Page 110 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Yet I still let out a surprised gasp when I opened it and found nestled inside the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever laid eyes on.

“Fuck,” I muttered softly in the quiet room.

It was simple. A classic-cut oval diamond, and surrounding it were tiny little diamonds, all sparkling in the morning light. The band was white gold, and even though I didn’t know jewelry very well, this one looked expensive.

No doubt he hadn’t spared any expense on it.

It was perfect.

And fucking terrifying.

Was this too fast? Too soon?

My divorce was just finalized. I couldn’t introduce such a new change into Hunter’s life in such a short time. And what about the fact that I had planned on buying a house?

This changed everything.

I should say no when he asked.

But I didn’t want to say no.

I didn’t want to say yes either.

I didn’t want to say anything.

I liked the way things were going now. Was it unreasonable to want to hold onto it just a little while longer?

I didn’t know, and it didn’t look like I had any more time, because I could hear the shower turning off. Quickly, I shoved the ring back in its original place and stood up beside the bed just as the bathroom door opened and Max walked out in nothing but a small towel wrapped around his hips, water dripping down his tan skin.

My mouth went dry as I took him in.

He smiled, walked over to me, and planted a quick kiss on my lips, wiping away the stupefied look on my face. “Hey,” he greeted.

I cleared my throat a bit before I spoke, yet my voice still croaked. “Hey.”

“How was breakfast with your mom?”

I shrugged. “I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

Max took me in then, his sharp blue eyes laser-focused. He might be the one wearing a towel, but I felt naked under his gaze.

“Okay,” he said, after a slight hesitation. “We can talk about it when you want to, yeah?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

My eyes followed a droplet of water as it ran down his defined chest, touching briefly on the V line on his hip before stopping at the towel line. Never had I been jealous of a droplet of water before.

“Lizzie?”

“Huh?” I asked, getting out of my daydream.

“You okay? You seem a little flushed.”

“Am I?” I did feel a little hot.

“Yeah,” he said, laughter in his voice.

I fanned my face as he moved to the walk-in closet, dropping the towel at the door, and giving me the full view of his hard ass.

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