“Nope. Come on in.”
Francine held the door wider. As Raphael crossed the threshold, she noted again how good he smelled. It was all she could do not to grab him, bury her face in his chest and breathe his scent in.
“I was at the Cosmos Café and decided I didn’t want to eat alone.”
“How thoughtful. What did you bring?”
Raphael lifted the bag. “The waitress there told me you like their triple-decker grilled club sandwich.”
“Was her name Dixie?”
He brightened. “Yes.”
“That’s what I always order. It’s delicious.”
“Good. I got one for each of us. And something called chips.”
“Of course. Chips are the best.”
Raphael put the sack on the dining room table and pulled out the boxed lunches. Francine got napkins and plates and they devoured their lunch.
“You’re right, delicious food. And I love the chips.”
Francine smiled. He seemed so extraordinarily pleased by a simple diner lunch.
“Thank you for bringing me lunch.”
“Certainly.”
“Are we still on for the wedding?” she asked.
“Absolutely.” He paused, as if bracing to impart bad news. “I wondered if it would be possible to leave two days earlier. I’d like to take a couple of days to acclimate on Ichor-Delta before we go to the wedding.”
Francine nodded. “Sure. I was going to add my approved vacation time on the schedule tonight anyway. I can take a couple more days.”
“Good. We’ll leave Wednesday and return the following week, on Friday. That should give us enough time to search for wedding venues after your sister’s ceremony.”
“Perfect.” Ten days of vacation delight with a delicious bad boy bounty hunter turned heroic bodyguard especially for her. And best of all, everyone would think she was engaged to him. She refused to pondernotbeing with him when this was all over. That was too depressing.
He helped her clean up the remains of their lunch. They stood together in front of the sink. She tipped her face up at him. He leaned closer. Closer. Just when she thought he might kiss her, he stepped back and patted his front pocket. “Oh. I almost forgot. I have something for you.”
Francine felt a rush of excitement blaze a path from head to toes.Something for me?
Raphael dug a hand into his front pocket and pulled something out. “I figured the sooner we start, the better our story will be once we get to Ichor-Delta.” He opened his closed fist and held out a ginormous violet diamond ring in his palm. It was in what was termed a vintage setting with fancy carvings and other stones in a design around a single large oval center stone.
She squealed in surprise. “For me?”
“Yes. We are going to be engaged for this trip, right?”
Francine looked up into his face. He seemed a bit shy about giving her a ring for their engagement. “It’s so beautiful. And big,” she said, reaching out to touch the violet stone.
“Nothing but the best for my royal bride-to-be.”
She nodded. “That’s right. We must be royal, or I’ll be sent home and billed for the ride.”
“Put it on.” He moved his hand closer, urging her to take the ring. “Or do you need me to fall to one knee and propose?”
Before she could respond, Raphael did just that. He dropped to one knee on her tiled kitchen floor. “Francine Hayward Duvall, will you be my fake fiancée for our trip to Ichor-Delta and beyond?”
