Page 165 of On Merit Alone
When she looked up, she looked at me. When her eyes shone, they shined for me. When she smiled that wide laughing smile, she smiled for me. And it had me looking down at her with a grin of my own as camera after camera took our photo in droves.
“I guess we’re out in the open,” I said in a low voice close to her ear. All around I could hear people calling my name, vying for my attention and also calling for Mer too.
Noticing it for the first time, she blinked around herself, her mouth going into an “o” of realization. Her eyes went wide in slight panic.
She tried to take a step away. Easily, I looped my arm behind her back and guided her toward the main paparazzi pool where people were stopping to pose and get their photos taken.
As we waited our turn, Mer fidgeted nervously. Then we were up and in the middle of the carpet, the craziness just getting more intense. The lights shined brighter, the voices louder and more demanding.
“Ira!”
“King!”
“Are you two an item?”
“Is that Merit Jones?”
“When did this start?”
“Can you confirm your relationship?”
This was crazy. Wasn’t this thing for charity anyway? How the hell did there get to be so much publicity? My question was answered as I saw Ryan Carmen watching on from the entrance of the building, his hands in his pockets as he glared at us. Still weird, and still had no idea what was going on there, but…
But my main focus was a fidgeting girl who was suddenly ducking her head and shying away from the attention.
She was trying to make a quick escape, but just as she did, she stumbled slightly off balance. Since I already had her in my arms, she didn’t fall.
I dipped my gaze along her perfect body to find the issue. It was a loose strap on one of her heels. Nothing broken, it just needed to be strapped back on. So crouching down, I dropped to one knee and patted it softly. Peeking up at her, I almost laughed as she looked down at me incredulously.
“What the hell are you doing?” she whisper-hissed.
“Fixing your shoe. Now hold onto my shoulders,” I said, dipping down to grasp her ankle gently.
She looked around herself nervously before spearing her eyes down at me. “No.”
“No?”
“No! Ira, get up!”
I smirked. “Hold onto my shoulders, Merit, or I’m throwing you over them. Your choice.”
She looked around again before murmuring a colorful curse just for me, but ultimately leaning down to plant her hands along my shoulders. Just as it always did, her touch brought a tingle of awareness and rightness over my skin. I ignored the heat it conjured and focused on pulling her shoe over my knee so that I could re-clasp the strap along her ankle.
It was done in mere moments. Then, I picked up her ankle and set her foot firmly back on the ground before lifting up and straightening my suit.
On the way up, I gave her cheek a quick peck just like I always did, unable to resist her soft skin on mine. The crowd around us went wild with an uproarious murmur of questions.
“Ira!” she whined her response to all the attention, as if she was being tortured.
Well damn, I was really going to torture her now.
Turning back to the crowd, I squinted into the light. “What was it you asked?”
“We asked if you could confirm that you and Merit Jones are in a relationship?” someone repeated. “Officially.”
“Ah.” I nodded. Leaning my head down to Mer, I smiled.
Right before I kissed her.
