Page 72 of Reputation (Tempt)

“Only the best for my pookie bear,” he teased.

“Oh, hell no.” I slid the ring on my finger and held out my hand to admire it. But even his ridiculous pet name couldn’t dim the sparkle on my finger. It was a perfect fit.

“Sugar lips?” he asked.

I blew a raspberry and took a seat at the table. “Pretty sure we aren’t the type of couple to do pet names. But you did well on the size.” I couldn’t stop admiring the ring.

He joined me. “It suits you,” he said, taking my hand in his to inspect the ring. My breath caught. “It’s from my mother’s collection.”

Considering how important her pieces were to him, well… I glanced at my ring again. No. Notmyring.Thering.

“You sure you wouldn’t rather pick something less…sentimental?” I asked, even though I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

“You don’t like it?” he asked, and the hesitancy in his tone caught me off guard. “A red diamond seemed like you.”

“It’s perfect.”Tooperfect—that was the problem. But this was all pretend anyway.

“But…” he prodded.

“But nothing.” I shrugged, trying to play off my discomfort. “I guess I’m just surprised you’d give me something from your mother’s collection, considering the situation with Trinity.” Even if it was merely a loan.

“I wanted you to have it,” he said. “Besides, this is the type of ring everyone would expect me to give the woman I’m going to marry.”

“I get that,” I said, but still. It was his mother’s ring! Appearances or not, he could’ve selected something else. Something with less personal meaning. “But I don’t want to damage it working out.” Or washing my hands. Or breathing.

“So take it off for workouts. Or don’t.” He shrugged. As if it were replaceable.

Replaceable?Ha! What a joke. Red diamonds were incredibly rare. And it was from his mother’s collection. Just how vast was this collection? I was dying to know.

“I just—” I stared down at the ring, enjoying all the facets. “Are you sure?”

He took my hand in his, and I met his gaze, feeling as if we’d been sucked into a vortex where only the two of us existed. Nate had a way of making me feel as if I was the only person in the room. The only person who mattered.

“Yes. I’m sure.”

I held my breath, feeling as if he was referring to more than just the ring. But then he drew a jagged breath and said, “Let’s talk strategy,” and it burst whatever ridiculous bubble I’d been living in.

I followed him over to the couch. We discussed some basic logistics—our proposal story, interviews, and things his team wanted us to do. Awards shows coming up. My head was spinning, especially when he mentioned the ones we’d be attending.

“Do we need to talk about your family?” he asked.

“What about them?”

“Are they going to buy our story that we were secretly dating?”

I rolled my lips between my teeth. “Honestly…” I tilted my head. “Papa J is probably so overjoyed that he’s not going to look too hard at it. And Astrid is so busy living her life most of the time that she won’t either.” She was nearing the end of her residency, and she worked nonstop.

“What about that whole twin sixth-sense thing? Aren’t you concerned she’ll realize you’re lying?”

I shook my head. “Even if she did, she wouldn’t say anything.”

“And your other dad?” he asked. “Declan.”

My stomach churned with unease. “Is going to take some convincing.”

“About our relationship—or me?”

“Both,” I said.

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