The Proposal (Forever Bound Book 2)

by Bree Callahan

  The truth was, Charity already had plans with Damian, but she wasn’t going to tell her friend that. She slipped into her bedroom and sent Damian a message.

  Charity: Have to cancel tonight. I’ll try to shoot for tomorrow.

  She waited in her bedroom until his response came through.

  Damian: Understood. Hope all is well.

  That was the type of reaction she was thankful to get. It didn’t sound like a jealous boyfriend. Damian might have been disappointed, but so was she. She left her bedroom and Ana watched her enter the living room. “Doing alright?” Ana asked.

  “Of course. Why?” Charity asked.

  Ana shrugged. “You darted into the bedroom so fast that I just was curious.”

  Charity shook her head. “Everything’s great. So…ready to go?”

  Ana glanced at her watch. “How about we leave in fifteen minutes.”

  Charity frowned but shrugged. She didn’t know why fifteen minutes would make a difference, but this was Ana’s plan, and she was going to let it ride. She took some extra time on her hair, since they had some time to kill, then left the bathroom and found Ana was all ready to go.

  “Do you want me to drive?” Charity asked.

  Ana shook her head and held up her car keys. “Already have the keys and ready to go.” They left the apartment, and Charity noted how quickly Ana was moving.

  “Where’s the fire?” Charity replied with a laugh.

  They got in Ana’s car, and Ana started it, then backed out of the parking spot. “I just want to make sure we get there and can sing a song.”

  Charity groaned. She enjoyed watching the people sing, but she had to have several drinks in her before she felt comfortable enough to sing. “I’m not singing,” Charity replied with a laugh.

  “Aww…come on. You have to sing,” Ana replied as they headed towards the club.

  Charity thought about it. There were a couple of Reba McEntire songs she didn’t mind singing in front of people, but she wasn’t in the mood to drink too much. They reached the club, and Ana parked. The parking lot wasn’t too busy for a Saturday night, so Charity figured they would have plenty of opportunities to make fools of themselves, should they so choose.

  When they got into the club and took a seat, Ana started fidgeting and looking around the club. “What are you looking for?” Charity asked.

  “Nothing!” Ana quickly responded.

  Charity frowned. It was clear that wasn’t the case. Ana was a horrible liar. “Ana?” Charity started.

  “What?” Ana looked to her right where Charity was staring back at her.

  “What are you looking for?” Charity asked again.

  Ana opened her mouth, and her eyes drifted behind Charity. She quickly closed her mouth. It was obvious something was bothering Ana. Charity started to turn around, but Ana quickly stopped her. “Wait!”

  It startled Charity, causing her to nearly fall out of her chair. “What’s wrong?” Charity asked.

  “Nothing,” Ana nonchalantly said. “Will you go get two beers?”

  Charity frowned, dumbfounded by her friend’s strange attitude. Ana just smiled as Charity stood up to go to the bar. “I’ll take two beers…light.” She called out, trying to do it over the music that was blaring in the background.

  “Coming right up.”

  The bartender didn’t take long putting together their orders, and she tossed the money down at her, thanked her, and grabbed the beers. When she turned around, she bumped right into the man that was approaching the bar. “Excuse…” her words fell off as she stared at Derek. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  His eyes lit up, but his facial expression was one of bewilderment. “Jesse said we needed a guy’s night out.”

  Charity nodded. It suddenly was all coming to her. The setup between Jesse and Ana made perfect sense. “Oh…he did, did he?” She glanced behind him and found Jesse already seated at their table.

  “Let me guess…Ana said you needed a girl’s night out?”

  Charity nodded. “Something like that.” She smiled. “You and Jesse can have your guy’s night out. I’m leaving.”

  She pushed past him, but he grabbed onto her hand, and she nearly dropped the bottle from her grasp. “They were doing something nice. I’m sorry if you feel railroaded into being here, but stay. Would it kill you?”

