Page 48 of The Saint (Gentlemen Rogues 3)
He shook his head vehemently. "No, and he can never know. He’s not to be trusted with that information. Ever."
I dragged in a breath. Okay then. Don't tell dear old Dad.”
“To be safe, assume you can’t tell anyone who was not in the room with us yesterday afternoon. You should bring your friend to the event. The one I hear you talking on the phone to. It would probably be nice to see a friendly face.”
“Okay. I think I can manage that.”
“Relax. For tonight, you just have to look adoring, I suppose."
"Right, adoring. Well, tell me something I should keep in mind while I think adoring thoughts about you."
He chuckled, and the warmth of it slipped in my veins. I liked hearing him laugh, and being the one to make him laugh was even better. "Well, I did save you from potential kidnappers, so, you know…"
I barked out a loud laugh at the cute way he shrugged out his statement. "Fine, you did manage to save me from… Well, a very unpleasant situation."
"You mean that’s not enough to make you adore me? What’s a bloke have to do nowadays?"
I rolled my eyes, unable to stop smiling at his questions. "I mean, you're not bad. You do knight in shining armor well enough."
“Not bad? Not bad?” He asked, his voice teasing. He looked so young when he teased me.
He looked down at the blue box in his hands. “Hopefully this cements me in the knight-in-shining-armor category.” He held up the ring box and I sucked in a breath, getting nervous and flustered all over again.
I knew this was just part of the charade. Wasn’t it normal for a ring to be involved in an engagement? "So, Mr. Saint, do all billionaires just have an engagement ring on standby?"
He shook his head, losing some of that jovial spirit he’d had a moment ago. “No, actually I didn’t."
He opened the box, and inside sat the most gorgeous princess cut diamond, but not so big as to be ostentatious. It was set in a white gold band with the tiniest diamonds all around it.
"Oh wow, Jasper. It's beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it. Hope it’s not too small or too big. I went with two carats. I wasn't sure of your style or anything, but when I popped into the jewelers and saw this, I don't know… It looked like you."
My eyes went wide. Had he really taken the time? "You picked this out yourself?"
"Well, if you want something done right, you might as well do it yourself."
I gazed at the delicate ring. "Right. I'll remember that."
Holding my hand, he slid the ring on my finger ever so gently. I couldn’t believe it fit so well as it sparkled up at me. We both just gazed down at the ring until he quietly said, "Perfect fit."
I stared down at my new ring. I knew this wasn't real. I knew that this was pretend. I even understoodwhywe were pretending. But there was that little part of my heart that couldn't help but believe in this fairy tale. Who knew I was an inner romantic? “It's really a shame that men don't get rings too. Not engagement ones anyway.”
He shrugged. “I've never been one for flash anyway. One ring is enough,” he said as he held up his left hand, showing off the signet ring there.
I leaned in closer. “That's so interesting. My mom had one like that. Hers had some kind of bird on it though. Yours is a cross.”
He stared at me long and hard for a moment but then shook his head as if a trance was broken. “Are you ready to do this? To tell the whole world that you're my fiancé?”
Looking back up at him with all the confidence I could muster, "Absolutely. Tomorrow night we’ll dazzle the world."
Except, when I slid my hand into his, the prickle of awareness up my arm wasn't about being dazzled. It was a plain, clear, vibrant warning that I was in too deep.
SAINT
The nightmare was the same. Always the same. Me somewhere dark. Hot, exhausted, covered in mortar shells and dirt and dust. Being rushed to the med bay to be checked out because I'd been knocked out by an explosion. Coming to and getting the phone call. Elise was dead.
As usual it woke me with a start. I was sweating, my T-shirt drenched. I dragged the sheets off me and sat up in the bed. I'd been having the dream more frequently, especially when I was exhausted and not paying enough attention to my health. And there had been a lot of that lately.
