19
Iwaited at the bottom of the stairs, practically dancing from foot to foot as I waited for her to come down. I was nervous as hell, ready to leave for this gala, but I had something to give her first. I reached into my pocket and closed my hand around the ring box. This was really happening. It felt like a proposal, even though we were already married.
“Are you almost ready?” I called. I wanted to get this done with before I had a chance to back out. And all at once, she appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, and my jaw all but dropped.
She looked incredible. Like a princess. Even though this was just a library fundraiser, she was dressed up like she was hitting the red carpet, and I felt this zing of pride knowing she was about to be on my arm tonight. Her hair was long and loose over one shoulder, her lips dark and red – and she was wearing a dress, a green, clingy number that was so close to the one she wore in Vegas that I couldn’t help but chuckle. She knew what she was doing to me.
She arrived in front of me and bit her lip, and I realized I still hadn’t responded.
“You like?”
“I love.” I ran my hands over her waist, fighting the urge to just rip it off her. “Give me a twirl.”
She giggled as she spun around slowly, and I reached into my pocket and gave myself one last chance to back out of this. Was this really a good idea? The rings were gorgeous, as gorgeous as her, but it would make things real. True. I hesitated a split-second longer and then pulled the box out of my pocket and popped it open. When she turned back around and saw it there, her jaw dropped.
“Oh my god, Kristo,” she gasped, and she just stood there, looking from the rings to me and back again. “What are these for?”
“I wanted to give you real rings,” I replied simply. I didn’t say whether it was to uphold our lie or that I wanted her to have them, because I had no idea myself.
“These are …” She stared at them, at the sapphire and silver that perfectly matched her dress and the thin diamond engagement ring that went with it.
“Put them on,” I suggested, and she gingerly took them out and slid them over her finger. She held her hand out to admire them and then threw herself at me.
“Careful, you’ll mess up your makeup.”
But she didn’t care. Her mouth was on mine, grateful and sweet and eager, and I was kissing her back, feeling the bands as they pressed into the back of my neck where she was holding me. When she pulled back, her eyes were shining, and she laughed and went to fix me when she saw the smear of lipstick on my mouth.
“You look cute in this color,” she teased and ran her thumb over my chin for a moment, staring at me. I felt this swell again, something I could never quite put into words, and I turned for the door. For now, we had somewhere to be.
“The limo’s waiting downstairs,” I reminded her, and she followed me out of the apartment, shaking her head.
“I still can’t believe you went and got us a limo,” she remarked, tucking her arm through mine and leaning into me.
I can’t believe I got you as a wife,I replied in my head, but I didn’t say it out loud. I didn’t want to freak her out. The rings had been a lot, and now I had to play it nice and cool for just a little while, no matter how hard that was.
“I’ve never been in one of these before,” she remarked as we climbed in, me holding the door for her.
“You’ll get used to them,” I replied, and she grinned.
“Oh, will I?”
“Only the best,” I teased, and she looked down at her rings again and shook her head.
“These are incredible, Kristo,” she sighed. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” I replied, and before she could stop herself, she leaned over to kiss me once again. In the dim light in the back of this limo, she looked amazing, like she had walked out of a dream and into the real world.
“Okay, that’s the last time I’m kissing you before we get there,” she warned me, and she pulled a lipstick out of her purse and began to apply it again. I found myself staring at her as she did so. Fuck. I had never seen a woman put it on so sensually before, and I felt that surge of desire for her, but with Amaya, it felt as though she could have done anything in the world and I would have been into it. I couldn’t help but imagine what it might have been like if I had been the one doing it instead.