Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
"It isn't the only way I play." I move a little closer. So I can lower my voice. "But it is my preference. If you're curious…"
"We're not having sex, remember?"
"I remember what you said."
She pours tea into two tiny ceramic mugs. They're a shade of copper that matches the pot. And they're small. Barely two shots worth. "I don't think we're going to tell my father that." Her hand brushes mine as she hands me a cup. "Though it would distract him from the other questions."
"He knows about the other men?"
"Well…" She takes a small sip. "Not anyone recent. I've been focusing on easier things. Mostly Dan Brown." She lets out an easy laugh. "I don't understand how he reads those books over and over again, but he does. He adores them."
Dan Brown's popularity is somewhere on the very long list of things I don't understand.
It would be easier to make a short list of things I do understand.
Negotiations. The upsides of alcohol. How to make Jasmine come.
"I guess… we don't have to tell a complete lie," she says. "We could say we got back in touch. Had a—"
"Whirlwind romance?"
"Does a helicopter count as a whirlwind?"
I can't help but laugh. I forget how funny she is.
I sip my tea. This one is better. Sweeter. And knowing she fixed it—that warms me more than anything.
"We can tell the truth," I say. "I made you an offer you couldn't refuse."
She raises a brow really.
"For a date."
"Our meeting at your office was a date?"
"We had drinks."
She laughs sure. "Why not?"
"I made you an offer you couldn't refuse. Then one thing led to another. And I knew I had to have you. I knew I had to ask for your hand."
She considers it for a moment. Nods okay. "How did you do it?"
"Like this." I set my mug down. Pull the jewelry box from my pocket.
Her eyes go wide as I pop it open. "Shep, that's huge."
"You don't like it?"
She stares at the ring. It's perfect for her. An antique emerald cut stone between two smaller ones.
They call it a forever ring. One for the past, one for the present, one for the future.
The sentimentality is another item for the long list of things I don't understand.
But it does move her.
She doesn't want to melt over the ring. She doesn't want to stare with wide-eyed wonder. She doesn't want to sigh as I slide it on her finger.
But she does.
Then she looks at me like she really does want to marry me. And for one sweet moment, I remember how things used to be. I'm there on an easy Sunday afternoon, holding her on the couch, whispering dirty promises in her ear.
Before that bastard ruined everything.
He's not ruining this.
I take in her smile until realization spreads over her face. Then I take her hand. Offer my own smile. "Ready to meet the world as a newly engaged couple?"
"Are you?"
No. But this is going to have to be enough.
Chapter Ten
Jasmine
Holy shit. He's not kidding.
Lock drops us at the waterfront park. Right as a helicopter descends.
The gust blows my hair, my coat, my dress. It's like something out of a movie. The couple rushing to get out of town.
Shepard looks to me with a cocky smile. He holds out his hand. Motions after you.
For a moment, I see the boy I fell in love with so many years ago. A confident boy with a lust for life as big as his ego. The wonder and charm that defined him.
They didn't seem boyish at the time—I was barely fourteen—but they do now.
Is that part of him still there? It's hard to imagine Shepard looking at anything with wide-eyed wonder. But it's there in his gorgeous blue eyes.
He's looking at me like I'm the most interesting things in the universe. Like I'm an uncharted island he wants to explore.
My heart races as I take his hand and follow him to the helicopter.
The pilot helps me up the stairs. Into the tiny cockpit.
Shepard places headphones over my ears. At once, the overwhelming whir of the blades quiets.
The pilot's voice comes through the speakers. A deep voice with a British accent. "You must be Jasmine." He turns enough to shake my hand. "I'm Ian. A"—he winks at Shepard—"friend of your fiancé's. Congratulations by the way."
Shepard returns a knowing look.
"Now, buckle up, kids. You don't want to die before your honeymoon." His smile lights up his dark eyes. They're gorgeous eyes.
He's a tall guy. Broad and muscular. Dark skin. Short hair. Winning smile.
I try to close my eyes and imagine him over me, under me, behind me.
It's no good. My head still goes to Shepard.
Then the helicopter moves and my thoughts disappear. It's actually…
Woah.
I reach for something steady. Get Shep's hand.
My eyes go to his.
His baby blues are still full of wonder. But they're comforting too. His touch is comforting.