Page 21 of Good Girl Gone Bad

“What about this one?” he asked her, nudging her elbow.

She removed the ring from her finger as if it burned her, and put it on the glass table. “I…need some air. I’m sorry,” she said, and surged to her feet. Without looking back, she left the store.

…

Fucking great.“I’ll be right back,” Marco said to the saleswoman, and stood.

Why did Lily run away? Buying jewelry shouldn’t have this effect on her, especially when he’d told her what they were about to do. In fact, she signed a piece of paper, a contract, agreeing to be his temporary fiancée. What had changed?

His heart squeezed, like a grand piano had fallen on him. Like those silly cartoons he and his brother watched when they were kids—their nannies always indulged them with excessive TV time. With a dry throat, he followed her steps, knowing it took him half as many to catch up to Lily outside the shop.

It was too damn late for her to change her mind. Unless she had looked at the ring and gotten some ideas. “You can’t raise the price of our bargain, if that’s what you’re thinking about,” he said, pretty sure she could hear him.

She turned around, the early morning wind playing with the tips of her hair. Her eyes seemed glossy, but she didn’t let a tear roll down her cheek. “It’s all about money for you.”

“This has been about a lot more than money. It has been about making an old lady happy, and you keeping your salon. Is there money involved so those two things can happen? You bet. But they’re happening for other reasons.”

She tilted her head as if pondering on his words. “Then why did you just treat me like a cheap hooker, assuming I’d demand more money for my services?”

He ran his fingers down his face. Because I’m an asshole. “I’m sorry, Lily. I’ve visited a jewelry store once before with the intention of buying a ring for someone,” he said, remembering that day several years ago, when he’d taken Angelica to a store as luxurious as the one they’d just walked from.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were engaged before.”

“It never happened. She called it off before we broke the news,” he said, proud that he’d kept the bitterness out of his voice. “We weren’t a match.”

“And she couldn’t have told you that when she said yes?”

“It’s in the past. It would have been a stupid mistake.” He’d shared things with Angelica he had always feared people would learn about his past. He’d trusted her, and her gentle and sweet way, but after knowing more about the man she’d agreed to marry, she decided to call it off.

Frustration formed a lump in his throat. He’d been fool enough to think he could be with someone like Angelica…uncomplicated and genuine. Or maybe he could have, if only he had kept the most private parts of his past, of his childhood, to himself. No one needed a traumatized child with abandonment issues. Not even him. He’d said goodbye to that part of him a long time ago. He’d never be the kind of husband she needed or deserved.

“Why did you run out?” he asked, to deflect her attention from him. He sucked in his breath, hoping to God she wouldn’t change his mind so late in the game.

“I… I felt strange. I’m sorry if I triggered any bad memories for you.”

“You’re fine. Listen, I understand this is all probably overwhelming to you. What we tell my family about the nature of our relationship is a lie, but I enjoy being with you. That’s real. That’s all I can give you, but it’s still real,” he said. Fuck, he didn’t want her to think he’d do this with anyone else. If he had hired an actress, he certainly wouldn’t screw her.

“Why did your former fiancée break up with you? Did you cheat on her?”

“No cheating.”

She frowned. “What did she find out, then? It’s a big change of heart.”

“She found out I’m not the type who hosts a family Sunday lunch. That I’m one of the reasons my father drinks like there’s no tomorrow. That I’m not husband material if you want the fairy-tale kind of marriage.”

She drew back, her face creasing, probably because she tried to digest all the words he vomited at her.

“What do you mean your father drinks because of you? No one does that.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. She didn’t quit, did she? The last thing he needed was for her to pity him, or to start some psycho-babble about his feelings. She was the woman he was supposed to screw, enjoy, and laugh with. If he turned what they had between them into more than that, he’d regret his decision. “I’m done talking about this subject. Are we doing this or not?” He tilted his head in the direction of the shop’s front door.

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