Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Aleks pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto my ring finger.
It fit perfectly.
Then, he stood, his own eyes red and rimmed with tears as he stared down at me. He wiped the tears from my right cheek with his palm, and then mirrored that action on the left until he was framing my face.
He bent, and I pressed up onto my toes, and our lips met in a kiss far too tender, a kiss that reverberated through me like an earthquake that I felt all the way down to my toes.
I threaded my arms around his neck, holding him to me even when he tried to pull away. Even if this was just for show, I didn’t care.
I wanted to pretend not for them, but for me.
I wanted to soak in every second of this fantasy where Aleks said those things to me and meant them, where he asked me to marry him and I said yes, where he loved me.
Where he was mine.
My grip seemed to be the only cue he needed. Aleks inhaled me, wrapping his arms around my frame and holding me so tight it was like he was afraid I’d float away.
I opened my mouth, and his tongue slid inside, lighting a fire deep in my stomach when it danced with mine.
That spark sent lust vibrating through me.
That flame seared my body, my heart, my soul.
That fire burned me.
And then sent me flying back to Earth in a fiery ball of reality.
I broke away from the kiss, fighting off more tears as I pressed against his chest to put some much-needed distance between us.
“I…” My next breath came more panicked than the one before it, and then again, and again, until my chest was rapidly rising and falling in a pattern I couldn’t control. “Excuse me.”
I barely got the words out before I was darting inside.
I tried to pretend like I was running over to celebrate with someone inside the boat, but I wasn’t sure if I pulled it off as I brushed past a celebrating Giana and a giddy Isabella. My publicist and friend tried to hook me by the elbow and hug me, but I yanked out of her grasp, sprinting for the nearest head.
I barely had my hands on the toilet seat before I gagged.
And I stared at that ring on my finger the entire time I retched.
Got the Shot
Aleks
Mia could barely look at me.
She canceled the “surprise” engagement party we were supposed to have when we got back to shore, claiming she had an upset stomach. We all heard her throwing up on the boat, so it shouldn’t have felt like a lie.
But it did.
I held fast to her hand when we got to the marina, and she pulled off her dazzling smile enough to finish the show for the paparazzi waiting for us. She waved at some of the fans gathered, holding up her ring finger as they all screamed with delight. As soon as we ducked into the black SUV, though, she instantly paled.
She scooted away from me, all the way to the other side of the car.
She looked out the window.
She folded in on herself.
Isabella and Giana filed into the car with us, James taking the front seat next to the driver. Giana was bouncing in her seat showing Isabella the video she’d captured of the proposal as we started to drive. They were creating a burner account to post it from, and then Isabella was going to tip off some of Mia’s super fans so they’d share it and make it blow up.
They both seemed oblivious to the fact that the star of this whole show was breaking down right in front of us.
I sniffed, scooting over slowly and carefully until I was right next to Mia. I didn’t touch her, but I leaned forward to block her from where G and Isabella were sitting, hoping I could serve as some sort of shield and get the truth out of her.
“Mia.”
“Please, just leave me alone,” she whispered.
The way she pleaded those words felt like a thousand paper cuts to my chest.
When I didn’t move, she sniffed, looking past me to her publicist. “I want to go home.”
The car quieted. “Tonight?” Isabella asked.
“Right now. I want to pack my shit and go to the airport and go home.”
Isabella was quiet for only a split second before she nodded. “Of course. I’ll arrange the plane.”
I knew the friend part of her wanted to ask Mia what was wrong, but the business side of her reminded her that, in that moment? Mia was her boss. She immediately got to work texting and calling whoever she needed to make it all happen, and I swallowed, creating that barrier with my body even more so and trying to get Mia to look at me.