“Nope. Go big or go home. In it to win it.”
“Thank you so much for your business,” the saleswoman said as she rang up the ring. I handed her my credit card while Avery went back over to the case to stare at the ring she had loved.
“I’ll plan a nice proposal for you,” I assured her as we walked back to the car.
“You?” she scoffed. “Plan a proposal?”
“I can plan things.”
“You couldn’t even decorate your office. I had to bring in plants and a couch and books to make it look like a human worked there and not a robot.”
“That was you?” I said in shock, turning toward her.
“Of course it was me!”
“For some reason, I thought one of my brothers had put their girlfriends up to it.”
“Nope, just your fake fiancée, working tirelessly for your benefit.” Avery slumped in the passenger’s seat and sank her head into her hands. “Ugh, I can’t believe you’re proposing to me and we have to take pictures with that monstrous ring!”
“You said it was okay,” I argued. “I can buy you the other one.”
She shook her head. “Chuck Schultz buys his wife all sorts of garish jewelry. If we’re really doing this, you need to win that contract. He’s not going to be impressed with some tiny little ring.”
“Yes, this will be more impressive, I think.”
“I know. I just can’t believe I have to walk around with that thing on my finger. Let me see it,” Avery said.
“No. You have to wait for your proposal.”
She glared at me then pounced on me. Her hands slid into my jacket and over my pecs to snatch for the ring box. I grabbed her hand and pulled it out, the receipt clutched in her fingers.
“I should have at least taken a picture of it,” she complained as I started the car and pulled onto the road. “I need to pick out a proposal outfit. Wait, what am I saying? That ring looked like something Cardi B would wear. Nothing I own is going to go with that. Honestly, who would actually spend…how much was it?”
She looked at the receipt and let out a bloodcurdling scream. I slammed on the brakes and cursed.
“What the fuck!”
“Sorry,” she said, patting my arm. “But what the hell? This ring costs as much as a house!”
My phone went off. Harrogate had a rule against being on the phone and driving, so I pulled over to glance at the message.
Hunter:You need to come back home now. And do not bring Avery.
15
Avery
Blade’s face was dark, and he made an abrupt U-turn, heading back toward the train station.
“I thought we were going back to Manhattan?” I asked him.
“Something’s come up,” Blade said through gritted teeth. He visibly relaxed his grip on the wheel. “You’ll have to take the train.” He pulled the car up in front of the historic train station. I’d always loved the ornate building as a child. But as the backdrop of Blade’s anger, irritation, and annoyance, it seemed cold. I pulled my coat around me as Blade removed my bag from the trunk then pulled out his wallet and handed me two hundred-dollar bills.
“For the train ticket,” he said. His phone buzzed, and he looked at it, glowered, and started texting.
I wordlessly handed him the receipt back. He looked up, took it, then leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips to my cheek.
“I’ll see you in the office.”
