Page 85 of Royal Fling
“Oh, leave him alone,” Fisayo said, brushing Luke with a dismissive hand. “He was only looking out for you like any father would do.”
The beat of the music turned up, and Paul dragged Fisayo away and around the dancefloor while Luke turned to me with the most puzzled look on his face.
“Well,thatI didn’t see coming,” he said with a smile.
If only it was the only thing you didn’t see coming.
What better time for me to do what I’d been planning all along.
I pulled away from him, still holding one hand, reached for the inside pocket of my suit jacket and went down on one knee.
Luke grimaced, and once I pulled the ring box out, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
The flashes fired off non-stop.
“August! What the hell are you doing?” he asked.
I looked into his beautiful brown eyes and grinned.
“What I should have done days ago. What I should have done the moment I met you.”
Luke froze, and I rubbed the back of his palm with my thumb.
“I need to do right by you, Luke. I need to protect you. I can’t stand what the media is doing to you. To us. So… will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?”
I smiled brightly at him, popping the ring box open and waiting for his response.
The whole room seemed to have stopped breathing. The music sounded like it had died. And the flashes? Those damn flashes were firing off constantly.
“Wh-what?” Luke gaped.
I kissed his knuckles to reiterate my question.
“What are you doing, August?” he asked, the disbelief still apparent in his face.
“Protecting you, your family, and your honor,” I said.
Luke winced.
“What am I? A virgin maiden in the eighteen hundreds? Protect my honor?”
That was my first sign that something was wrong.
“It’s the only way I know how,” I said.
Luke glanced around the room, at everyone staring at us. Mother was staring at us. She looked composed, but I could tell she was shocked. I hadn’t told her I wasn’t going to do that.
He pulled his hand free of mine.
That was my second sign that things weren’t right.
“I-I can’t believe you would do this,” Luke huffed, and before I could ask him what he meant, he turned around and ran out of the room.
The room gasped collectively, but even worse, my heart withered and died in that instant.
What had happened? What had I done?
Twenty-Three
