The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Rita had interjected to stop Vince from saying any more nonsense. She admired Sherman, but admiring someone of the opposite gender did not mean it should always lead to romantic feelings or marriage. The older generations tended to talk about the kind of things that always left a sour taste in her mouth. Furthermore, Sherman could see through their family's scheming behavior, and Vince's attempt to set them up would only reflect poorly on the family.

Sherman maintained his characteristic faint smile throughout the conversation, yet his decision to never cooperate with the Russells again became more resolute. Vince's machinations were utterly excessive, and Sherman would have left long ago if he had not gained a better second impression of Rita as a person.

The entire situation felt unbearably tedious.

Once Rita managed to persuade her father to depart. She apologized to Sherman, "I'm sorry about that. By the way, didn't you mention having matters to attend to at the company? You can leave if you need to. I can deal with my dad."

Sherman arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Won't your father create more problems for you if I leave?"

him to have seen through it all, but she nevertheless

chances he would get to see her family make a fool of themselves. Rita did not usually hit it off with other people so easily, and she did not want him

either. After all, he had only met Rita twice, and he was not prepared to burden himself for her sake by lingering in such an uncomfortable situation.

for Rita, whose frown only deepened when she received the occasional disapproving

exclaimed that the

misplaced it. We'll search for it once the guests have left," Vince said. His gaze warned her not to cause a scene. Karen's reaction was incredulous, more so

as Karen had spoken as if her bangle was something that all the guests coveted. Everyone who was in attendance there could afford whatever jewelry that was priced in the tens