Free A Friendly Engagement by Christine Warner Page A

contract…
    “Well?” Devi broke into his thoughts.
    He pasted on a tight smile and shook his head. “If you’d give me a minute.”
    “A minute? Any longer and we’ll be celebrating my sixth-year anniversary with Esterly and—”
    “Both of you quit bickering and spill the beans,” Jim teased.
    Omar waited for the room to quiet down again as several laughs and well-meaning jokes erupted. Keep your eye on the prize. No need to get a surge of conscience now. He drew strength from the portrait of his father across the room. His old man would never have second-guessed himself. Omar wouldn’t, either.
    He squared his shoulders. “Well, I’m sure it won’t come as much of a surprise because many of you have already made speculations, but—”
    “We’re engaged!” Devi flung out her hand as a collection of startled gasps broke the stunned silence. She laughed, wiggling her fingers as she leaned close to Omar. “Sorry to steal your thunder, but a bathroom break is in my near future and I didn’t know how much longer you’d stall.”
    “We were moving along fine.”
    “Whatever.” She nudged him playfully in the shoulder.
    An avalanche of well-wishes and excited questions bombarded them both. Several of the women moved forward to inspect the sparkling diamond on Devi’s hand. Her face lit up at the attention.
    “I knew it. I just knew it. Didn’t I tell you last year, Bev?” Nancy gushed as she grinned at Bev, one of two office coordinators.
    The younger woman bobbed her head in agreement. “You sure did, Nance. That’s awesome news. Can’t say I’m too surprised though, but I wish you both oodles of happiness.”
    This time Omar looked at Devi with an I-told-you-so raise of his eyebrow. She’d been so worried about the believability of their engagement, when all along most people already assumed they’d crossed over from working relationship to something more personal a long time ago.
    Several of the staff hugged Devi and offered up well-wishes. Others stiffly shook Omar’s hand or patted him on the back.
    Nancy beamed as she pulled Devi in for a hug, then stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. “I’m so happy for you both. Tell us how, when? Give us all the details.”
    “Well, not all of them.” Vanessa winked.
    This time Devi raised her brow as she gave Omar an I-told-you-so look and smiled. “Do you mean you want to hear how Omar proposed?”
    “Yes.” Nancy beamed, and several women circled around them. The older woman plucked Devi’s hand from her side again and eyed the ring. Her eyes brightened with unshed tears and she sniffed. “I feel like my daughter’s gotten engaged. And I don’t even have a daughter.”
    The circle of staff around them chuckled, and Devi’s smile filled her face.
    “Thank you, Nancy.” Devi took the older woman’s hand and squeezed before kissing her on the cheek.
    Over the years the working relationship between the two women had grown into a unique bond. Omar often found them in deep conversation around the coffee pot, or sharing a lunch. Now that he’d heard about Devi’s past, he understood. She may have been raised by her grandmother, but living out here, on her own, Nancy must’ve filled the motherly figure in Devi’s life.
    “Did he get down on one knee?” Vanessa asked.
    Devi’s lips twitched. “He did, after he threw me the box and demanded I put on the ring.”
    Several of the women gasped, and Nancy gave him the stinkeye. He hadn’t believed anyone would really want to hear their engagement story, and by the animated look on Devi’s face, he knew he’d never hear the end of it.
    “My nerves got the best of me, but Devi put me in line and reminded me that every woman wants a romantic proposal.” Omar made quick work of righting his wrong. “So I got down on one knee—”
    “And pulled off one of the most romantic proposals ever. I get goose bumps just thinking how he worded his feelings, talked about us and a