Page 20 of A Billion Dollar Romance
“Oh,wow,”Edie breathed beside me, and my lips curved into a smile. A room full of jewelrydidtend to have that effect on a woman, even one as practical as Edie.
I’d picked her up from her apartment again this morning, this time letting my driver do the hard work while we sat side by side in the back seat. Too close, and too far. She smelled faintly of orange blossoms, just as she had at the bar, and in my arms. And last night.
I’d never smelled it on her at the office.
She was putting it on for me.
“Pick whatever you like,” I said, and she looked up at me out of wide eyes.
“Ah, Mr. Martin, we’ve been expecting you.” A woman swept out from the back room of the shop. Her black, floor-length dress and dazzlingly large diamond earrings made her look like an eccentric artist’s patron. She inclined her elegant head at one of the women waiting behind the counter. “Champagne for Mr. Martin and his…” Her eyes glanced summarily over Edie. “Fiancée. Come through, please,” she said, and gestured for us to join her. “I’ve selected some options I think you’ll like. Although…” She nodded at a second employee. “Bring the third tray from the case, please, Clara. Now that I’ve seen her…”
I smiled, looking down at Edie. She glanced up at me, questioning. “You’re sure?” I murmured. There was still time to callThe Timesand have them pull the announcement. I was sure I wouldn’t be the only man to ever do so. But she just nodded, following our host into the elegant private parlor of the shop.
I never imagined I would be doing this,I thought, watching her: the curve of her waist, the subtle sway of her hips in her tight black trousers as she walked.
This was dangerous. Edie was already nearly impossible to resist, wearing that perfume just for me, smiling that little smile, like she had a secret. And last night, when she’d looked up at me innocently, telling me she still thought of me as her professor…
I’d wanted to take her home with me right then. Wanted to pull her into my lap at the restaurant, even.
With my ring on her finger, she’d be devastating.
Keeping her close was painful, almost literally: I’d nearly rubbed myself raw in the shower, the memories of her sweet moans now tangled up intractably with the serious way she’d considered my offer, the way she bit her lip at her desk as she read over the assigned text and the way she still bit her lip now, editing one of Verity’s inane publications with the seriousness of someone who really cared about her work.
She looked back over her shoulder.
“Cold feet?” she asked with a nervous smile.
Fuck, no.
I was burning up for her.
I followed her over the threshold, setting into one of a pair of soft velvet armchairs. A bottle of Champagne rested on a silver salver, two flutes of just-poured Champagne sitting beside it.
“A toast?” I said, picking them both up, passing one to Edie.
“It’s nine in the morning,” she protested with a laugh.
“You don’t have to drink it,” I said.You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.But she shook her head.
“It would be bad luck not to toast my own engagement, don’t you agree?”
“Then,” I raised my glass.
“Toromance,” she said, the hint of a smile in her voice. I smirked at her little joke.Cute.
“To love,” I said, holding her gaze. Her cheeks turned faintly pink, her lips parted.Dangerous, James, dangerous.
She blinked, and turned to the assortment of rings, spread out and glittering like stars on their blue velvet cushion.
“These are our finest,” the shop owner said, selecting a blindingly sparkly ring: a large diamond surrounded by a halo of even more stones. “But of course, if you don’t see exactly what you like, we are happy to design something to your exact tastes, Miss…”
“Taylor,” Edie said, darting a glance at me through lowered lashes.
“Not for long,” I murmured, just to watch her blush again.
“How did you meet?” the woman asked, and I hesitated, unsure, but Edie spoke confidently.
“He was actually my professor,” she said, conspiratorially, raising her eyebrows. “I hadsucha crush on him.”