  “Quite possibly,” she mumbled. The fact was seeing Derek made her realize that she wasn’t really over him, and she didn’t think she’d be able to stay there and act all casual. “You were railroaded, too, so why aren’t you just as angry?”

  He laughed. “Maybe because I’ve wanted to casually bump into you. Come on, it’s not the end of the world. Just stay for one drink.”

  She looked over to their table and found Jesse and Ana enjoying some conversation, and she really didn’t want to interrupt that. “Fine! For Ana’s sake, I will stay, but once the beer’s done…so am I.”

  She turned around and headed back to the table, not staying to hear what his response was. When she got back to the table, Ana and Jesse looked up. Ana’s face was a shade of pink. “Isn’t this crazy running into Jesse and Derek here?”

  “Crazy!” Charity calmly replied. She kept her eyes on Ana, and she could sense that Ana knew Charity wasn’t buying that it was a coincidence.

  “Charity, how have you been?” Jesse asked.

  Charity nodded. “Not bad. Thanks for asking.” She took a drink from her beer bottle. From the corner of her eye, she saw Derek watching her.

  Jesse, Ana, and Derek got lost in conversation, while Charity continued to drink and pretend she was paying attention to the conversation. She didn’t even hear the conversation until Ana mentioned the mall project. “So, when do you break ground, Derek?” she asked.

  Charity’s eyes slipped to Derek, and he had been watching her, but then quickly turned his eyes to Ana. “Monday!” he replied. There was light in his eyes when he talked about the project, and Charity was happy for him, even if she didn’t even want to speak to him.

  He turned to her, and she started to look away, but then realized his statement was directed towards her. “You should come. It’s at ten thirty.”

  She thought of something cold to say to him, but then the man on the stage was speaking, and she was distracted. “Thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight. We appreciate it.”

  Charity turned back to him, pushing the man’s voice out of her mind. “I would love to, Derek…really, but I’m pretty sure I’m busy that day.”

  “Busy, huh?” he asked. He chuckled, infuriating her.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, sitting up and staring at him.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, it just seems to me that maybe your plans could be adjusted.” He took a drink of his beer. Ana had a hold of her arm to pull her back, but she didn’t want anything to do with it.

  “I shouldn’t have to adjust my plans, just to come to your stupid groundbreaking ceremony.”

  His eyes widened. “Stupid? You don’t believe in jobs for the town?”

  “Derek…Charity…” Jesse started, but Derek held up his hand to quiet his friend.

  “I’ll tell you what, honey, that mall is going to be good for this city.”

  “Don’t. Call. Me. Honey.” She spoke between her clenched teeth, and his smile was causing her blood to boil.

  “Charity…” Ana whispered.

  Charity shot her a glance but then went back to telling Derek how she felt. “You may think you rule the roost, but you don’t when I’m concerned, and I’ll tell you another thing…” Her words were cut off when Ana grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. “What are you doing?” Charity snapped.

  Ana pointed to the stage. “We’re on!”

  Charity stared at her. “We’re on?” That’s when Charity heard the man’s voice on the stage. He announced their name and the way he said it made her believe it wasn’t the first time they were being called. “Oh, now you don’
t…” Charity tried to pull away from Ana. “I haven’t had nearly enough to drink,” she hissed.

  By this time the crowd had started chanting their names. Charity panned her eyes around the crowd and landed on Derek and Jesse’s table. Jesse was eagerly calling out their name, but Derek seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but there. “Come on little lady, don’t be shy.” The announcer said. The crowd applauded, and she felt she had no choice. Peer pressure instantly took over.

  She shot an I could kill you look towards Ana, but turned to the stage. The crowd’s cheers grew louder as Ana and Charity stood behind their microphones. The announcer left the stage, and a song started. Reba McEntire’s Does He Love You, started to play. She groaned but took her place as she would soon need to start her part.

