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Avalynn didn’t move out of his embrace. “Oh my god.” Her whisper came out as a slow rasp. “This is perfect.”
He didn’t want to pull his mouth from her soft skin but forced himself to. “It does seem to be working in our favor.”
She smiled up at him. So many more people jumped at the chance to snap photos of them. These photos would be plastered all over the internet within seconds.
He had to get them out of here. Now.
He swept her back into the room she’d just vacated. When he slammed the door and positioned his back to it, their gazes met.
“After that exit, we definitely look like the happy couple seeking privacy!” For days, she’d been paler than usual with dark shadows beneath her eyes. Now enthusiasm shimmered off her like a fairy’s glow. “If only I’d picked out a ring, they’d have a fat diamond glinting in all those photos.”
The handle of the shopping bag seemed to scorch his hand. Slowly, he lifted the bag to her eye level.
Plump lips sporting a trace of girl-next-door pink popped open on a gasp.
“What is that?”
Hewantedto do this differently. She wasn’t the only person who dreamed of this moment. Never in his life did he think he’d be pulling a ring out of a bag and doing what he was about to do on two feet rather than on bended knee. But he had to keep alert in case the paparazzi burst through that unlocked door.
With a hard lump blocking his airway, he reached into the bag and closed his fingers around a small cardboard box. When he withdrew it, Avalynn pressed her hands together like a prayer and covered her mouth.
Thumbing the lid off the box, he took a step toward her. Her eyes flared wide and then turned glassy with tears she didn’t let fall.
She stared down at the contents of the box. “Julius! It’sperfect. This wasn’t part of the collection the jeweler brought yesterday. Where… Where did you get this ring?”
He didn’t need to glance at the ring to know it would look lovely on her delicate finger.
He leveled her in his gaze. “Don’t freak out.”
“Okay…” Her eyes widened even more.
“It’s my grandmother’s ring.”
Her eyes grew even shinier. She blinked rapidly against her tears. “You are not going to make me cry, Julius. I rarely cry because, well, I ugly cry. There’s no risking that in a paparazzi shot.”
“That’s why I showed you now. So you don’t cry later.”
“What comes later?”
He couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face. When she saw what Dove had arranged for this special moment, he was sure it would suit her as much as his grandmother’s ring.
He replaced the lid on the box and slipped it into the bag. “You’ll have to wait and see. Now, are you ready to step out there and face about a dozen reporters asking you about us?”
Her fine brows shot up. “No comment?”
“No comment,” he echoed. “Not until it’s official.”
When he opened the door, he slid his arm around Avalynn and directed her toward Quaide, who led the way out of the hotel to a waiting car. Julius and Avalynn jumped in the back.
“Drive,” he ordered, and the car took off.
“I hate hiding so much. Since that sex tape dropped, I feel like all I’ve done is hop from hotel to hotel, hide on the bus… I’m usually out in the public eye much more than this.” She rested her head against the seat back.
“I know, honey. I’ll do my best to make your life what it was before all this happened.”
Avalynn sat next to him in silence for the rest of the ride. His hand was beginning to sweat where he gripped the handle of the shopping bag, replaying her reaction to seeing the ring over and over in his mind. Eyes wide and tears lingering in the beautiful depths. She was touched, that much was evident.
And most of all, she liked his grandmother’s ring.
