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“He wouldn’t know because you wouldn’t tell,” I challenge, and he frowns at me. “Come on, Ice. Let’s go and learn something new in the world of data.”

We spend the day at the conference, learning and grabbing swag and merch items. In the evening, I spend time with Bruce, taking a walk on the strip and having fun.

The next day, I could not have lunch with Jonathan, but I found him to let him know, and we moved it to the day after. Ice keeps giving me unforgiving looks, like I am committing a sin.

On the third day, Jonathan, Ice, and I have lunch together. Jonathan and I catch up. I take his number and promise to call him. He now lives in New York and works in banking but would like to do something else. He shows me pictures of his girlfriend, and we enjoy lunch together.

Ice is more relaxed after lunch with Jonathan.

“Say it,” I challenge.

“He wasn’t bad, but boss still wouldn’t like it.”

“Bruce will be just fine,” I say, and we head back to find him.

Chapter sixty-eight

Bruce

Ice and I are watching Jola as she drinks and yaps away. A lot of what she is saying is Data Science stuff, and she probably thinks we understand. I am yet to decide if I should let her continue or stop her from drinking now. She is happy, which is good, and the only reason I’m not stopping her. Never mind the fact that she had lunch with her ex, which upsets me, but that is a discussion for later.

“She’s a bit tipsy and I think getting close to drunk,” Ice whispers.

“I know,” I whisper back.

“I’m going to have to record this,” he says.

I shake my head at him, and he frowns. I know he wants to use it against her later, but I am not allowing that. Normal Jola gives normal vibes, but once she is on her meds or drinks a little, you can either get the nerdy girl or the flirty girl. Looks like it is nerdy Jola tonight. I sit back and watch as she drinks and tries to stop her wild curly hair from getting into her tall glass of fruity drink.

“You know, if you and I have a baby, and it is a girl, I pity the child, because her hair would be thick, curly, and full. It would make a comb run and hide.” She giggles and sips her sweet, potent drink.

“Really? How did you come up with that?” I ask.

“Well, my hair.” She tries to gather it into a ponytail. When she cannot find anything to hold it, she lets it down, then blows it off her face. “It is thick, long, full, and curly.” She stresses the word curly. “With your family’s curly combo, that would not be fun.”

I do not have curly hair, but my dad and David do have brown curly hair.

“Well, we would have to get married first,” I tease.

She leans forward, stares at me, and laughs.

“Oh, Mr. Darcy, would you marry me so we can have a baby with hair that would scare a hair stylist and a comb?” she says, giggling.

“If you ask me nicely, maybe I would marry you and have a baby girl with you,” I reply.

She shoots me a skeptical glance, a loud laugh erupting from her before she empties her glass. My gaze locks onto her face as I lean in, a sudden, overwhelming desire to have a child with her rising fast and strong, settling deep inside me. A regular guy like me might want a son, but seeing her and hearing about the daughter she described makes me realize that it is exactly what I want. A deep urge within me wants to make that a reality. My smile spreads because I’m getting married tonight.

“Okay,” she says. She tries to get up but stumbles back into her seat, giggling.

I turn to Ice, whose eyes are wide.

“But we need a proposal,” I say to her.

I look over at Ice. “Now you can record,” I tell him.

He looks at me, shocked, but obeys. If she makes it out of that seat and asks me, I will say yes and marry her tonight, whether she is fully aware or not. Lucky for me, we are in Vegas. She finally gets out of her seat and comes to kneel before me, drawing a few people’s attention.

“Mr. Darcy,” she giggles.