Page 33 of Beauty and the Beach

There, in his open palm, is a ring—a diamond solitaire, winking and glistening in the light of the large windows, at least two carats, with a thin gold band.

“Is thatreal?”

It’s the first thing that pops out of my mouth, because that stone is enormous. It will snag on my hair and my clothes. It will be the set of brass knuckles I’ve never had.

But Phoenix just looks at me, nonplussed. “Of course it’s real.”

I swallow, staring at the ring. “Are you sure you want to do that? That diamond is huge.”

He sighs, looking tired. “I wish I didn’t need to marry you, but…” He trails off, then shakes his head. “You’re not a fake-diamond woman.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means what it means,” he says shortly. “Put it on. We can have the size adjusted later if necessary.” Then he turns to the ladies setting up. “I’ve got quite the headache, so I need to excuse myself for a while. I’ll be back in a bit. All right?”

They give him varying replies of assent, and he sweeps out of the room without a backward glance.

“Please sit down, Miss Blakely,” the nice-looking one says. She gestures at the chair they’ve put in front of the vanity.

I slip Phoenix’s ring on my finger—it fits, bizarrely enough—and then, taking a deep breath, I move to the chair and sit down.

The nice woman smiles at me in the mirror. “Let’s make you beautiful,” she says.

This is going to be a long morning.

It’sa full hour before we hear from Phoenix again.

I have been moisturized and plucked and painted; my eyelashes look so long and so dark that I can see them in my peripheral vision, and my lips are a pink that they’ve never been before. I actually don’t mind the color.

When Phoenix knocks on the door and asks how everything is going, I jump so violently that the lady working on my hair frowns at me in the mirror. She wields the curling wand like a weapon, so I still myself and then answer.

“We’re fine,” I say. “We’re…” I glance at the lady in the mirror. “Almost done?”

She lifts broad shoulders and continues to curl my hair.

“Can I come in?” Phoenix calls, and the nice lady speaks before I can.

“Of course,” she says.

I disagree, but I guess I have no say here, so I keep quiet.

“I meant to ask you, my beautiful bride,” he says as he sweeps into the room, his eyes on his phone instead of on me. He heads straight for the bed and settles himself on the edge, then continues. “I heard from Beau that you were scammed.”

I freeze, gaping at Phoenix in the mirror. When he finally glances up and finds my gaze, a little smirk forms on his stupid face.

“I—is he allowed to tell you that? Isn’t there something about confidentiality?” I say, turning to look at him. The lady with the curling wandtsks, grabbing my head with an iron grip and forcing it back forward.

“I don’t know,” Phoenix says. “But he said you fell for an internet scam trying to buy something.” He eyes me. “What,exactly, were you trying to purchase?” His smirk widens. “Something scandalous?”

You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But…“No,” I say. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

He stands up, tucking his phone into his suit coat and then sliding his hands casually in his pockets. He moves toward me until he’s standing right behind me, looking down at me in the mirror from next to my hair-wand-wielding stylist.

And I can see the exact moment he spots the half-open zipper of my shirt; his eyebrows shoot up, and then his gaze swings to mine.

“They were contouring my collar bones,” I mutter, giving him a look which clearly screamsYou asked for this, don’t complain.

He grins like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

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