Page 88 of Pretty Rings and Broken Things

“My god, my wife looks breathtaking this evening,” he muses, placing his hands on either side of the counter in the middle of the closet.

I laugh, leaning into his kiss as he trails his lips along the back of my neck.

“You say that every evening.”

“I mean it every evening,” he quips. His hands find my waist as he clings to the smooth fabric of my champagne-colored evening dress. It was one I’d fallen in love with while wedding dress shopping before our wedding.

It was perfect, except it hadn’t felt bridal. It didn’t stop me from loving it. The moment Archer told me we were attending a fancy event tonight where I needed a nice dress, I went to buy it.

I let out a content sigh as he pushes the hair from my back to continue his trail of kisses. It feels so good I melt against his body. Since our meeting with my brother Monday evening, it seems all we’ve done is work to create a plan to stop Archer’s father from taking Bishop Hotels.

I feel confident in the plan Archer and Tyson have put into place, and tonight is vital in making sure we coyly meet with the two final members we don’t have a vote from yet. It seems wealready have a majority vote, and shareholders willing to request the vote to begin with, but we agreed our goal was to get a unanimous vote on both ends so there isn’t any room for arguments.

“I’m supposed to be getting ready,” I whisper as Archer’s hand roams down my waist.

“I’d love to help you get unready…”

“We’ll be late, and that wouldn’t be a very good impression for you to make to people you’d like to lead one day.”

“This was supposed to be our date night,” he points out, his teeth raking against my throat.

“It still can be. You and Tyson will convince them quickly, and we’ll have the rest of the opera to enjoy just you and me and the private box you bought for us.”

His breath tickles my skin as he lets out a rush of air with his laugh. “I can’t fucking wait,” he mutters, placing one final kiss against my cheek before allowing me to finish putting in my earrings.

“How are you feeling?” I ask, turning to face him. He looks handsome in a black tux with a bow tie. It’s a classic look, and I’m already looking forward to stripping him of the custom-tailored tux later tonight. I never saw him as the kind of man to wear a bow tie, but he wears it incredibly well.

His eyes travel over my face. Despite how busy we’ve been trying to discreetly set up meetings with shareholders and making sure we come up with a solid business model for a merger, it’s been one of the best weeks of my life.

Being able to be a real married couple with Archer, to hear him whisper I love you every night before bed and countless times during the day, has been better than I ever imagined.

Plus, there’s the fact that for the first time in my life, my opinion when it comes to the business with my last name matters. Both Archer and Tyson have listened when I’ve given suggestions, and I’ve never felt so valued.

It turns out my years and years of people pleasing and attending parties to show face have paid off. I know everythingthere is to know about almost every board member on both sides. I’ve partied with the shareholders and attended their weddings, baby showers, and everything else. I know them all well, and for a lot of them, it’s the fact that I approve of Tyson and Archer’s plan for both of the hotel franchises that has even gotten us the yeses we need in the first place.

Next week, we’ll either be in a position where both Archer and Tyson will be taking over the hotels and merging them back into one, or we’ll be dealing with the wrath of our fathers. There’s no going back—we’ve already put the plan into place, and now all we have to do is finish executing it.

A shiver runs down my spine at the thought of how angry my father will be. He may never forgive us, but Tyson and I are doing this for him. If he’d handled himself better over the years and even offered to try and make it up to the Moores, maybe Archer’s dad wouldn’t have ever tried to sway his board in the first place.

I’ve already disappointed my father once recently. I’m ready to accept that I’ll do it again.

“What’s going through that beautiful mind of yours?” Archer asks, fastening his cufflinks.

“Just nerves,” I answer honestly. “I can’t stop thinking about what will happen next week.”

Archer’s palms find my cheeks as he pulls my head against his. It’s an intimate gesture he does often, one that I cherish every single time he does it. He doesn’t kiss me, just lets our foreheads press against each other as we breathe in each other’s air. “Whatever happens next week, we have each other. It could go terribly wrong or perfectly right, and I’m ready to accept either outcome because I have you, my love.”

My eyelids flutter shut as I soak in his words. I never thought I’d be so blissfully in love with a man like Archer Moore—let alone Archer himself. He’s the last person I expected to own my heart, but I gave it to him freely, and I don’t regret it in the slightest.I never will.

He’s my person, my everything, and his words are just a reminder that it doesn’t matter what happens because he’s right. We have each other.

Archer delicately lifts my chin as he coaxes me to look at him. I melt at the love and affection in his eyes, in the way they crinkle when he looks at me, and he never wears that hardened face I see him put in place around others. “You’ve been a marvel this week,” he mutters. “Watching you interact with people the way you have, read them the way you do…you just simply amaze me.”

“You’re the one who’s charming,” I argue. Our driver will be here any moment, and I still have to pick out heels and a clutch for the night, but I also don’t want to break the moment between us.

“I’m confident that this vote will go exactly how we want it, and it’s because of you.” He brushes the loosely curled strands of my hair behind my ear. “It’s ironic—the downfall of your father will be because he didn’t see what you were capable of. If he’d let you lead things from the very beginning, like the way it was always meant to be…his board never would have agreed to him being voted out.”

“You don’t know that.”

---