Page 46 of Rook

“You alright down there, babe?” Rook asked, looking down just as I lost both my footing and hold in unison.

My belly bottomed out and my heart shot up into my throat as a gasp escaped me.

But before I could slide, or—worse yet—fall, Rook’s hand closed around my wrist, yanking hard.

“I got you,” he said as I pedaled my legs, trying to find my footing. “That’s it; climb to me.”

With that, I did, getting to the top of the somewhat flat hill with my heart still thundering against my ribcage.

“Hey, you’re alright,” Rook said, his hand sliding up to grab my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I wouldn’t let you fall,” he added, hand moving up to the side of my neck as I tried to slow my breathing. “You’re okay, Tessa,” he told me, fingers gently rubbing at the tension in the back of my neck. “I probably should have gone up with you instead of ahead.”

“I’m okay,” I assured him, exhaling slowly as my eyelashes fluttered open. “Oh, wow.”

“Yeah,” Rook agreed as I looked around. “It’s perfect.”

“Can you take some pictures just for me?” I asked, having left my phone in the car. “For keepsakes,” I added.

“Definitely. I’ll get some of the landscape, then some of you in it,” he said, already going to grab his camera.

With that, he took pictures of the colorful rocks before instructing me where to stand to take pictures just of me.

Then, of course, it was time to stick the camera in the tripod and get on with the real reason we were there.

Rook looped a little handheld remote around his wrist and used it to take a few pictures of me as I looked around.

Then he approached me.

“Just act like we’re enjoying the landscape,” he said, his hand sliding around my lower back.

That wouldn’t be hard.

I was.

“Now turn to me,” he instructed after clicking his remote a few times.

I did.

I watched as he lowered to his knees and reached into his pocket.

It was fake, it was fake, it was fake.

But the way my heart started to skip around sure felt real.

“Tessa, will you fake-marry me?” Rook asked as I pressed my hands to my face the way I’d seen countless women react to a surprise proposal.

I watched as Rook flipped open the top of a navy blue jewelry box to reveal the ring that would be sitting on my finger for the foreseeable future.

It was like he’d snatched my vision of the ideal ring right out of my mind.

It had a simple white gold band. But featured a large kite-shaped stone that I figured was a green sapphire. Though I honestly didn’t know much about stones. To each side of the main stone were five little diamonds in the shape of an X.

It was unique and fun and just… exactly what I would have wanted.

If this was real.

The thing was, it sure as hell felt real as Rook slid that ring out of the box and onto my finger.

My damn hand was actually shaking.

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