"Where?"
"It's a surprise."
Her eyebrow rises. "I'm not great with surprises."
"I know. Trust me anyway?"
She studies me for a moment, that analytical gaze cataloging whatever evidence my face is providing. Then she nods.
"Okay. Lead the way, Captain."
The riverside spot at the park is quiet at dusk, the same stone columns and wooden beams from our first public appearance casting long shadows in the fading light. The water moves past in lazy ripples, catching the last of the sunset in shades of orange and pink.
"This is where it all started," Riley says, looking around. "The first event. The one where I was convinced we'd be exposed as frauds within five minutes."
"And instead, Mrs. Anderson told you about her fifty-three-year marriage to a man she couldn't stand at first."
"You remember that?"
"I remember everything about that day." I take her hand, drawing her toward a bench overlooking the water. "I remember you being so nervous youkept reorganizing the demonstration materials. I remember Wade being an ass and wanting to punch him. I remember standing by this river and realizing I was in serious trouble."
"Because of the fake relationship PR disaster?"
"Because I was starting to want it to be real."
Riley's quiet for a moment, her thumb tracing patterns on the back of my hand. The river flows past. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barks.
"I was so angry that day," she finally says. "At you, at the situation, at myself for noticing things I didn't want to notice. You were supposed to be shallow. You were supposed to be exactly what I assumed—all charm, no substance."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"You didn't disappoint. That was the problem." She turns to face me, green eyes soft in the fading light. "You kept being more than I expected. More thoughtful. More competent. More... everything."
"Is this your version of a compliment? Because it sounds like you're mad about it."
"I was mad about it. For a while." Her mouth curves. "Then I got over myself."
"Thank God for that."
The sunset paints the sky in deepening shades ofpurple and gold. I shift closer on the bench, our shoulders touching, her hand still warm in mine.
"When I got promoted," I say slowly, "the first thing I thought wasn't about the rank or the ceremony or what it meant for my career. It was that I wanted to tell you. That none of it would feel real until I saw your face."
Riley's breath catches slightly. "Aiden..."
"I know we started this whole thing as a PR stunt. I know it was fake, and complicated, and neither of us planned for any of this." I turn to face her fully. "But somewhere along the way, you became the most real thing in my life. And I don't want that to change."
"It won't." The words come out quiet but certain. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"The evidence suggests I'm incapable of staying away from you." She leans in, her forehead touching mine. "So yes. Promise."
I kiss her there, by the river where everything started, as the last of the sunset fades into twilight. It's soft, unhurried, tasting like champagne from the reception and the future we're building together.
When we finally break apart, the first stars are appearingoverhead.
"Take me home?" Riley asks.