  She did. She sang every part that Reba McEntire sang, with Ana picking up the Linda Davis parts. Her eyes remained on the audience, but she avoided Derek’s eye contact like he was the plague. The audience got into it and eventually she didn’t even care that she started to sing off key, she got into the song, as well. When the song ended, They both bowed as if they were stars everyone cheered. Charity’s eyes dipped down to the table right next to the stage. Derek was even clapping, and it annoyed her.

  She turned to guy changing out the Karaoke music and asked him, “Do you have You’re so Vain?”

  He nodded. “Singing another?” he asked with a huge smile.

  She nodded, feeling confident she was doing the right thing. She turned to Ana. “I’ve got this one.”

  Ana’s eyes grew wide, and her surprise was clear. She left the stage and went back to the table as the song started. The music started playing, and her eyes went to Derek’s. He laughed, as it was obvious who the song was meant for. She didn’t care who knew it.

  ****

  Derek slowly drank his beer, as he peered at Charity over the top of his bottle. It was pretty telling why she was singing the song. Beside him, both Ana and Jesse tried to console him and tell him that Charity would come around, and it would just take time, but he didn’t buy it. She was stubborn, and that was part of the reason he liked her as much as he did, but he couldn’t force her to listen to him. He couldn’t force her to trust him again, and he certainly couldn’t force her to forgive him.

  As her song continued, her voice did waver, but the audience ate it up. She seemed to be having a blast, and he liked seeing that. Her eyes pretty much stayed connected with him the majority of the song, and as he finished his beer, the song came to an end. He stood up from the table. “Where are you going?” Jesse asked.

  Derek snickered. “I’m leaving. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. It’s not worth it.” He smiled at both of them. “Thanks for inviting me out. It was a real blast.” He directed his statement to Jesse.

  Jesse nodded. “I’m sure it was. Are you sure you want to leave?” Jesse asked.

  Charity started to descend from the stage and Derek quickly nodded. “I’ll talk to you later!” He escaped out of there, so he didn’t have to face Charity again. He understood her being upset, but he hadn’t expected how truly hurt she seemed.

  ****

  “Where’s Derek going?” Charity asked nonchalantly.

  Ana laughed. “Uh…he left. Can you blame him?” She raised a scolding eyebrow at Charity. Charity looked down at the table. Maybe she did take it a step too far, but she wanted to get her point across. She saw Jesse watching her, so she didn’t point that out.

  “Ready to go?” Charity asked Ana.

  Ana stood up from the table. Jesse stood up, as well. “Derek was my ride home, can I hitch a ride?” he asked. He didn’t bother looking at Ana, he asked Charity the question.

  Charity nodded. “Of course.”

  They left the bar and the closer they got to Ana’s car, the more sick she felt. Jesse quickly got in the backseat, so she nabbed the passenger seat. She remained quiet as she stared out the window and thought about Derek. She wasn’t usually the vindictive type, and when it came to Derek, she felt like she was putting him through the wringer because he hurt her and she liked him that much. It was even ten times worse than how she would’ve treated Joe if she ever saw him again.

  She barely noticed when they turned into Jesse’s driveway. Ana stopped the car, and she got out to walk Jesse up to his door. Charity watched them as they reached the front porch. Ana wrapped her arms around his neck, and they kissed. It was so easy for them. She wanted that kind of love someday, but being let down by Joe, and then Derek led her to strongly believe she would never get there. They stopped kissing, and Ana turned back around and headed back to the car. She waved to Jesse before she got into the car. After Jesse was in the house, Ana turned to Charity.

  Charity turned away from her gaze. “Don’t even…I know what you’re going to say.”

  Ana didn’t say anything, even if she wanted to. She started the car and backed out of the driveway, then headed back to their apartment. The silence was strong in the car, and she would’ve given anything to hear a fly buzzing around her ear, or a cricket making an irritating noise. She would’ve even settled for nails on a chalkboard. She hated hearing the awkwardness between them, especially when she could sense everything Ana wanted to say to her.

  Ana turned into the parking lot and parked, and they quietly got out of the vehicle and headed up to the stairs to their apartment. When they reached their door, Ana unlocked the door with the keys she held in her hand. Once inside, Charity started to head to her room, and that’s when Ana cleared her throat, stopping Charity from leaving the living room.

