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“WILL YOU MARRY ME?”
Allyson Smith’s entire body was shaking. Then, suddenly, she wasn’t even in her body at all. She felt as if she were floating around. Hovering above herself in the jewelry store while Dane Prescott asked her the most monumental, unexpected question she had ever been asked.
She forced herself to focus. To look at Dane and not drift out of her body again. Earlier today, when his mother had made it clear that she didn’t approve of their relationship, Allyson had worried about Dane’s feelings. She knew she was falling in love with him—they hadn’t been dating long, yet it seemed like they knew each other almost better than they knew themselves. But would it last after they stopped hiding their relationship? The thrill of hiding and defying the naysayers might have been the glue that held them together.
Yet, now, as she stared at the shining diamond ring in his hand, it seemed like she didn’t have a reason to worry. He cared for her. Her gaze drifted up to the expectant look on his face. There was an equal mix of joy and terror flashing in the depths of his blue eyes. She had never seen him look so vulnerable. So completely at her mercy.
“Allyson...” His deep voice trailed off.
If she said no she would break his heart. But why would she want to say no? She cared for him. More than anything, she wanted to spend her days with him. Be by his side. Especially now that he was going through so much. He had just stepped down from his CEO position to take care of his father, who was still recuperating from his heart attack.
Refusing his proposal would only make his life worse. Add to his pain.
“This is so unexpected,” she blurted out. She was stalling for time. Trying to make the right decision.
“I know,” he said. “But I want you to be my wife more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
His wife.
The thought of Dane being her husband thrilled her. Sent exhilarating heat running through her body. No man had ever proposed to her. Mostly because no man had ever seriously considered such a thing. After her minor disaster of a dating life, she had all but given up on a man ever being serious about her.
Not to mention, her family had put so much pressure on her to get married. The pressure had been so great she had lied about Dane being her boyfriend. It was almost too crazy to be real. She and Dane had started off working together, then it turned into a fake relationship she had concocted to keep her family off her back. Now that phony romance had turned into a real-life proposal.
“I...” She swallowed hard, trying to calm her nerves. Thoughts bounced around in her mind. It was like she was being torn in half. Part of her wanted to say no. Nobody would approve. Not her sister, not his mother, not the press, not high society. The fate of the entire Prescott empire rested on Dane’s shoulders and, by extension, any heirs they would have. Having children with a common middle-class girl like her would enrage his mother.
But the other part of her desperately wanted to say yes. She was falling in love with him after all. Even though the proposal was sudden, they had known each other for years. Dane had consumed her every thought for three years. Life without him was impossible to imagine. Besides, she had just been worried that Dane was only interested in her because of the thrill of being in a forbidden relationship with her. Saying yes guaranteed that he would be hers. Completely and totally. Forever.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
“Thank freakin’ goodness!” The concerned expression on his face melted away and he breathed an audible sigh of relief. He got to his feet in seconds and pulled her into a tight hug. His big strong arms holding her to him almost banished all her anxious thoughts. Almost. “You had me going there. For a second I thought you were going to say no.”
Her ear was pressed against his hard, muscular chest, the rumble of his voice awakening her senses. His relief was palpable. Dane pulled back to take her hand in his. He held up the ring. “May I?”
She paused. Then shook her head. “I’m not ready to put the ring on just yet. Maybe I could wear it on a necklace? Like a pendant or something?” Would he be upset? They were going to tell his family and whoever else that they were dating, but this... This leaking out now, the timing was just not right. At all. She stared at him, pleading with her eyes that he’d understand.
“Of course. Anything to make you happy.” Dane turned to the sales rep, who Allyson had completely forgotten was still standing there. “I assume you can also keep this quiet till we share the news?” When he nodded, Dane smiled. “Could we have a look at your gold necklaces?”
“Congratulations! This is so exciting.” The sales rep smiled broadly. “We do have some extra-special new stock I can retrieve from our back safe.”
