17. Haven

17

HAVEN

I knew this was a bad idea.

I've been here for less than an hour, and it's overwhelming the number of people that are here. The last thing I want to do is embarrass myself or King, but it may be unavoidable if this woman doesn't back the fuck off.

I'm not sure how I ended up in this situation. One minute I was standing with King and Chrissy and the next, King got called away to meet with someone who wanted to speak with him, and then Chrissy went to the bar to get a drink. As soon as they left, these three women approached me, and they're asking one question after another.

"I attended the women's summit conference a few months ago. You were a speaker. "

I nod and smile, but the look on the woman's face has me keeping my guard up. "Yeah, that was me."

She crosses her arms over her chest. "You gave a speech on body positivity and self-confidence."

I look around the room, hoping to spot King or Chrissy, but neither of them are in sight. I suck in a breath, wondering where this conversation is going. "That's right, I did. Did you enjoy the conference?"

The woman tilts her head back and looks down her nose at me. "I just think it's very irresponsible of you."

"Excuse me?"

She waits for someone to walk by, smiles at them with an innocent look, and then sneers when she looks back at me. "I said I think it's very irresponsible of you to talk about things such as health. I mean, all you're doing is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle."

I put my hand on my hip. "I'm sorry, I don't think you're talking about my segment because I talked about the importance of nutrition and how you can be beautiful regardless of your height, weight, hair color, skin color, and everything else that people judge us on. "

She gestures up and down my body. "But you're fat."

I gasp, and the other two women at least seemed to be embarrassed by their friend's outburst. I do my best not to react because I'm sure that's what she wants. "Yes, I'm plus size."

The woman opens her mouth, and at that moment, Chrissy comes up, threading her arm through mine. Normally, I'd react poorly to the attention, but right now, I'm appreciating the gesture. "Karen, hi, I see you've met my future sister-in-law."

The woman looks at Chrissy. "Oh…" She looks me up and down. "And which brother is she marrying?"

"Well, Ridge, of course."

The woman gasps, and Chrissy's smile widens as she turns to me. "As a matter of fact, I'm sure King is looking for you now. Let's go find him."

We start to walk away, but I stop because I know I'll be upset with myself if I don't say something. I've always had to stand up for myself and I'm not going to stop now. "Karen, right? That's your name?"

Still in shock, the woman nods. I've noticed that we have seemed to draw a crowd, and I hate it, but I can't walk away without saying something. "Well, I may be bigger than average, but that doesn't mean I don't have worth. I don't know who was mean to you or made you this way, but I hope you know that you can be better than this… you can do better. We should be taking care of each other… not tearing each other down."

I wait for her to respond, but I get nothing. I guess there's no changing people. "Have a good night," I mutter before turning with my future sister-in-law. She is staring at me with her mouth wide open. "I can't believe you just…"

I visibly start to tremble. I hate confrontation, and I'm usually good at avoiding it. Chrissy stops talking and quietly walks beside me toward the opposite side of the room. We don't stop until we're standing in the corner. Somewhere along the way, she picked up two glasses of wine and hands one to me. "Here. Drink up."

I take it from her and take a sip. I'm expecting to have people watching me, but I can't see any of them because King comes to stand right in front of me. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Chrissy throws a hand up. "Karen Reynolds happened! She's such a bitch," she seethes .

King reaches for me. "What did she say to you?"

"I'm fine. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry if it comes—"

Chrissy interrupts me. "Don't even finish that sentence. King would not expect you to let someone talk to you the way she did. You handled it great and with such class, Haven. I was impressed. I get mad, and I start crying and get hysterical… You were calm and put her in her place."

I take another sip of the wine, and then Chrissy nudges her brother. "I'm going to give you all a minute. I'll be over there if you need me."

I see the look Chrissy gives King, and I'm literally sick over all this. "This is a bad idea, King," I tell him as soon as his sister walks away.

"What do you mean, this is a bad idea?"

"I mean I'm not cut out for this. I'm not into these social parties and—"

"This charity is important to me, Haven, and I attend every year. But this is not something I do every week. Two or three times a year, I'm expected to make an appearance."

My stomach does a little flip. It soothes my heart to know that feeding hungry children is important to him. I don't want him to think that's my problem because it's not. "I understand that, King, and I love your giving heart, but what I'm saying is that people are shocked when they find out I'm your fiancée." I gasp, and my hand goes to my mouth. "Oh my God, Chrissy told them we're engaged. Everyone is going to know."

"Good."

I grab on to his wrist. "No, you don't understand, people—"

He cuts me off. "The only people I care about is you, peaches."

I search his eyes and see the sincerity on his face, but I still feel uneasy. I can feel the people watching us and no doubt talking. "Maybe we should put off the wedding… I just caused a scene, and maybe we should see if it blows over… maybe…."

I stop and blow out a breath, overwhelmed by it all.

"Marry me tonight, Haven."

"Tonight?" I exclaim.

He nods and puts his hand over his chest pocket. "I've been carrying around your rings. I wanted you to be wearing it when we got here tonight, but I didn't think you'd appreciate me asking you with my sister and an audience. "

I tilt my head back to look at him. "You should think about this."

"There's nothing to think about. I want you to be my wife."

I don't know what to think about any of this. The night has been a roller coaster of emotions. First seeing him with Chrissy and the jealousy that raged inside me. It was Chrissy in all the pictures with him. It was his sister that I was jealous of and have been stewing about. Then him coming backstage and automatically knowing how I'm feeling and putting me at ease. The way he's held my hand or touched me all night is making me want all kinds of things.

He crowds against me. "I'm sorry for leaving you… I shouldn't have."

"I can take care of myself, King. It's not your job—"

"You don't have to take care of yourself anymore. I know you can, I know you're self-sufficient and you don't need me, but I still want to be the one that's there for you."

I lean into him. "How can I say no to that, King?"

He leans down and whispers to me, "I hope you can't, Haven. Be my wife. "

Oh God, there's something about the way he says my name. "Okay."

His eyebrows raise. "Okay? You'll marry me?"

I go up on my tiptoes to whisper to him, "If you're sure."

He doesn't wait to seal the deal. He puts his hands on each side of my face and leans down to kiss me. This is all going so fast, but it feels right. When he pulls away, he takes out his phone. "We'll give Callan your key; he's going to grab some of your clothes."

"But why?"

He smiles and pulls me to his chest. "Because we're getting married tonight."

"Tonight? But how?"

He anchors his hand around my neck and leans down, pressing his forehead to mine. "Let me take care of it."

There's no way I can tell him no. "Okay…"

He kisses me again and then starts making phone calls.