Page 58 of Test the Ice
She finally speaks. “It’s being sized.”
He chuckles darkly. “No, it isn’t. I’ve called every jeweler in the city, and not a single one of them has an active order with your name or your fiancé’s.”
Tension springs to my shoulders. “That’s borderline stalker-like.”
Benedict ignores my insult, but I refuse to let him come out on top.
“But if you must know,” I start. “the order is closed because her ring has been picked up.”
“Then why isn’t it on her finger?” His jabs are starting to aggravate me.
Reese’s skin is warm to the touch, and it only gets hotter the longer we talk to him.
“Because…” I keep my words as smooth as possible. “We got distracted…if you know what I mean.”
A touch of red creeps up his neck, just above that crisp white collar of his. I reach for the phone with a shit-eating grin on my face. “Talk to you later, bud.”
As soon as I hit end, Reese exhales so hard I have to hold her hips steady so she doesn’t collapse. Her hands cover her face, her words muffled. “He definitely doesn’t believe that we’re engaged.”
Zoe’s scoff comes from behind us. “Ya think? You two need to get your story straight, and put that ring on!”
We both turn to look at her holding Charleigh, who, per usual, is smiling. “Ba, ba, ba, baa.”
Zoe shrugs sheepishly. “Even she agrees.”
Twenty
REESE
“You want me to what?”I’m scrubbing my spit-up covered shirt in Malaki’s kitchen sink while Zoe gives Charleigh a snack. I only let her stick around because I know she’ll just eavesdrop if I don’t.
Malaki repeats what he just told me. “I want you to work for me.”
“I don’t understand.” My bicep burns from how aggressive I’m scrubbing. “Work for you? Doing what?”
Malaki, still bare-chested, leans against the counter beside me. I stare at the no-longer-there stain on my shirt so I don’t accidentally stare at his flickering stomach muscles. I still feel the roughness of his five-o-clock shadow against my face when he whispered into my ear no more than ten minutes ago, and it takes everything in me not to graze my hand over my cheek.
Having him close puts me on edge, yet I find myself looking forward to it. My body sends all sorts of mixed signals to the parts of my body that are very much out of service, and I pray he doesn’t notice.
Malaki drags a hand up his chest and winds it around his neck to give it a squeeze. “I’ll pay you to cook…”
Zoe snorts, and I glare at her. I may not be the best in the kitchen, but it beats mac and cheese from the box.
“And clean,” Malaki adds.
I pause my scrubbing, my hands covered in sudsy water. “So what you’re saying is that you're going to pay me to be a housewife?”
“House-fiancée,” he corrects.
My lips flatten.
He grins. “Oh, come on. It’s that, or I just pay you for simply existing.”
An argument is on the tip of my tongue, but Zoe interrupts me mid-thought. “Can you pay me for existing too?”
“Zoe!” I snap.
She shrugs. “Worth a shot.”