“That’s why the Prescotts always appreciate doing business with this jewelry store,” Dane said, and the sales representative ducked out of view as he headed out back.
She slipped her hand out of his and clasped her hands tightly together in front of her. All she could do was stare up at him. He was so tall she had to crane her neck to look at him. His wavy blond hair was still deliciously disheveled from their lovemaking earlier that day. The memory of it made her cheeks flush with heat. It had only just been earlier today when they had been in the throes of passion on the floor of their hotel room. The hotel room Dane’s family owned. And Dane had called her his family. Now Dane was her fiancé. Which meant... she didn’t know what that meant.
Dane studied her, concern flashing in his blue eyes. “Are you all right? You look pale, Allyson.”
“I’m all right. Don’t worry about me.” To her ears, her voice sounded shrill and far away.
He cupped her chin in his hand. Ran his thumb across her lower lip. That turned her insides to jelly. Made her desperate to be in his arms again. To be under him.
“I know it seems kind of sudden,” Dane said, “but you never have to be alone ever again. I’m here now. And we’re in this together. We’re a team. I don’t care what everyone else thinks. I only care about what you think.” He leaned forward and took her mouth with his.
A low moan sounded in her throat as her lips gave way and his tongue stormed her mouth. She returned his kiss eagerly, her tongue sliding across his. Suddenly, his strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close to his hard, muscular body. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, loving the sensation of the heat of his body burning through her. He kissed her fiercely, like he couldn’t get enough of her. Their tongues swirled and the place between her legs ached with longing. Her eyes were closed but she saw stars.
The warmth of the kiss spread to her heart, and in that moment she fell more and more in love with him. When the sound of the sales rep softly clearing his throat echoed in the store, they pulled apart sheepishly. Her face heated again, but as Dane took her hand in his to give it a reassuring squeeze the blossoming embarrassment at being caught in a kiss quickly faded away.
“These chains and necklaces were just shipped in this week. Made by the finest craftsmen in Belgium,” the sales rep informed them excitedly.
Allyson’s heart—the heart that beat for Dane, and only Dane—started hammering wildly in her chest. Her heart was beating so fast yet the world around her was in slow motion. The voice of the sales rep faded into the background as he showed off half a dozen sparkling gold necklaces. Dane laughed at something the rep said, but it sounded so distant to her.
With her hand in his she knew that she had never been so blissfully happy, yet so terrified. Tears pricked the back of her eyelids but she blinked them away. What was wrong with her? Today was the best day of her life. She knew she would never forget it. Never forget looking down at Dane, so handsome, so full of life as he literally put his heart in her hands.
Her shaking hands. Allyson stared down at her hands. They were shaking. Oh, God. Quickly, she pulled her hand out of Dane’s and put her hands back behind her to hide them.
“Which one would you like?” Dane asked, dragging her back from her thoughts.
“This one,” she replied, quickly pointing to a slim gold necklace.
“Excellent choice.” The sales rep beamed. “Would you like to see anything else? We have some new watches in stock.”
“Oh, no, thank you,” she said. “I think that will be all for today.”
“I could gift-wrap the bracelet for you,” the sales rep suggested and then raised his eyebrows and shoulders in a practiced gesture. “And perhaps Mr. Prescott could help you put the necklace on with your new ring?”
Allyson slipped off the pink-diamond-encrusted bracelet she had on and carefully handed it over to the sales rep. It obviously cost a fortune but she knew it had probably been rather crass to bring up money in front of the sales rep when she worried about Dane buying such extravagant gifts. She was going to have to work on not discussing money so publicly now. They were engaged and she was going to have to try to fit into high society as best as she could. Which meant acting like eye-popping amounts of money didn’t mean much. “Thank you,” she said.
The sales rep nodded and headed to the far side of the jewelry store to wrap the bracelet.
She reached for the necklace, but Dane picked it up before she could get to it.
“Allow me,” he said.
