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I shrugged. It was the best I could do. And the heels made my butt pop nicely.
I opened the door. Ridge stood there, looking hot and all cleaned up. He was downright sexy in his black slacks, white open-collar button-down, and black jacket. He seemed to appreciate what he was looking at because heat burned in his eyes as he swept his gaze over my body.
My core clenched and my nipples puckered at the instant sexual tension in the air. The way his eyes devoured me felt as if he was licking me senseless, like he had that first night.
Ridge cleared his throat, and a rough edge deepened his voice. “We don’t have to go out in public tonight. We can do everything here, in private.” His eyes trailed over my legs. “Just the two of us.”
My heart started galloping and wet heat slipped into my panties. God, that was a tempting offer. He smelled so good, I wanted to roll around and coat every inch of my body with that scent. It didn’t help that I hadn’t slept well, knowing he was only footsteps away from me. Another fun-filled night would be well worth all the past troubles that had occurred since I arrived in this town.
I snapped back to reality. Just because he’d been nice so far didn’t mean anything. I couldn’t get attached, and another night with him would do that. I wasn’t planning on staying in Blackwood Creek any longer than I had to, and I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn’t trust him.
I couldn’t trustanyshifter. I couldn’t forget that.
So, I did what I always did best; I got snarky. “I’d rather not eat any more of your rabbit food. Are all overly heroic, loaded alpha mayors health nuts like you?”
Ridge’s rich laughter wrapped around me, soaking my panties that much more.
“We better feed you. Don’t want anybody to say I’m making you suffer from my rabbit food.”
His smile made my stomach flip, which only served to irritate me. What was wrong with me?
Ridge put his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat again. He looked away from me as a shyness I wouldn’t have thought possible seemed to come over him for a second. Then slowly, he pulled out a box from his pocket, handing it to me.
“You should wear this.”
I reached for the box and opened it. I gasped at the stunning, very real, and likely very expensive antique engagement ring. It was made up of a silver band with a prominent princess-cut diamond in the middle and two smaller diamonds framing the larger one. My hands shook at the idea of wearing such an exquisite piece, even if it were only for show. I’d surely never wear anything like this again.
“It’s only for show, obviously, but it was my grandmother’s ring,” Ridge said. “I hope it fits.”
Staring at the ring, I tried not to let the girly fantasies I had as a child run away with me. When I was little, I always imagined a romantic proposal with a breathtaking ring that meant something dear to the man who was proposing, but this wasn’t that time. This wasn’t my ring. This wasn’t my man.
I rolled my eyes at him, hoping it covered the longing I didn’t want him to see. Sliding the ring onto my finger, I suppressed a gasp at the perfect fit. “It fits.”
Ridge took my hand, his thumb dancing over the ring. He looked me in the eye and whispered, “It does. Perfectly.”
“I promise I’ll be very careful with it and get it back to you unscathed.”
This ring was obviously very important to him, so I’d hate for anything to happen to it. Who knew how long this ring had been in the family? I would make sure it stayed in his family.
Things got awkward pretty fast after the sentimental moment, and we rushed to the car when. The ring hit a little too close to home for me, and guilt hit me at the deception of it all. A proposal was a committed devotion between two people. It wasn’t something to mock, and even though our fake engagement wasn’t a joke, it still felt very wrong in many ways.
Ridge opened the door to the restaurant for me and guided me inside, his palm resting on my lower back. Chills ran up my spine, and his hand clenched at my back. We were both ignoring the attraction growing between us. How successfully we could continue ignoring it was still to be determined.
We were in a part of town I hadn’t been to before, but the area showed it to be the wealthy area of town. We’d passed several mansions on the drive.
The host, an older gentleman, greeted Ridge and me and led us to our table. There was no waiting, and Ridge didn’t even give his name. It was honestly a bit of a power trip to be with someone who commanded that kind of attention.
The place was filled with the more affluent members of the town. Some greeted us kindly and offered their well wishes and congratulations. Ridge was even stopped by someone trying to get a word in about some political issue or another, while the wives in the group insisted on us all getting together for a dinner party.
“Thank you,” Ridge said graciously. “We’ll have to get that arranged, but I’m here to enjoy a lovely meal with my future bride. No shop talk tonight. I don’t want to get in her bad books before we’re even married.”
The men laughed with knowing looks and the wives beamed at me. One even said I was lucky to have a fiancé so obviously devoted to me, and if only her Charles would take the hint and not talk about work when they were out. The husband jokingly grumbled before kissing his wife on the cheek.
They were cute. I suddenly hoped I’d have something like that one day, but then reality set in. That wouldn’t ever be me.
We said our farewells to the other couple and made our way to our table. The host stood waiting patiently for us, and as he made to pull out my chair, Ridge waved him off and slid it under me as I sat. The host set down the menus and announced that our server would be with us shortly.
I got comfortable in my seat and took in the atmosphere. I’d never been anywhere so fancy and elegant. It was a fairytale princess moment until I glanced over to see Martin Greenthorne glaring at us. I stiffened and came crashing back to reality.
