“Diamonds are just the tip of the iceberg. What color do you want your McLaren?”
I lightly swat at his arm, pulling a laugh from him. The sound warms my heart as I remember what Gavin said at the mall, about how he didn’t think Christian ever smiled before he met me. I find it hard to believe that someone so suave and charming never found a reason to smile in the past thirty years.
“White,” I tease. “The pearlescent kind that sparkles in the sunlight.” The corner of his mouth quirks up into a smile, and the butterflies in my stomach go wild.
Christian drives us through the busy streets of Meridian City, his hand not once letting mine go.
As we get closer to the restaurant, I grow more and more rigid in my seat. Christian glances over at me and quietly says my name to catch my attention. “What’s wrong?” he asks, squeezing my hand even tighter.
I let out a defeated sigh and embarrassment pools in my cheeks. “I’m just worried about not measuring up. You can have anyone you want and…I feel like I don’t belong in your world.”
“Our world,” he corrects quickly after I finish. “Ourworld, Elena. There isn’t a you and me anymore. It’s us. You’re worried about not measuring up, but there’s no competition. Don’t compare yourself to women that don’t exist. We’re together now, nothing else matters. I know it’s easier said than done but try to let go a little bit and have some fun. This is a different life than you’re used to, and I get that, but it’s your life now too. You don’t have to feel bad about enjoying it.”
The embarrassment in my cheeks turns into a blush. “I find it so hard to believe you’ve never been in a relationship when you always know the right things to say.”
“I think I was saving all the charm for you.”
I take a deep breath, trying to keep myself from vibrating in my seat. “I’m nervous.” Christian smirks and bites his tongue. I narrow my eyes at him. “What?”
He lets go of my hand and squeezes the flesh of my thigh. His pinky and ring finger run along the hem of my dress, and I know exactly where his hand is going.
“I know the perfect distraction,” he says, his voice low and husky.
When his fingers trail under my dress, his jaw tightens when he discovers I’m not wearing any panties.
CHAPTER 14
THE ANGEL
When we step inside the restaurant doors, the entire place falls dead silent and all eyes land on Christian and I. They’re all sizing me up, wondering where I came from and how someone like me wound up at his side.
“Don’t worry about them,” Christian quietly whispers in my ear as the hostess leads us to our table. The walk is short, but with each step I attempt to make myself as mousy and unnoticeable as possible under the intense glares of all the patrons.
Our table is in the dead center of the dining room. Circular, with ten chairs evenly spaced out. Eight of them are already occupied. As we approach, a man I recognize as the Mayor of Meridian City, Ronald Goldstone, stands from his seat and smiles at us.
“Mr. Reeves!” he exclaims excitedly. “Great to see you, sir. Glad you could join us tonight.” He shakes Christian’s hand and then his eyes go to me. “And who is this lovely young woman?”
“Elena Young,” I say politely. The mayor kisses my knuckles.
“Otherwise known as my better half,” Christian quips, and my eyes snap up to him, wide with shock. We’re together, so it shouldn’t be such a surprise that he talks about me like that, but I don’t think it will ever fully sink in.
Christian told me on the way here that he doesn’t like the term ‘girlfriend’ because he thinks it sounds juvenile. He also hates ‘partner’ because it sounds too emotionally detached and ‘significant other’ sounds too corporate. He made a joke that he couldn’t wait to refer to me as hiswife, and I swear I stopped breathing for so long that I turned purple.
The mayor leads me to my seat and Christian pulls out the chair for me. I’m sitting next to Ronald’s wife, Jeannine, and Christian sits to my right. He rests his arm on the back of my chair and grazes his fingers over the exposed skin of my shoulder.
The rest of the table exchanges pleasantries with me. We’re sitting with both New Jersey senators and their wives, and the Reeves Enterprises PR representative and her fiancé.
I’m trembling in my seat. I’m completely out of my element. My father is a world-famous plastic surgeon, but I never meet any of his clients, so I really don’t know what to expect coming into this. My stomach flips and I’m forever thankful that Ronald is leading the conversation and the table seems to be ignoring me. I don’t know how to talk to people like this, way out of my social class. I also don’t want to embarrass Christian with my awkwardness, so I simply do my best to make it seem like I’m invisible.
Ronald addresses Christian and asks him about the vacancy on the Board of Directors at the orphanage. It’s for the secretary position, someone to handle all the ins and outs and legal paperwork.
Christian scoffs to himself. “I was going to offer the position to Neil Hayden, but I’ve had a falling out with him.” Christian says that so buttery smooth, like their ‘falling out’ didn’t end in him getting arrested for assault. “They’re hard shoes to fill. That position comes with a lot of responsibility.” Christian’s arms roam across my back, rubbing a gentle circle on the base of my neck. “I think I’m going to offer it to Elena when she passes the bar exam.”
I’m in the middle of a sip of water that I nearly choke on. I look at him, my eyes screaming ‘what the fuck?’.
Ronald looks at me and gives me a warm smile. “Elena, I didn’t realize you were such an accomplished young woman. You want to be a lawyer?”
I nod shyly. “Yes. I graduated from Meridian Law School. I’m taking the bar exam in February.”
