Page 21 of The Love Bitten Series: Vol 2

Johnny laughed and walked into the back while Patti rang up the charge. I had to pass the ring again on my way to the register. I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam finally finding his consort. Did I still have a chance to find mine? If I did…would I regret not having this band to match my grandmother’s ring? It wasn’t as though I couldn’t simply store them away together and forget all about it. Better to have the ring and not need it, right?

Actually, the ideal situation would be to have it andneed it.

I was handing Pattie my black credit card when I paused and squeezed my eyes shut for a second. This was stupid. There was a one in a million chance that I’d be as lucky as Liam.

My eyes opened, and I turned my head to stare at the band for another second before meeting Patti’s laughing eyes. “You’ll take it?”

I sighed. “Yes.”

1

NARKISSA

“Iknow they say that scotch gets all the air it needs after it’s poured, but I swear I can taste a subtle difference when I use a decanter.” My dad set down his glass of scotch and asked, “Where did you find the one you gave me, Narkissa?”

I glanced down the long length of the table toward him and smiled. “I got it from Tiffany’s. The style I wanted was on backorder, and I had to go with another one. I was a little worried you wouldn’t like the decanter, so I’m really glad to hear that you did.”

“You had nothing to worry about. You’ve always had a knack for picking out the perfect gift.” His attention shifted to the other end of the table where my mother sat. “Isn’t that right, dear?”

It took a moment for my mother to realize he was speaking to her—which wasn’t a huge surprise, considering we were seated at a table for twenty even though there were only four of us. Christmas dinner at my parents’ house had been a formal affair as far back as I could remember. When I was a little girl, I loved dressing up in frilly dresses, sipping sparkling grape juice while pretending it was wine, and nibbling on each of the courses as they were served. Eventually, I realized that other families didn’t celebrate Christmas with stilted conversation while sitting on opposite ends of the room from each other. I started to long for fun holiday traditions like building snowmen and baking cookies as a family, but my mother disabused me of those “silly notions” in no time at all.

“Mm-hmm, one thing we can say about Narkissa is that she has excellent taste in gifts.” She stroked the Hermès silk scarf I gave her and flashed me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

My mother was the master of backhanded compliments, especially when it came to me. I wasn’t the perfect daughter she wanted—that role fell to my younger sister—and she never hesitated to let me know all the ways I fell short. Any praise she gave me had an edge to it, and I’d learned long ago not to take her criticism personally. We were very different people with goals that were worlds apart from each other. The only way I could live up to her standards would be if I tossed all mine out the window, and that was never going to happen.

“It’s just too bad that the same can’t be said for her taste in men.”

I should’ve known she was going to go there. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d come over for a family dinner when she hadn’t brought up the fact that I was single.

“How would we even know what kind of guy she likes?” my sister snorted. “She’s twenty-one and never so much as gone out on a single date.”

I was used to Minerva’s little barbs, but this one still struck a nerve. It wasn’t that her opinion mattered to me that much. It was more that I’d wondered for several years if something was wrong with me. Not because guys didn’t ask me out on dates—that happened plenty even though my sister would be the last to admit to it since she’d gone out with several men who’d asked me first. But I had never met someone who had caught my interest.

There had been no schoolgirl crushes for me. I’d never felt butterflies swirl in my belly over a guy.

The smile our mother aimed Minerva’s way held all the warmth missing from the one she had just given me. Born two years after me, my little sister was everything my mother had ever wanted in a daughter—a carbon copy of herself, in looks and personality.

“Exactly my point, Minnie.” I bit my lip to hold back my usual giggle at her nickname for Minerva. In my head, I always heard a silent “Me” at the end. Our mother couldn’t have picked something more appropriate if she’d tried, but she was utterly clueless as to why I found the nickname hilarious. And after Minerva had accused me of laughing out of jealousy, there was zero chance I was ever going to share the real reason I thought her nickname was ridiculous.

My dad took another gulp of his scotch before setting the glass down again. “Narkissa will date when she’s ready, dear. There’s no reason for either of our girls to rush into a relationship with a man until they find the right one.”

“I already did, Daddy.” Minerva wiggled her left hand to show off the huge diamond ring on her finger. “Charles is perfect for me.”

Her fiancé was far from perfect by any reasonable standard. They’d just gotten engaged two weeks ago, but the man couldn’t even be bothered to join us for Christmas dinner. When I’d asked what he was doing tonight, she’d offered some lame excuse about an international conference call. I wasn’t sure how she’d kept a straight face when she’d said it, as if business meetings on the most celebrated holiday around the world were totally normal. My best guess was that the jerk gave her the ring to get her off his case and was now spending the holiday with his mistress.

“He’s quite the catch,” my mother agreed. “You did an excellent job attracting his eye. He’ll make you a fine husband.”

“He certainly will.” Minerva flashed me a smug grin before she took a sip of her champagne.

I lifted my glass and mumbled, “Only because his bank account will keep you happy.”

“If you have something to say, do it loudly enough that we can all hear you,” my mother scolded. “It’s rude to mutter to yourself at the dinner table.”

After taking a big swig of my champagne, I pointed the empty glass toward my mother and said, “You’re right. I was raised better than that. I should’ve kept my thoughts about Minerva’s pending nuptials to myself. Or even better, I should be impressed that she’s willing to marry a man she doesn’t love and who also doesn’t love her just because he’s incredibly wealthy. Even if he’s off banging some random woman while we have Christmas dinner together.”

My mother and sister gasped in outrage, their cheeks flushing with anger. But my dad stepped in before they could gang up on me.

“I’ll have your tea brought to you in the library, Narkissa.” There was a thread of steel in his voice that left me with no doubt that he expected to be obeyed. “Take however long you need to pull yourself together before you head home.”

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