Page 53 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Her eyes twinkled as she gazed back at me. “I feel like I’m living out a fairy tale or something.” She shook her head a little. “I mean, Mom always made it seem like the fairy tale was marrying someone who was rich beyond measure and could provide for my every wish, but she was wrong. It’s love. The fairy tale is love, and I honestly didn’t know it could be like this.”

My heart dropped a little with her words. I knew what she was saying, because I believed that one hundred percent too. It was the whole providing thing. I knew she didn’t mean I couldn’t provide for her, but I also knew she didn’t understand just how much I wanted to be able to give her the world.

“So, do you have any idea when you’d like to marry me?” I asked, more to get my thoughts off the dangerous path it was balancing on than anything else.

Her eyes narrowed in thought as she sucked on her bottom lip. It was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

“I’m not sure. Can we just let the fact that we’re now engaged sink in first and work it out later?”

My lips curved up automatically as her words drifted through my mind. We were engaged. Holy fucking shit. I had a fiancée.

“I mean, weddings do cost a bit of money, so we’d have to save up for a while, I think . . . ” she said, her mind obviously ticking over.

My smile grew wider. “Whatever you want, Princess.”

Her gaze met mine again and she flushed, her bright smile making me forget to breathe. After a few minutes of us smiling at each other like lovesick idiots, I pulled her in for a long, slow kiss.

When I pulled back, she sighed and melted further into my arms.

Burying my face in her hair, I breathed her in. “How about I go have a quick shower, then we can go get you a ring?”

She sat up and blinked at me. “You want to go get a ring today?”

“Of course. I’m pretty sure that’s how these things work. Well . . . I think I’m supposed to actually have the ring here for you when I ask, but I’d rather we chose it together.”

She frowned at me. “Daniel, I don’t want you to waste your money on me.”

I raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. “I have money, Princess. Of course, probably not as much as your mother would require spent on such an item, but more than enough to get you something that’ll suit.”

I watched her bite her lip, worry etching her face. Reaching out, I placed my thumb over the plump fullness and gently released it from its torture. “Honestly,” I said softly. “It’s fine, Princess.” I paused. “Unless you’re worried about something else . . . ?”

She blinked at me, a slight look of confusion in her gaze.

“Like maybe you don’t want to wear a ring . . . ?”

Her eyes widened as if horrified by the thought. “Of course not! I just don’t want you to feel like you have to spend a lot of money on me. I don’t want to be that girl anymore. The rich princess—”

I felt myself warm to her even more. “I know you’re not, baby. You’re my princess.”

Her gaze softened. “Forever.”

Chapter 23

Amy

Walking into Amber’s house, I deliberately kept my hand in my pocket to hide my new sparkling diamond ring. Over the course of the evening, I’d grown more and more used to the idea of being engaged, but I still hadn’t figured out how I was going to tell Amber.

I worried at my lip as I moved up the stairs. I knew I was bound to get some negative reactions to my news, but I really needed Amber on my side. And Seth. Everyone else could scoff and tell me I was being stupid, but not those two. I needed them to be happy for me.

Steeling myself, I knocked on her door, waiting for her sing-song voice to tell me I could come in.

Cracking the door a little, I peered in and, seeing her perched at her desk, hesitantly moved inside.

“Hey!” she said, throwing her pen down on top of the papers she was scrawling on. “How was your date?”

I smiled wistfully. “Amazing.”

She gave me a deadpan look that was immediately ruined by the smile that crept onto her lips. “You two are just too cute.”

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