicking around for far too long.
So, what did I really have to lose?
My dignity? Pretty much gone. My social status? We’d lose that for sure if Ross Publishing went bankrupt—the ensuing media frenzy alone would brand Ashton and me forever. My freedom of choice? It wasn’t as if my love life was going well, anyway.
I took a deep breath. If I wanted to leap, I needed to do it—and fast.
“Fine,” I said before I could talk myself out of the decision. “You win, Trevor.”
He leaned in a little bit, as if he didn’t think he’d heard me correctly. “Win what?”
I swallowed, willing myself to pull it together. No going back now, but the rush that pulsed through me told me I hadn’t necessarily made a bad decision. “I’ll do this,” I whispered. “I’ll agree to what you want.”
The left corner of his mouth turned upward, and for the first time, I saw a hint of dimples in his cheeks. They made him more handsome and more boyish. Damn it.
You’re not supposed to like this guy, you’re not supposed to like this guy…
“Do what, Ainsley?”
“What you want,” I replied. “I’ll agree to your terms.”
“My terms?” He sat back in his chair, propped his elbows on the arm rests, and weaved his fingers together. I noticed his long fingers and his rounded nails, two more signs of how much he took care of himself. “You mean the engagement? The marriage? The acquisition? All of it?”
I nodded, then made sure to lower my voice. Even I could hardly believe what I was about to say, but here I was, and this had become my reality. Funny how things were turning out, and this was a twist I hadn’t expected.
I took a deep breath.
“I’ll marry you, Trevor. If you ask me, I’ll say yes.” I looked down at the table and willed my nerves to settle down. When I lifted my gaze again, I also grabbed the edge of the tablecloth, as if it would give me some extra resolve. “Of course, it will purely be a business deal, but I’ll say yes. I’ll do it. If it saves the company,and it saves my family,then you’ve got a deal.”
He moved one hand to his chin and rubbed it back and forth between his fingers as he studied me for a long moment. “And you’re sure about what you’re agreeing to? You’ve thought this through?”
“As much as I can,” I said, despite the little voice in the back of my head that insisted I hadn’t done enough thinking about it at all. “Don’t let me dwell on it anymore—I might decide to do something different.”
He took a deep, heaving breath. “Good. I’m glad you’re going to agree to this. I’ll—we’ll—call Ashton this afternoon and let him know the exciting news.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
He smiled. “Well it is, isn’t it? We’re both about to get what we want.”
“In a way, I guess we are.”
The server arrived with our large lunch salads and a round of fresh cracked pepper. Once she left, though, neither of us picked up our forks. Instead, we went back to staring at each other. My stomach lurched, and my toes curled in my sandals. This was a big decision, and an even bigger moment.
“I just have one request,” I whispered. “If we’re going to get married, I want to do it here. In Palm Beach. I don’t live in New York anymore. This is my home, and this is where I’m the most comfortable.”
“And I have a request, too. I want to do it sooner. No sense in putting it off, so let’s do it in May.” He smiled. “What do you think?”
I gulped. This lunch wasn’t going the way I planned at all, but here I was, making deals anyway. “Fine. May’s perfect.”
