Page 21 of Marry Me, Right Now

“That’s nonnegotiable,” I said flatly. “You’re going to all of this trouble, I couldn’t live with myself if you didn’t get something out of the arrangement. I just couldn’t.”

Her sweet warm eyes regarded me very oddly. “It’s strange the way you connect money and influence and effort, sometimes,” she said. “You’ve never worked at a minimum wage job, have you?”

“In high school I tutored some students for free. Does volunteer work count?”

“Did you have a summer job when you went to university?”

The sensation of realizing I was completely spoiled was extremely unpleasant. “No. One summer I went backpacking in Europe, and the other two I interned with my father.”

“So you’ve never had to work an hour for less than fourteen dollars?”

She smiled at the way my head shook. “Someday I’m going to have some stories to tell you that will break your heart. But for right now, I guess our job is to act like privileged eccentric people who get married on a whim because the numbers align.”

She patted my back before ending our hug, fluffing her hair with one hand. “I’ve worked my ass off at many jobs, often being insulted, degraded, and treated like human garbage. At least my yearly salary of one million dollars is going to come with the use of this gorgeous condo, and endless wine.”

“And a gigantic sparkling engagement ring,” I winked. “We have to go shopping tomorrow morning.”

JACOB

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THE RING

As we walked into Tiffany’s, Mia’s eyes were tight, and she clutched my arm as if she were afraid to be in the room with this much jewelry. I didn’t quite understand her aversion to wealth yet, but I could see this place freaked her out. Placing my hand against her back, I rubbed in gentle circles as I whispered, “These people are here to wait on us hand and foot. It’s what they do. The more you try on, the happier they’ll be, and if you don’t like anything, we can try another store. Okay?”

She nodded grimly.

“Let’s try something on right away. Like ripping a bandage off.” She nodded again, but her eyes were clearer. Determined.

A middle-aged woman with a touch of white in her hair and a motherly demeanor appeared immediately. “Hello, I’m Vera. May I help you? Are we looking for anything in particular today?”

“An engagement ring,” I declared, slipping my arm around Mia proudly.

Vera looked genuinely touched. “Congratulations. Such a darling couple. Well, let’s get started. Do you have a budget in mind?”

I quickly caught her eye and shook my head, darting my eyes at Mia. Vera nodded, instantly understanding that we were not discussing that now.

She turned her attention to Mia, who appeared nervous. “Are you looking for anything in particular, dear? Did you bring any photos of rings you like?”

Mia looked like she’d rather run shrieking from the building, but seemed to steel herself. “Whatever Jacob likes, I guess.”

Vera shot me a strange look, but she removed a tray of elegant rings with huge solitaire diamonds from the cabinet. “How about we try on a few, just for fun.” She raised a large round diamond so that Mia could take a good look. “Do you like round or square? One large stone by itself, or surrounded by smaller diamonds as well?”

Mia picked up a ring with a giant square cut stone, looking up at me. “Ripping off the bandage,” she whispered with a wink. She pretended to admire it, but I saw that her nose crinkled and her shoulders were tense.

“You have excellent taste,” the sales lady was saying.

“I’m just looking at this one for fun. This stone is actually too big,” she said. “It sticks up too high. I’d smash it on something. But it looks cool.” She took it off and set it back on the black velvet post.

Vera nodded. “You have delicate hands. We wouldn’t want it to look out of place or awkward. How about this one? It’s not quite four carats.”

Mia’s eyes grew huge. “I thought a one-carat diamond was big.”

“Well, they come in so many sizes, and the cut can cause some to appear larger than others. Is there anything that catches your eye, large or small?”

Vera was trying so hard to put her at ease, but Mia’s hands were visibly shaking. I pulled her aside, nodding to the saleslady to give us a moment.

“Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

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