Page 38 of Vengeful Seduction
It seemed incredible, but it was true. What I’d done to deserve this amazing man, I had no idea, but it must have been something amazing. Maybe I’d been a saint or something in a previous life.
He gave me a rakish grin and slid another ring out of his pocket, slipping it over the table toward me. I recognized it as one of mine, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You stole one of my rings,” I scolded, but I found it funny and quite touching, actually. He’d wanted to make sure the ring he bought me was the right size and he’d pulled off the plan without a hitch.
“I hope you don’t mind.” He grinned at me.
I couldn’t say I minded. It was pretty sweet. He’d gone to a lot of trouble. I hadn’t even noticed him taking the ring.
“I think I’m going to have to keep my eye on you,” I commented, but the stern tone of my voice was undermined by the grin on my face. I couldn’t wipe it off, no matter how hard I tried.
Though it had to be said, I wasn’t trying particularly hard.
“Yep,” he grinned, unrepentant.
I laughed softly and my whole body throbbed with emotion, soft and wonderful, like floating on a sea of perfect contentment. The ring on my finger sparkled, the gold quickly warming until it felt like I had always worn it.
“It suits you,” he commented and I smiled a little. I didn’t think of myself as the sort of woman who could wear enormous diamond rings, but when I was with him, I felt like a different person.
A stronger, braver, bolder person. The sort of person who would fall in love and get engaged in the course of only a quarter of a year.
Somehow, I didn’t regret my decision. Not when I looked across the table and saw David looking at me with complete devotion.
Somehow, against all reason, it was the right choice. After all, I’d fallen in love, and it seemed I was the sort of person who gave my whole heart when I gave it at all.
This was the start of our life together. I’d already been committed to him and this just made it official.
“I love you, David Black,” I whispered.
He beamed back at me. “I love you too, baby.”
I was going to marry this man. If I had ever been so happy in my whole life, I couldn’t remember it.
David
Kaye wanted to wait a little bit before getting married, but obviously, I wasn’t going to be able to give her the long engagement she wanted. I needed to get her tied to me before she thought better of it, so I pushed for a quicker wedding.
A couple of months. I was willing to wait only so long—long enough for the arrangements to be made. Long enough for her dress to be ordered.
She gave in pretty easily, and I couldn’t help but find it flattering. She really did want to be married to me. Of course, the whole point of me courting her and wooing her had been to make her want it so badly she ignored good sense, but it was actually really happening.
I loved watching a plan come together. Really, I did. Otherwise, there was no way in hell I would be getting married. It wasn’t something I had ever wanted to do, and if not for this act, I never would have considered it.
As it was, it suited me to play the devoted fiancé, at least for now. She had invited me to move in with her, which had just annoyed me even more. It wasn’t fair or right. She was inviting me to move into the house that should have been mine—which would have been mine if not for her.
It sat wrong with me. I’d had to accept her offer graciously, and then I prepared myself for a couple of months of torment.
To my surprise, she was a good roommate—a fun person to live with. She wasn’t clingy. She willingly gave me my own space and didn’t try to take up all of my time, but was always glad to see me when we did interact.
Not to mention the sex. God, the sex. It had started off incredible and had only gotten better as she got practice.
I wasn’t getting cold feet about the plan or anything. It was just because I enjoyed living with her more than I would have thought. No real big deal. I wasn’t going to change my mind.
Even if I did enjoy her company.
There was no rule against liking her. I just had to watch it and not let myself go too far with it. If I were careful, it would be fine. It would just make the whole thing more realistic.
“We need to send out invitations,” I pointed out. It wasn’t the first time I’d said something about it, but for some reason she didn’t seem very excited about the idea. I’d gone into this whole wedding deal expecting her to go over the top. You had to spend money to make money, after all.