She nodded, and waited while he slipped the chain through the ring and then went behind her to secure it. The gold felt cool against her skin, the weight of the ring so close to her heart reminding her that she and Dane would now be bonded for life. Never had she felt so elated and apprehensive at the same time. Should she be alarmed that she was so anxious about their engagement?
Inhaling deeply, she tried to calm herself. To soothe her frayed nerves. She told herself that it was just jitters. Everyone had them. Even Holly, Allyson’s sister-in-law, had been nervous at the beginning of her engagement to Allyson’s brother, James.
“Thank you,” she said earnestly.
He stepped away to appraise her. “For what?”
“For making me so happy.” I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry.
“That’s all I want.” He leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. “Your happiness is the most important thing in the world to me.”
“I doubt anyone else will be happy for us,” she murmured. She didn’t want to put a damper on things so quickly, but that was part of what weighed down on her. Some of the people they cared about the most wouldn’t exactly be elated to hear about their engagement. Dane’s mother would probably be furious. Her sister would likely seethe with jealousy. And the rest of her family would be happy about her engagement, but for all the wrong reasons. They didn’t care whether Dane was a good man or not. Or if she was happy or not. All they cared about was wealth and status. It hurt her deeply to know that her family’s happiness at her engagement to a rich man like Dane might cause her distress. Dane would be nothing more than a trophy to them, which was terribly unfair to him. He deserved better than that.
“Some people will be happy,” he pointed out. “My father. And your parents—”
“My parents just see your bank account,” she said with a sigh.
“Allyson, we’re not going to go back to the way things used to be,” he said firmly. “Everyone will either get on board with our engagement, or I’ll—we’ll—just have to cut them out of our lives.”
“You’d do that to your own mother?”
“Yes.”
That made her pause. Dane and his mother didn’t see eye to eye on his dating life, but Allyson didn’t want to get in the way of their relationship. Family was important to Allyson. Even if family members didn’t get along, nothing could be worse than cutting loved ones out of your life. What good was happiness if they had to spend their time cutting people out of their lives? “I’m not going to let you do that.” She shook her head, the gold necklace reminding her of what they’d just agreed to. “I won’t come between you and your family.”
“You are my family,” he reminded her. “Only you matter.”
“Dane, please don’t do anything rash until we get the chance to really talk this out,” she warned. “If we’re going to be married we’re going to have to be a team. We’re in this together. No rash decisions.” Not that buying a ring and getting engaged isn’t rash.
He grinned. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Yes, well, don’t go rushing to announce it to the whole world just yet.” She laughed. “You’ve got a business to prevent from crashing.”
“Wait. What?” He frowned. “You want to keep this a secret? I thought we were done hiding.”
“We are,” she said carefully. “But we should probably talk to our families before we make a big announcement to the world. You know how crazy the press is.”
He nodded. “I’d shout it from the mountain tops, but I get it. I know you might think I’m too reckless and hotheaded—”
She laughed. “Understatement.”
“But I do care about you. Everything I do from now on is for you. For us.” He reached for her hand and brought it up to kiss it.
Warmth spread across her skin, replacing the anxious, jittery feeling. “And I feel the same way. Which is why I don’t want you to make any reckless decisions about your mother.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “You’re an angel. Better than my mother or I deserve. Which is why I’ll hold off making any major decisions. But we should tell my parents soon. My dad will be getting out of the hospital in the next few days, so we can tell him once he’s settled in.”
“Good,” she said. “I can’t wait to tell him the news.”
The sales rep soon returned with the gift-wrapped bracelet. After Dane paid for everything and the sales rep promised again to be discreet, they headed out of the jewelry store arm in arm.
As they headed back to the Prescott Hotel, she realized with rising trepidation that the part of her that wanted to say yes to the proposal had been her mind. The part of her that thought logically and weighed the pros and cons of life. But the part of her that had hesitated in the jewelry store hadn’t been her mind at all. It had been her heart.
