Page 59 of The Temporary Fiancée
“I need to be aware of what’s going on,” I say.
Reed nods, fixing me with those soft brown eyes. “I know. And I’m sorry. I didn’t think this through all the way.”
“No, you didn’t,” I huff—but the edge is gone from my voice. It’s difficult to stay mad at him when he seems so genuinely apologetic. I know he didn’t do this to hurt me, and he seems disappointed that it has.
“I just thought that the surprise factor would work better for us,” he explains.
“Did the PR team tell you to do this?”
He shakes his head. “No. This was all me. I screwed up, and I promise, it won’t happen again.”
“It had better not,” I say slowly. “Because I wasn’t ready for something like that.”
“I get that,” he replies. “I’ll do better. I’ll communicate more.” He hesitates, then adds, “And I’ll try to keep in mind that this is hard for you—being on display all the time. It’s something that I take for granted, you know? I should’ve thought more about your comfort.”
My anger evaporates, and with it, the tension in my shoulders fades. I take a deep, shaky breath. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” he says. When he reaches out to pull me into a hug, I don’t resist. I let myself melt into his embrace, the last bits of tightness in my muscles slipping away.
I feel his hand brush the back of my hair. Ordinarily, this would worry me—what if he’s pushing our boundaries? What if he’s about to make things complicated?
But the gesture is so simple, so sweet, that I can’t bring myself to care. The gentle strokes of his fingers through my hair are calming, and right now, I need some calm in my life.
“I’ll take care of you,” he whispers. “I don’t want to hurt you. I promise, I’ll take care of you.”
Those words feel more official than anything written down in the legal team’s contract, and bring me twice as much peace.
I take a step back, finally calm again, and give him a rueful smile.
“It was a nice lunch,” I say. “We should go back some other time—you know, under more normal circumstances.”
“I don’t know if we’ll ever have normal circumstances,” he responds, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement, “but sure. Someday I’ll take you back therewithoutpulling out a ring.”
I lift my hand to take a look at said ring; I was too shocked and upset to examine it before. My eyes slid right off of the stone, and all I managed to register was that it was a clear gem set into white gold.
Now that I get a closer look at it, my heart skips a beat.
It’s the perfect diamond I was so enamored with at the jeweler’s. The four-carat gem that was worth over a hundred grand. The one I never would’ve asked for, not in a dozen lifetimes.
My breath catches in my throat, and I look up at Reed. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“What do you mean?”
I hold out my hand, indicating the ring. “You didn’t have to get that one.”
“Yes, I did,” he says. “Even if this is fake, I want to do it right.” He pauses, then asks, “This is the ring you wanted, isn’t it?”
I nod, speechless.
He shrugs one shoulder. “Then I stand by it.”
“Thank you,” I say, touched by his sincerity—and blown away by the generosity. Now that I can bear to look at the ring, I can’tstoplooking. It’s stunning. “Thank you so much. It’s gorgeous.”
He smiles easily. “You’re welcome. A gorgeous ring for a gorgeous woman. It’s only right.”
I meet his gaze, warm blooming in my chest despite my stress from earlier. For a second, as our eyes lock, I want nothing more than to lean in—to close the distance between us, come what may.
But I don’t. And neither does he.
