I could scarcely believe it myself. “It’s crazy, right?”
She snuck a peek at Rhett over her shoulder, but he was deeply engrossed in a conversation with Jake, his right-hand man. “I’m beginning to think he’s crazy. About you.”
“Don’t say that,” I whispered. I couldn’t even allow myself tothinkthat. Because if I did, I’d have to acknowledge the truth: that I had feelings for him too. “He’s just helping out a friend. You know how close he and my brother are. He’d never forgive himself if he let something happen to me—”
“Hey, don’t get me wrong,” Gia said, squeezing my hands. “I’m eternally grateful to him for protecting you this way, but his loyalty to your brother doesn’t explain the way he keeps looking at you.”
As if on cue, I glanced up and our eyes locked. Thank goodness I hadn’t wanted to ruin my look with panty lines. They’d be drenched by now. I waited until Rhett looked away before I whispered, “We slept together last night, and it was…”Mind-blowing.“Different.”
Gia frowned. “Different, how?”
“Different than it’s ever been with him… or anyone.”
“Oh my God, what are you saying? Do you have real feelings for him?”
I closed my eyes, trying to deny the truth. “I can’t.” I felt the panic wash over me. “You know me. I don’t do relationships. I’d be a horrible girlfriend. I’m a workaholic. So self-absorbed. And I love going out drinking with you and the girls—”
“Stop.” She curled her hands around my upper arms. “Just stop. You’re convincing yourself this couldn’t work because you’re afraid you’d have to give up too much. But what about all you stand to gain?” She smiled. “Come on, seriously, girl. That guy is some serious eye candy. I can’t even imagine how incredible he must be in bed.”
“No, you can’t.” Rhett’s technique defied words.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rhett said, winking at me before he crossed the room. Gia stepped back and Rhett took my hand. It was cold and clammy, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I want to thank you all for being here tonight to help celebrate Briar’s birthday.” He slipped his arm around my waist, looking down at me. Our eyes connected before his gaze dipped to my shiny nude lips. “As many of you may know, we go way back. Her family is like my own.” He smiled at my parents, who were beaming at him.
Oh God, this was really going to happen, wasn’t it? The fake engagement, he intended to do it here? In front of our families and friends. I was so unprepared for this, especially given how confused I was about what happened between us last night. And how sweet Rhett had been today, making my birthday so memorable.
“But it may come as a surprise to you that Briar and I have been involved for some time.”
At least he wasn’t lying about that. If ‘involved’ meant intimate, we’d crossed that line fifteen years ago.
A murmur moved through the group and my mother stared at me, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. My brother, Jake, and Gia were the only ones who didn’t appear gob-smacked.
“I always believed when I met the woman I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with I’d know.” He turned to face me and I feared I might start hyper-ventilating if he said one more word. “I was right.” His smile was slight when he held my hand in his. “I think I’ve known for a long time that you werethe one, Briar. But I waited, because I wanted to be sure. And I can finally say, with one hundred percent certainty, that you’re the woman of my dreams.”
He hit one knee as a collective gasp moved through the room. Tears burned my eyes. Even though I knew this wasn’t real, itfeltso real. I knew these were the very same words Rhett would have chosen, had he been proposing to the love of his life, for real. I just hated that he’d had to waste his beautiful proposal on our fake engagement.
He popped the lid of a black velvet box to reveal an exquisite marquis cut solitaire and I was too stunned to speak.
“Briar,” he whispered. “Will you do me the honour of being my wife?”
I nodded when I realized I was too numb to speak. I was supposed to be putting on an act, throwing my arms around him, jumping up and down, squealing, but I was too terrified to speak. I was afraid if I did something real would come out. And there was no place for real in fairy tales like this. This was pretend. Make believe. At the end of this I’d return the ring, and likely spend the rest of my life seeing it on another woman’s finger. Oh God. That would kill me.
He slipped the ring on my finger before standing to kiss me. It was sweet and tender, prompting me to wrap my arms around his neck. My legs were trembling and I needed his strength. I didn’t know why I was feeling this way, only that the lines were getting blurred. It was supposed to be clear. Fake on one side, real on the other. Only now it felt like we were somewhere in between. Not really engaged, but not really faking it either. So, where the hell did that leave us?
* * *
Rhett was sliding my zipper down my back, since I couldn’t reach it, when he kissed my shoulder and whispered, “You okay? You were kind of quiet on the ride home.”
I walked to the closet, needing to put some distance between us. Standing in my bedroom, undressing in front of him after a night out, it felt natural, like we’d been doing it for years.
“Just processing everything.” I removed my bra and watched his eyes glide over my body. He could make thrill bumps break out over my skin from ten feet away. “I mean, we did everything we intended to. Put on a show for everyone, convinced them our relationship was real, posted about it on social media—”
“So, what’s the problem?”
He knew me too well.
I shrugged before slipping into a black silk kimono style robe. “I don’t know. It just felt weird, you know? Lying to everyone.”
He nodded, while studying me. “But I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. And no one has to know this isn’t real.” He shrugged. “When I’m convinced your ex is no longer a threat, we’ll just tell everyone we realized we weren’t right for each other after all and part friends.”
