“Emma, no situation needed me to kiss your fiancé as a solution.” I feel my cheeks flaming with embarrassment. Seriously, I want to disappear. If I had a magic wand, I’d circle it around myself and make a burning circle for a black hole so I could be swallowed inside it. “I’m so sorry. I had no clue. I would not have picked his lips of all the lips in the whole wide world, if I had known…”
Emma’s expression shifts first. For a second, she’s still trying to process, her brows pulling together as her gaze flicks between me and Ty like she’s lining something up that isn’t quite clicking. Then it does. Her mouth opens, closes, and twists like she’s trying to hold it together, but she doesn’t last long. The laugh spills out of her, bright and immediate, her hand coming up as she shakes her head. “Oh my…no.”
Ty lets out a quieter laugh beside her, dragging a hand across the back of his neck. When he looks at me again, there’s amusement there now, clear and unmistakable, like he’s enjoying this more than he should.
“He’s my brother.” Emma points between us, still laughing. “My actual brother. I brought him because we’re hanging out today. That’s it.”
Relief hits fast and a little too strong.
“Oh,” I say, letting out a breath I definitely shouldn’t have been holding. “Good. That’s—so, so good.”
Emma’s grin widens. “You thought I was engaged to him?”
“I didn’t know what to think,” I admit. “Considering my grandmother was the one who took the measurements, I’ve never even met your fiancé.”
Ty’s mouth tips slightly at the corner. “I feel like I should be offended.”
“You shouldn’t,” I shoot back. “I was clearly having a moment.”
“Clear as mud, but thanks for letting me know now.”
Emma laughs again, lighter now, stepping further into the shop. “Wow. Okay. This is already better than I expected when I walked in.”
“Happy to entertain,” I mutter, before clapping my hands lightly once as I move behind the counter, grateful for something I actually know how to handle. “Let’s get you set up before anything else unexpected happens.”
“Please,” Emma says, still smiling as she leans against the glass case. “I feel like I’ve already had enough surprises for one morning.”
“You and me both.”
I pull the correct box from the lineup, flipping it open with practiced ease before setting it carefully on the counter between us. The rings catch the light immediately—simple, elegant, exactly what she’d asked for.
Emma’s expression softens the second she sees them. “Oh,” she breathes, reaching out. “They’re even better than I remembered.”
“That’s usually the goal,” I say, watching as she picks up her ring.
She slides it onto her finger slowly, her movements more deliberate now, like the moment has settled into something quieter, something that matters. It fits perfectly.
Her face lights up. “It’s stunning. I love it.”
“Good,” I say, a small smile pulling at my mouth. “I’d hate to have to start over.”
Ty leans in beside her, looking down at the box. “So this is Dan’s?”
“Yep. That one’s the groom’s.”
He reaches for it before I can say anything, picking it up and turning it between his fingers like he’s assessing it. “Solid. Simple. I like it.”
“High praise,” I reply.
“Careful,” Emma adds, glancing at him. “That one actually belongs to someone.”
“Duh,” he says, nudging her with his elbow. And then, because of course he does, he slides it onto his finger.
I watch it happen in real time, my brain catching up about half a second too late. “Ty?—”
It goes on without any issue. Easily. Too easily.
He glances down at his hand, flexing his fingers once like he’s testing the fit. “Huh.”
