Chapter Thirty-Six

Game of Phones

Glancing down the street to make sure no one had witnessed what just happened—least of all Dax—I motioned for Darius to get up and come inside. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you live on TV right now?”

He stood and brushed off his pants. “Oh, I recorded all that earlier in the day.” He grinned. “The magic of television. I gather you watched the segment?”

“Yes,” I said. “You did a great job highlighting Farouche. I’m sure it will up their profile.”

“I’m sure it will.” He stepped into my living room and ran his finger across the back of the dusty piano. “What did you think about the last bit?”

“The last bit?”

Darius frowned. “You didn’t watch until the end? I sent you a secret message.”

I shook my head.

He scrunched up his face a bit, and I could tell he was annoyed. “No matter,” he said. “It was just a sly nod to our little arrangement—me telling you that I was about to make good on our promise. No one who wasn’t in on it would suspect anything.” He winked and handed me the ring box.

I opened it, and the canned lighting above us glinted off the marquise-cut boulder. Darius had impeccable taste, even if the ring was too flashy for me. Kelly would probably give it four drooly-face emojis. I snapped the box shut.

“Darius,” I said. “I…this is very fast—”

“Fast is the point, isn’t it?” He looked me right in the eye. “Remember when I said it’s all about the hustle? This is us hustling. We need to strike while the iron’s hot.”

“I don’t know—”

“Think about it.” He waved his hand in the air as if picturing headlines with our names in them as he crossed the room to my kitchen. “You’re already on your way to becoming a bona fide Chicago celeb now, like it or not, and the two of us together could be the premier couple in town. Once I finally get my radio show, it could include a recurring segment with my illustrious wife, Dr. Annie Kyle.”

“That’s a lovely thought, but—”

“Imagine all the people you could reach and help with a segment like that. You told me that part of your frustration with being a concierge doctor was having to keep your client list small.” He opened my kitchen cabinets, looking for something. A glass.

He had a point, but no. I shook my head. “Darius, please listen to me. I can’t say yes…at least not right now.” I had too many things to consider, including two other guys who were in the picture.

“Okay.” He poured himself a glass of wine from the bottle I’d left on the counter.

Well, that was easy. “I’m sorry,” I said, “and I hope you don’t mind waiting—”

“I don’t mind because I know you’ll eventually say yes.” He sipped the wine and made a face.

This guy’s confidence was legendary. “Oh, do you?”

“Sure, I do.” He pressed his lips together and stepped toward me. “I’m the only answer that makes sense.”

“Really.”

“The Rob guy, I’m sure he’s nice, but he’ll end up boring you to tears. And Dax—”

“Dax isn’t in the picture.”

“Annie.” He raised his eyebrows. “You can keep telling yourself that, but believe me. I’ve been in your shoes.”

“Our situation is different.” I clamped my mouth shut.

Darius patted me on the shoulder. “Maybe your situation is different, and I hope for your sake you’re right. I wouldn’t wish the heartbreak I had to endure on anyone, especially not you.” He reached for my hand and opened my palm, into which he pressed the ring box.

“I told you—”

“Hold on to this,” he said. “Think about it. When you come to your decision, call me.” He shook his head. “No judgment, no ‘I told you so.’ I promise.” He closed my fingers over the box. “I believe we will do great, important, impressive things together, Annie.” He looked me dead in the eye. “No one is going to understand the demands of your career like I will. No one.”

He squeezed my hand and set his half-drunk wineglass on the counter. “We’ll be in touch.”

I wordlessly watched him walk out my front door as I heard Joanne’s chains jingling in the basement. A few moments later, Dax appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Well, that—” I started to say, but Dax cut me off.

A worried frown clouded his face. “Something scary happened with Joanne.”

I shoved the ring box, forgotten, into the bottom of my purse and ran downstairs to check on the dog.