Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Why do you have to be such a good guy?
I finish my slow turn, and when I face Alec again, the playfulness has fled from his expression. “What?” I ask, meeting his too-serious gaze.
“You’re stunning,” he says, his voice gruff. “Simply stunning.”
My heart tugs for what could’ve been. In a different life, under different circumstances, Alec would have no connection to Oliver, and I could be with him without the guilt and the constant reminders of old heartache. Without the shame and the hurt.
“Thank you,” I say softly before looking away.
“Hey.” He catches my chin in his big hand and turns my head until my gaze meets his again. “Don’t freak out on me, okay?” He sweeps his thumb over my bottom lip. “I’m not going to hide how I feel about you. I don’t have it in me. But not once since that night in Vegas have you pretended to want more from me than friendship. You’ve made it very clear where you stand.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
He shakes his head. “I’m saying you can relax. I’m not gonna spend these days with you and then get angry when you don’t want more from me. That’s not who I am.”
Swallowing, I nod. “Thank you. That means a lot.” I reach for my purse and sling it onto my shoulder before realizing he’s still watching me.
He tucks his hands into his pockets. “I do have one thing to ask you, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Tell me if you ever change your mind.” He shrugs. “And until then, I’ll assume all this is just a function of our friendship.”
The words I’ll take what I can get seem to hang in the air between us. Don’t hang your heart on me, Alec. You deserve so much better.
He leans against the doorjamb and looks me over. “Nervous?”
“I can’t decide if I’m going to vomit or run a 5K. So . . . I guess?”
He chuckles and strolls into the bathroom. “You look amazing. That dress . . .” He licks his lips. I wish he’d quit doing that. It makes my mind go to places I have decided it’s not allowed to go. “But you’re missing something.”
I look down at the white cocktail dress. “What’s that?”
“Well, you’re supposed to be engaged, right? That’s what you said in your audition video?”
Another wave of nausea crashes over me. Was I high when I recorded that? Lying is never a good idea, and now I’m in this mess where I’m dealing with that lie while juggling a lie of omission. I cringe. “Yeah.”
Prowling toward me, Alec looks me over again. Slower this time. “And tonight, you’re supposed to be my fiancée, right?”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“Not at all.” He takes my left hand from my side and squeezes it in his. “But anyone who knows me wouldn’t believe my fiancée would go to a fancy dinner without her diamond.”
Before I realize what he means, he slides a ring onto my finger. I hold up my hand between us and gasp. “Alec, where did you get this?” I blink at it, and my chest goes tight. “Oh my God. This isn’t—”
“Not the exact one,” he says, tilting his head from side to side as he studies it on my finger. “But as close as I could manage on short notice.”
When we were in Vegas, drunk on insta-love, we saw a ring like this in a shop window, and I told him I wanted something like that for my engagement ring.
I can’t even identify all the emotions tangling in my chest right now, but there are so many I can feel them crawling up my throat and choking me. “It was supposed to be a joke. We were playing.” I shake my head. “I never meant . . .” Except I had. That night I was loose and happy and unburdened by the mistakes in my past. Part of me had been buying into happily-ever-after. Part of me had been buying into the fairy tale.
“Savvy?”
I blink up at him.
“Relax. I have a good friend who owns a jewelry store on Rodeo Drive. It’s a loan. I wanted you to be able to wear a ring I knew you would’ve picked if this weren’t pretend.”
My eyes fill with tears. “Alec . . .” I shake my head. “I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve any of this.”
He cups my face in his big hand and tilts it up to his. “You deserve everything.”
His mouth is so close to mine, his words so sweet, that it feels natural to roll to my toes and press my lips to his. He slides his hand into my hair and exhales, as if he’s been holding his breath this whole time. Waiting.
I know better than to let myself deepen the kiss, but I linger, uninterested in returning to a reality where I can’t have him.