Page 51 of Layne Closure Ahead

The surprise on Layne’s face was authentic if nothing else. This was one time she didn’t have to pretend around him. Taking a look at the piece of jewelry before her, it definitely wouldn’t have been the ring Layne would have chosen. It was a ring designed for show and status.

The ring held its own brand of beauty with its thick gold band with a large round diamond in the center and smaller diamonds inset around the entire band. While some woman somewhere would have been over the moon to be offered the ring, it couldn’t have been further from Layne’s tastes.

He stood there letting her take in the sight of what he was offering to her. “I want everyone to see this ring on your finger and know that you’re mine. When you see it on your finger when you wake up in the morning, let it be a reminder of all my promises to you.”

After removing the ring from its box, he reached down for her hand. Not waiting for any type of response from her, he slid her glove off of her hand so he could slide the ring onto her finger. “There.”

The ring felt heavy and cold on her hand. It felt more like a set of shackles than a romantic promise. Layne finally gathered some coherent thoughts together as she looked up at Eric. “This… This was not what I was expecting today.”

Eric took her chin in his hand and pulled her into his kiss as though it was going to elevate the moment into something more meaningful. Afterward, he smiled at her. “Now that we have that taken care of, I wanted to let you know I have the movers coming in two weeks to pack up your things and move you into my house.”

“What?” She blinked as her brain did a hard shift.

As with everything he said or did it came off as non-negotiable. “I’ve done my part and given you more than sufficient time. Now, you need to show me you’re willing to do yours.”

Layne reminded herself that she needed to bide her time. She wanted nothing more than to strangle the life out of the man standing there before her. Patience was not at the top of her list of things she was great with, but she was stuck having to do her best.

While Eric seemingly was holding off the figurative underworld hyenas from attacking the remains of her family’s business, it was at a cost. After learning how he had manipulated the entire Russ Spencer and Andrew Correlli situation, she didn’t trust that anything he said or did was as it was being presented to her.

They continued their stroll around the park. Layne put her warm glove back on her hand at least covering up the eyesore on her ring finger. Though, she could still feel the odd sensation of it shifting around on her hand.

Later on that evening, she was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car with Rebecca in the passenger seat after picking her up.

“Holy Christ, woman!” Rebecca exclaimed as she stared at Layne’s hand and the massive rock now adorning it.

Layne grimaced. “I know.”

Her friend grabbed her hand to take a closer look at the ring on it. “I don’t even want to know how much this is worth.” Then, her face shifted into one of concern as she let go of Layne’s hand.

Immediately, Layne was already ahead of her and was quick to speak up. “It’s temporary and complicated. It’s all for business purposes. I just didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”

“Too late for that!” Rebecca gave a small shove to Layne’s shoulder of minor annoyance.

Layne released a breath of relief now getting this heavy secret off her chest to the person who had been in her life since childhood and always treated her like blood.

“To make matters more complicated,” Layne winced as she was about to drop another bomb on her bestie, “there’s something else.”

Rebecca’s mouth dropped open. “Are you pregnant?”

“No!” Layne immediately responded, almost having a minor panic attack at the thought of how that would turn this entire situation into an even bigger shitshow. “Remember the guy? The guy?”

“Oh, you mean the one that did you dirty? That one? The one I would like to smack for what he put you through?” Rebecca huffed recalling how much she wanted to lay into the man that managed to put Layne in such a dark spot. She hadn’t gotten all the specifics, but as the best friend it had been her duty to be pissed off on Layne’s behalf.

“Well…” Layne struggled to fully come out and say it. Thankfully, she didn’t need to when Rebecca made the leap that Joey was back in the picture.

Rebecca’s eyes widened. “Girl!”

Layne gave a slightly apologetic smile. “I know, I know. It’s different this time. I don’t know how to explain it. Things are just… I don’t know. It’s different. Like, it’s beyond not being able to breathe around him. All I want to do is breathe him in. God, he just has this ability to make me feel like I’m the only person that exists in his world.”

Rebecca nodded as she listened, a smirk easing onto her face.

Layne picked up on the expression Rebecca had that said she had some thoughts on all of this. “What??”

“I’m not going to say it.” She grinned as she picked her water bottle up from the cupholder and took a sip.

Staring at Rebecca, Layne picked up a random crumpled-up receipt from her last fill at the gas station and tossed it at her. “Tell me!”

Smugly, Rebecca sat there knowing something that Layne wasn’t even aware of. “No, I’m not going to say it, because you’re going to get all freaked out and spooked. I’m not going to be held responsible for that.”

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