  “What?” Charity asked, turning around to face her friend.

  Ana had her arms folded in front of her like she was an angry parent that caught their child missing curfew. “I just have one question, and then we can forget it if that’s what you want.”

  Charity cocked her head and sighed. “What?”

  “how in the world can you be civil with Jesse and not with Derek?”

  Charity couldn’t believe Ana wouldn’t drop it, and she couldn’t believe that Ana wouldn’t already know that answer. “Ana, please just drop it.” Charity turned away from her but didn’t move out of that living room. She took a deep breath and turned back around to see Ana eye to eye. “Fine. I can be civil to Jesse because Jesse isn’t the one that I fell in love with.” Her voice raised, and Ana held a hint of a smile on her lips. “Why are you smiling?” Charity asked.

  “That’s the first time you said those words. You’ve danced around them…sure, but that’s the first time you’ve actually said them.”

  Charity looked down at the plush carpeting and started to run circles on it with her shoe. “It’s not the first time I thought them,” Charity replied softly.

  “He hurt you, but if you were sitting at that table like I was and you saw the pain you were causing him…I think even you would’ve felt sorry for him.”

  Charity laughed. “Highly doubtful.”

  Ana grinned. “You may be wrong about that. Jesse asked him where he was going and do you know what Derek’s answer was?”

  Charity shrugged. “I’m getting away from the psycho that’s singing about me on stage?” she asked.

  Ana laughed and shook her head. “No, but that should’ve been his answer.” Charity smiled, softening a little. “His answer was that he was leaving because he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. He said it’s not worth it. He left because it was overly obvious how much you didn’t want to be around him. That’s saying something, Char…you have to admit it is.”

  Charity shrugged. “I suppose so.” She acted nonchalant about it, but it did play to her heartstrings. She appreciated that he would leave just to make her more comfortable. They had argued before going up on stage, and she said some things she regretted. She thought the mall project was a necessity for the city, yet she couldn’t even tell him that. She let her pride get in the way of being a kind human.

  “How would you feel if next week you discovered that Derek
had moved on, found another woman, and was happy. Would you have any jealousy?” she asked.

  Charity shook her head. “I’d say I was sorry for the new woman, and I may have to make sure she knows about the inheritance, but besides that I’d say good for him.”

  Ana raised an eyebrow and Charity said she meant every word, but Ana didn’t seem to believe her. “I’ll remind you of that if it happens.” Ana pushed past Charity and went into her own room. Charity stood there, unmoving. She wanted to believe the words, but there was a reason Ana didn’t. Even saying the words didn’t sound real. She couldn’t picture Derek with someone else, and it was going to be a long road for her to get over him.

  Chapter 9

  Charity wanted to put Saturday out of her mind because she didn’t want to show her feelings. So, she made sure she spent every waking minute with Damian. On Sunday she went to Damian’s house, and after they had supper together, they were immediately back in the throes of sex. They didn’t even make it out of the kitchen as it was like some romance movie and Damian shoved the dishes off the table and laid her down on top of the table.

  The dishes shattered once they hit the floor and he didn’t even care. They spent two hours in that kitchen until he pulled Charity off of the table and they carefully maneuvered around the broken glass, left the kitchen, and headed upstairs to his bedroom. His lips went back to hers, and they kissed, slowly he lowered her down to the bed. Her raspy breathing was clear as she stared at him. He reached across the bed and grabbed another condom. He had them stashed everywhere. She was two seconds from telling him he didn’t need to bother when he sheathed himself and propped himself above her. She didn’t bother. His lips slowly went down to hers, and they gently kissed.

  His erection slid across her stomach and then his tip was gently touching her opening. “You know how to make me forget my problems,” she softly whispered. Her hand stroked the nape of his neck, and she brought him down so they could kiss. His tongue slowly slid across hers and she let a moan escape between their lips.