My nerves had more to do with meeting someone new. What would they think? Would they approve? Would they believe that we were truly engaged?
“They can’t know that this isn’t real,” Lucian said, putting the car in park.
I turned to face him, but he still gripped the wheel, staring straight ahead at the stone architecture and landscaping.
“They won’t.”
“They know me, so they’ll be able to pick up on any hints that this is fake. It has to be real,” he pressed, his knuckles turning white.
“Lucian.” I rested my hand on his arm and waited for him to meet my gaze—to see the sincerity of my words. When he did, it almost took my breath away. An outdoor sconce lit up his face perfectly, illuminating his eyes to a shade I’d never seen before. An almost black lined his pupils before melting into a rich whiskey brown with hints of bronze sparking throughout. I studied them, memorizing every detail before making my promise. “They will only see a happily engaged couple.”
I offered a soft smile, and his hands finally relaxed around the wheel.
“The only way they won’t see that is if you are your normal asshole self and fuck it up,” I teased.
He huffed, lips twitching. “I’ll try.”
Movement outside the car caught my attention. I squeezed his arm reassuringly and reached for the handle.
“Let me open it,” he said, stopping me. “Grace will expect it.”
“I like her already.”
He moved around the car, opened my door, and offered a hand to help me out, pulling me into his gentlemanly act. Although, was it really an act? He’d opened my door before without anyone watching.
As much as I liked to think of Lucian as an asshole—and he was—I had to admit he had a soft side that cared for others. A side that softened me the more I witnessed it.
Shaking off that line of thought, I faced the tall, elegant woman who had a smile that lit up her whole face. She descended the steps with grace and open arms, reaching for Lucian. He stepped into her embrace with an expression I’d never seen on him, but was hauntingly familiar, and I remembered it well.
Something twisted in my chest as Lucian’s face melted into that rare smile—the kind that appeared only when you were wrapped in the arms of someone who loves you unconditionally. It was the same smile that crossed my own face whenever my mom had pulled me close.
I’d wondered what I’d see between him and his godparents, who’d care for him after his parents died. Part of me expected formality, or simple gratitude, since they’d stepped in after he was mostly independent. But watching them now, “godparents” felt too small a word. They clung to each other with the fierce tenderness shared between mothers and their children. I still had my dad, and his hugs comforted me, too, but never quite like that.
I blinked hard and looked away, trying to swallow down the jealousy rising in my throat.
“I’ve missed you,” Grace said, pulling back but still holding his arms.
Lucian chuckled. “It’s barely been a week.”
“Still too long.” She patted his cheek before turning her attention to me. “And this must be Aspen.”
I tried to project an air of calm, keeping my posture relaxed and my gaze steady, though a flutter of nerves danced beneath the surface. Would she think I wasn’t good enough? Would she look down on me? Would she judge me based on my heritage and only see stereotypes?
I could not have been more wrong.
She gasped and glanced back at Lucian, her eyes shining with pure delight. “Lucian, she is simply stunning.”
He laughed softly and nodded.
“You,” she said, focusing back on me, “are gorgeous. Way out of his league.”
“Hey, now,” Lucian grumbled.
She gave me a conspiratorial wink, reaching out to hug me next. I froze for what was probably only a millisecond, but stretched on forever in slow motion as I watched her close in.
An irrational hope flared in my chest, wanting to feel what Lucian did. Once her arms wrapped around me, I snapped back into action and returned the hug. While I didn’t get the same sensation I had from my mom, warm acceptance washed over me. Grace’s hug was all-encompassing, and with it, a tight knot of tension in my chest unraveled. I struggled to force my arms to let go when she pulled away.
“Sorry.” She winced, brushing a graying blonde wave behind her ear. “I’m a hugger. Especially when it’s the woman my godson has been talking to for over a year. Do you knowhe wouldn’t even tell us your name until he knew he was proposing? And that was almost five months ago.”
