Page 66 of When You Were Mine

“Don’t you want to check the certification? This totals five carats of diamonds.”

“I don’t care.” If the stones were shitty, he’d replace them. But he’d never find a band so intricately carved. The rose gold was unusually pink and shiny. It was undoubtedly made for Elzy.

“Okay. And what about you? Do you have your wedding band picked out?” She reached for a display at the other end of the case.

He cut a look over his shoulder to make sure Elzy wasn’t listening. It was more than presumptuous of him to buy rings for an event that might never happen.

She’d given no indication of any interest in even talking to him, let alone sparking a relationship.

And yet, he was driven. Because a world where they weren’t together didn’t make sense. If they didn’t get back, it would not be because of him.

When she set the rings down, his eye was immediately drawn to a dark band.

“What’s this one made of?”

“Oh, good. That’s the one I was thinking about for you. This is sandblasted palladium, and the inlay is genuine Gibeon meteorite.”

He grinned. “I’ll take it.”

“You’ll need to try them on.”

Elzy was wrapping up her purchase. He didn’t have time. “They can be sized, right?”

“Of course.” Shaking her head, she laughed. “You’re the easiest customer I’ve ever had.” She glanced at Elzy. “I’ve been doing this a very long time, and I know you’ve made the right choices. If you give me your credit card, I’ll get everything handled in the back room, and she won’t notice a thing.”

“Perfect.” Was it presumptuous? Hell, yeah. But he’d never find anything better. He was sure of it.

Once outside, she said, “Did I see you buying something?”

He wouldn’t lie but hoped she didn’t ask for specifics. “Yep.”

“I noticed Darby’s not wearing an engagement ring. Did you get her something?”

His heart galloped. As much as he wanted to tell her the truth, it was only thirty minutes ago that she’d told him to go back to the hotel.

But he could lead her to some insights. “We got engaged the day before yesterday, and it was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“That seems like the most romantic way to do it.” She used her professional voice. “When you’re overcome with feelings.”

Ha.If byfeelingsyou mean loneliness and a lack of purpose, then, sure. He was overcome. “We were saying goodbye at the airport. She was at the international gate, and I was headed back to Calamity.”

“And you couldn’t bear to be apart from her, so you proposed?”

She was probing, and he was here for it. “Well, like I said, we’d only known each other a month. You’d have to ask her what went through her mind.”

“She proposed to you?”

He nodded. “It was either that or never see each other again.” As they passed a restaurant, he inhaled the scent of roasted meat. “Hungry?”

Her features softened, and the tight lines at either side of her mouth slackened. “I’m starving.”

Chapter Ten

Wait,Darbyproposed?

Jessica stared at the menu, seeing nothing but a sea of letters.

Now that she thought about it, Trevor hadn’t touched his fiancée. Not once. He’d shown concern, sure, but never affection. In fact, he treated her like a friend.

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