“Okay. Then do you like the ring?”
I shifted my hand. The weight of the piece was impressive, the stone large, a marquis cut with other surrounding jewels. “Yes, I can’t lie. The ring is gorgeous.”
“Then as I said. We’ll take it.”
“Would you like me to wrap it up for you?” Jeremy asked.
Christian couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
“Then please allow me to polish it for you.”
As before, Christian took my hand, removing the ring. “I’ll be the only one to remove this ring, Vanessa. The only man. Do you understand?”
I wasn’t certain what he was getting at, but I nodded. “Of course.”
After the ring was polished, I was able to overhear the price tag.
Two hundred thousand dollars.
I was certain I was about to have a heart attack. I stared at the piece of jewelry as he made the arrangements. The nausea had returned. What in the hell was I doing? This couldn’t end well because feelings would get hurt. At least on one side of the equation. But it was too late now. The ring solidified it.
Six months.
I was his.
All his.
Why was it the crazy words of a wedding ceremony captured my mind?
Until death do us part.
As we returned to the car, I remained lightheaded. The experience certainly hadn’t been anything I’d imagined as ayoung girl fantasizing about the man of my dreams and the romance surrounding being asked to spend the rest of my life with him.
There was no such thing as a fantasy fulfilled.
The sparkly diamond was a heavy weight on my hand, the waning sun casting prisms that constantly drew my attention. I realized I was wiggling my fingers even as I eased onto the seat. Maybe I was a little more thrilled than I wanted to believe.
“Where to now?”
“We’ll find a little hotel somewhere,” he offered as he started the engine.
“Why do I believe you’ve had this planned out all along? Let me guess. You had someone you know purchase clothes as well and I’ll find them draped out on the hotel bed. Right?”
When Christian did nothing more than grin, I shook my head. “You don’t need to romance me. This is a sure thing by your design. Every detail planned out. Every conversation predetermined. I’m surprised I don’t have a script to follow like an actress in a big budget movie.”
He twisted his hand around the steering wheel. “You’re right that I prefer planning every detail. However…” he said as he threw me a heated look, “there is something to be said for the element of surprise. It makes the situation that much more realistic.”
I laughed, the sound more bitter than I’d intended. “Then I’ll be curious as to what other surprises you have in store. That doesn’t mean I won’t attempt to figure those out all by myself. Let’s see. How best to do that.” I pulled out my phone. I’d been so busybeing annoyed that I hadn’t spent any time trying to discover more about the real man. He’d alluded to the fact that he had more personal social media accounts. Why not see if I could find even one. The posts might provide a story behind the mask he constantly wore. He rarely talked about his family, although I certainly felt the contention between him and his father. What else was he hiding?
As I began to surf on Instagram, my first thought was he’d simply use his real name. Nope. There were too many Christian or Chris Elliots.
“What are you doing?” he asked less than two minutes later.
“Locating the center of the dark labyrinth of the man.” I used a sexy voice, which caused him to snort. “So mysterious. So protected. I can’t wait to unravel all your filthy secrets.”
“I don’t have anything to hide, little wildcat.” Even as he issued the words, he shifted in his seat. Did I make him nervous?
Chuckling, I continued surfing, finally noticing an account and tiny profile picture that looked familiar. CW Elliot. Bingo. As soon as I pulled up the account, his smiling face in sunglasses and a sexy blue tight tee shirt stared back at me. The photograph had been taken outdoors, his hair tousled exactly in a way that depicted him in the sexiest manner.
