Page 29 of Power Plays & Proposals

She stomped into the back room, and both Nate and I turned to look at Lou.

"What did you do?" Nate asked him.

"She won't let me have any more," Lou whined and tried to reach for one of the scones on the plate.

Dan pulled the plate closer to himself and leaned over it like the goalie he was. "No touchy."

Lou stood up and walked to the front door. "Fine. I'm outta here."

"What was that all about?" I asked Dan.

He shrugged. "All she said was 'You' and you saw the rest."

Nate and I ate with Dan, but Maria didn't come up to the front again. I wanted to check on her, but I knew she wouldn't want to talk about it while Nate and Dan were here. I'd have to try and get it out of her later. For now, I listened to Nate and Dan praise Maria's skills, and debate over the best thing.

"Alexis is going to be so mad she didn't come with me." Dan said as he looked at the empty plate.

I lifted up the chocolate muffin I was saving for later and handed it to him. "Give her this one."

He smiled at me like I was an angel and took it. "I'll bring her next time I come in."

Maria poked her head out, and when she saw that Lou was nowhere to be seen, she came out to clean up the tables and counter. She shooed us all out and locked the door behind us. She insisted that Nate and I should enjoy our date, and that Dan was welcome to bring Alexis by anytime.

Chapter 13

Radiant Diamonds was nothing like the jewelry stores I'd been to before. Sure it had the white floors and walls with the bright lights that made everything in the glass cases sparkle. But that’s where similarities to other stores ended. No, as soon as Nate and I walked in, they took us back to a private room and offered us sparkling water as we sat on soft leather chairs.

The associate, a man in a nice black suit, asked us a few questions about what we were looking for, then left us to enjoy our drinks while he went to pull inventory. I now stared at a collection of the prettiest rings I'd ever seen in my life.

Each one was gorgeous in its own right, but the one on the far left caught my eye. A beautiful oval-cut solitaire was set into the center, and the rose gold band itself was crafted to look like vines, while smaller diamonds dotted the vines like flowers among the leaves. A beautiful balance of tradition and fairytale.

"We can swap the diamond for any stone." The salesman offered as he pulled out the ring I'd been looking at. He handed it to Nate to look at. "The wedding band also comes in the same woodland style."

Nate lifted my hand, his hold steady and warm as he slid the ring on my finger. It fit so perfectly and made me feel like a fairytale princess. An overwhelming mixture of wonder and wrongness hit me. Wonder at this ring that was more perfect than anything I'd ever imagined for myself, and wrongness as I thought of the last time I'd gone ring shopping. I'd been so excited that I'd pulled on my boyfriend's hand as we walked by the jewelry store in the mall. Reluctantly he'd followed me in, and he'd frowned at each of the rings I pointed out. Complaining about the cost of each one, and how commercialism was killing romance. Comment by comment, my bubble of happiness had burst.

All the warm fuzzy feelings I'd been feeling around Nate vanished, and I shivered. This was not a fairytale, and it wasn't going to end with a happily ever after. Those didn't exist.

"It's beautiful, but no." I slid the ring off and handed it back to the salesman. "How about that one."

I pointed to the simplest of the rings we'd been shown, with the smallest stone. A classic pear-shaped solitaire on a plain gold band, the diamond was still bigger than anything I'd looked at with my ex. The man handed it to me to try on. The fit wasn't the same, it felt a little looser, and it didn’t ignite the same level of rightness the other one had. But it was an engagement ring and that's all we needed.

"Can you give us a moment?" Nate asked the associate.

The associate excused himself, mumbling something about getting us a refill even though our glasses were still mostly full. As the door closed, Nate leaned towards me, his eyes filled with a concerned intensity.

I put the ring down as I looked away from him. "I'll wear whatever ring you pick. We both know this is temporary so there's no point in picking anything more expensive than the basic one."

"Lia, I want you to be happy." His gentle tone had me looking at him, and I saw the unwavering sincerity in his eyes as he lifted a hand to gently cup my cheek. "Please pick the ring you like wearing, so you can enjoy it for however long you wear it."

"I'll be happy with whatever you pick Nate." I said softly. "You don't have to spend your hard-earned money on me."

Our eyes locked in a silent exchange, the air was thick with unspoken words. My heart beat faster as Nate leaned in slightly, his lips hovering close to mine. For a fleeting moment, I imagined what it would be like if we kissed. I could feel the electric spark between us, sending shivers down my spine, just from his fingers cradling my face.

But just as quickly as the moment arose, it shattered.

The return of the associate, broke the spell and Nate pulled away. I hastily tried to compose myself, I couldn't help but wonder if Nate felt the same magnetic pull I did, or if it was merely a figment of my imagination. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. A faint smile played on his lips.

We were both quiet, and I sipped my drink just to have something to do.

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