The Proposal (Forever Bound Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

sighed, realizing she would be wasting her breath to try to convince him otherwise.  “Fine.  I’ll be out in a week.”  She turned away and left his apartment.  The minute, she was outside she dialed up Derek’s work number.  She headed back to her apartment as his phone rang.  He wouldn’t still be at work if he had gone in for the day, so she was safe to bet she would get his work phone answering system.
    Then his voice came on.  “You’ve reached Mayor Derek Worthington.  I’m sorry I’m not available to take your call.  Please leave your contact information and reason for calling and I will call you back as soon as I get back.”
    When the phone beeped on the other end, she left him her message.  “It’s Charity.  I just wanted to let you know that I need some time off.  I’ll try to keep in touch, but for now, I won’t be back.”  Before she hung up the call, she continued.  “I’ll be sure to pay you back what you spent on my rent.  I’m sorry you had to waste your money on me.”  She quickly hung up the phone as she got into her apartment.  She collapsed onto the couch and felt herself crying before it was too late.  She missed him already and didn’t know how she could possibly take away that feeling.
     

Chapter 3
     
    It was nine o’clock when Derek headed towards Ana’s parent’s house.  He didn’t want to get there too early, but he also didn’t want to miss seeing Ana.  He found this to be a good time to show up and when he pulled down the street, he was relieved to see a couple cars in the driveway, including the one that he recalled as being Ana’s.  He parked in front of the house and headed up to the front door before he could change his mind.
    He knocked on the door and heard shuffling in the house, followed by footsteps coming down the stairs, then the door opened.  A woman, mid-forties, stood at the door.  Her mouth opened.  “Mayor Worthington…hello.”  She shook his hand and held a smile on her face.  “I didn’t expect you at my door.”  She glanced around like she was looking for something…or someone. 
    “I’m sorry to bother you so early, Ma’am.  Is Ana available?”
    Her eyes widened, and he could imagine what she was thinking in her head.  Why would the mayor need to see my daughter?  She cleared her throat, straightening up, then turned to the stairs.  “Ana?”
    He waited until finally, Ana appeared on the steps.  Their eyes locked, and she just stared at him, before he broke the silence.  “Good morning, Ana.”
    She slowly walked down the steps.  “Good morning.”  She glanced at her mom, who happened to still be smiling.  “Will you give us a minute, Mom?”  When she didn’t budge immediately, Ana nodded and urged her mom to leave, just by staring at her.  Derek waited as her mom mumbled something to her and Ana proved how irritated she was by her words.  “Mom?  Seriously?” she hissed, whispering, but he heard.
    When she was gone, she turned to Derek.  “What’d your mom say?” he asked.
    She rolled her eyes.  “Nothing important.”  She paused then asked him the obvious question.  “Why are you here?”  He hesitated, before pressing on.  “How’d you get the address?”
    He already decided not to throw Jesse under the bus, so he put a spin on the truth.  “Jesse told me you were here, but I found the address in Charity’s desk.”  She opened her mouth to argue, as he proceeded.  “I’m here because I need you to help me.”
    She frowned and was faced with two choices.  She could kick him out, or stand back and let him talk.  He sighed with relief when she didn’t kick him out.  “Let’s sit down.”  She led the way into the living room, and he spotted some luggage in the corner.
    “Are you going somewhere?” he asked, pointing to the luggage.
    She laughed.  “Uh…no.  My parents are taking off to some other vacation in a couple days.”
    “Oh.”  He took a seat