A Night With A Stranger novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: Three Tries and a Chair

Evan's POV

The ring had been in my jacket for six days.

It was a plain square-cut diamond on a thin gold band.

I had picked it over eleven bigger ones.

Jada had once said she'd never wear a stone she couldn't wear under a surgical glove.

I had no idea how to hand it to her.

I'd run a hotel group for ten years and negotiated with unions.

I could not say a six-word sentence.

The first try was dinner on Saturday.

I booked the corner table at the best restaurant in the city.

I had the pianist told to play a song I'd looked up.

Jada walked in wearing the green dress, and she looked at the table, and the candles, and the pianist, and stopped.

"Who died?" she said.

"Nobody."

"You've booked the whole room."

"It's a table."

"It's a stage." She lowered her voice. "Evan, everyone is watching. Is something wrong?"

I felt the box in my pocket the whole time.

"Nothing's wrong," I said, and we ate our soup while the pianist played the same song three times.

The second try was Sunday on the lakefront.

I found a bench with a view of the water at sunset.

I'd arranged a photographer on the bridge in case she wanted pictures someday.

Then I saw the photographer, and I thought of the man in the corridor with his camera.

I called the whole thing off in my head before I had finished sitting.

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