Page 19 of Their Diamond Ring Ruse

Lily thought about Crème and all the time she spent there. All the late nights perfecting recipes alone. She loved that time, so she really couldn’t say much to him because hadn’t she become the same way?

‘Ah, yes, the genius.’ She grinned. ‘It’s funny, you don’t look like a genius.’

Why was she trying to provoke this obviously tightly wound man?

‘Why? Because you buy the media’s narrow-minded depiction of what intelligence looks like?’

‘Of course not!’

Yet that was exactly what she was thinking—purely because the idea of Julian as a shy, socially awkward person was highly entertaining.

His eyes twinkled in that way they did whenever they flashed the smile the rest of his face wouldn’t allow. ‘It’s both good to know and a little concerning that you’re such a bad liar.’

‘That’s a compliment, Julian. No one should be good at lying. Are you?’

‘You have no idea...’

But she did. She’d heard him telling her brother he loved her. It was the first time a man had ever said he loved her, and it was a lie. A necessary one, but it left an awful taste in her mouth. And that was her problem, not his.

She pushed on with her questions, only pausing when their food was served before asking, ‘How old are you?’

‘I thought you’d heard all about me?’ He cocked a brow and it was maddening.

‘I don’t keep a dossier on you.’ She rolled her eyes.

He gave a chuckle! Finally! It seemed to surprise them both.

‘Thirty.’

As their dinner progressed, Lily found she was able to interpret Julian’s subtle tells. When he was amused, when he didn’t want to answer a question, when something deeper stirred in him but he wouldn’t let it see the light. And, as much as she hadn’t expected it, she found she was truly enjoying herself. Talking to Julian was easy, and he made her feel lighter, unburdened in a way that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. He drew laughter from her easily. Made her smile.

She watched him move their two glasses aside and reach over to take her hand in his.

‘Are you ready for this?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’ She was calmer than when he had collected her, comfortable now that she had got to know him just a little bit. Her life waited on the other side of this decision and she was ready to live it.

He kept his eyes on hers, stroking his thumb back and forth across her knuckles, spreading a white-hot heat that pooled in her core. She watched him slip a hand into his coat pocket and withdraw a black velvet box that he placed between them, pulling his hand away from hers to open the lid with a click.

And even though Lily knew this wasn’t real, and she knew Julian didn’t love her, she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t reach into the box and pluck that amazing ring out. And it was amazing. Timeless. Something she would have chosen for herself. A large princess cut diamond in a platinum band set with a series of pavé diamonds.

‘Lily, marry me.’

It wasn’t a question...wasn’t a request. It was a statement convincing her that she could place her trust in him. Telling her that they were in this madness together.

‘Yes,’ she choked, surprising herself at how easily the word fell out.

She’d worried that it would be hard to say yes when the time came, but it wasn’t. For whatever reason, her ‘yes’ felt right.

Julian pinched the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger then brushed his lips across her knuckles. The world disappeared.

‘I’m going to kiss you now,’ he said softly, his eyes on hers, and when she nodded with a whispered ‘Okay’, he pulled her to her feet and stepped up to her until their bodies were almost touching. Until she had to crane her neck to look up at him. At the hunger in his eyes.

Lily had always avoided kissing Lincoln, and had thought she must be wired differently because she hated the idea of it. It was why she had turned away so his lips never met hers. Why she’d felt less than nothing.

But now...

Now her heart raced and her body pulsed. Now she could hear nothing but thunder in her ears. Now all she could do was drown in those darkened eyes, crave the heat of his body.

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