Page 45 of King Of Order

I slapped on sunglasses as we took off to the beach.

‘What a stunning day,’ she declared beside me, the sunshine to my exasperated grumpiness.

I refused to get caught up in the beauty of the landscape, annoyed at what I considered a monumental waste of my fuckin’ time.

‘You keep glancing at your watch like you’re counting down the minutes leading up to an execution,’ she murmured, slicing her eyes at me as her hips swung beside me.

‘You should relax,’ she added as we arrived at the park that stretched in front of the seashore.

With a coquettish smile, she threw off her shoes to walk barefoot in the grass, sinking her feet into nature’s cushioned surface. ‘Now, your turn.’

I growled in irritation as I slipped my loafers and socks off. ‘What now?’

‘Are you always this wound up?’ she asked.

I grunted, resisting to gaze at her, eyes alert and parsing over the view and people in the distance. ‘I like to know what’s coming next.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Fotto, you’re as rigid as they come, Rio. You like to act like you’re laid-back, but I see through it. Everything about you is calculated. You’re the kind of man who doesn’t just walk into a room; you assess every exit and note each face.’

‘It’s my job,’ I grumbled.

‘So you never let your guard down? Even here, on this beautiful day like this? You can’t plan every second of your life, Rio.’

‘I’ve done fine so far,’ I muttered, voice deep and brooding, unimpressed by her spontaneous detours, which were getting more elaborate by the minute.

My angst was rising with each moment, pissed off at being dragged into her charade while also fighting my fuckin’ desire for her.

She pulled something out of her pocket.

A jewelry box.

My eyes narrowed on her as she slipped out the exquisite diamond sparkler from within.

‘What’s that?’

‘My mother’s ring. We’ll use it to pretend we’ve gotten engaged. Will you marry me,amore?’

I glared at her for a beat. ‘The man always does the asking.Si?’

She reared her back in surprise. ‘What in the handmaids-tale-trad-wife nonsense is that? I can propose to you in this day and age, can’t I?’

I widened my eyes at her, surprised.

‘You can try,’ I drawled, loathing the idea with every fiber of my being, a traditional man to the core.

Damn, she was pushing my boundaries.

‘Fine, you do it,’ she conceded.

I pursed my lips and reached for the velvet box.

With a suck of my teeth, I sank to the ground beside her on one knee.

She loomed above me, lips quirking.

‘Take the video, woman,’ I rasped, hating the ludicrousness of our charade.

Flaring her eyes at me, she angled her phone camera towards us and tapped the record button.

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