She shook her head. “No. Of course not. It doesn’t bother me at all.” Was that a hint of flirtation in her voice? If so, he liked being fake engaged to her, even if the clock hadn’t yet started ticking on their charade.
“So, are you okay with our arrangement? There’s still time to back out if you want.” He didn’t want to come off as unsure, but it was important to him that she not feel as though she’d been cornered. There had been three Lockes in that room and only one Lily Foster. It wasn’t entirely fair.
“I’d be lying if I said that I was completely comfortable with the idea. I’m not much for faking something.”
“Yeah. Me neither.”
“But I’m also smart enough to know that people do all sorts of things in business to make a deal happen. And maybe if you aren’t willing to be daring with something, you’ll miss out. This would be a big thing to miss out on.”
“The Hannafort deal.”
“Of course.”
It was good to have clarification, if only to keep things straight. “Well, our next step is for me to take you shopping for a ring.”
“Wow. A ring.” Lily looked down at her own hand as if she were trying to picture it. “I guess that’s a must-have, isn’t it?”
“Can’t be fake engaged without a ring.” He smiled when she shot him a knowing glance. “Except the ring will be real. I’m not putting a fake ring on your hand.” Lily absolutely deserved a real ring, but he did have to wonder if this harebrained plan was going to end up ruining any fantasies she’d had about getting engaged. He didn’t want to make assumptions based on her gender, but she did prefer books with happy endings.
Noah had zero fantasies about marriage. Or engagement. He’d never imagined the moment when he’d get down on one knee. He’d never thought about what it would feel like to love someone so much that the only thing that made sense was to be with them forever. It had always seemed, at best, unlikely and, at worst, doomed. Would he ever be in love? Would he ever feel as though he couldn’t live without someone? Seventy-two hours or so and he usually knew that the woman of the moment wasn’t the one. Or, admittedly, he’d gone into it with the assumption he would not find love. It wasn’t the best attitude, but time and again, things played out that way. It was hard not to assume that the common denominator—his heart—wasn’t built for love.
“Good to know that you’re not going to force me to be excited about a cubic zirconia. Not that I wouldn’t be happy with whatever you gave me. But, you know. A girl wants a diamond if she can get it.”
“The only thing about the ring shopping is that we have to plan it out in advance. Sawyer’s going to have Kendall leak it to the press so it will hopefully make its way back to Hannafort. And if not, we will at least have countered the bad publicity with good.”
She nodded. “So the video was that bad?”
The thought of it made his stomach sink yet again. He hoped Lily never saw it. He hoped she never looked it up on the internet, although if the roles were reversed, he definitely would have done some due diligence. He truly didn’t want her seeing him in that light. Even if it was biased, and pulpy, it wasn’t a lie. There was a whole lot of truth in it. “It wasn’t my best showing, that’s for sure.”
Lily patted him on the shoulder. When she moved her hand, it felt as though she’d marked him for life with her touch. “Hopefully we can make it go away. We should probably start tomorrow.”
“Do I have a hole in my schedule?”
“No meetings from eleven to three. A nice big window.”
“Perfect. Tomorrow at eleven we have a date to buy that ring.” Noah could hardly believe the words after they’d left his lips. For a guy who’d sworn he’d never get engaged, he’d said it like it was no big deal, when he knew for a fact that it was.
CHAPTER THREE
Lily did her best to stay busy at work the next morning, but knowing where she and Noah were going at eleven made it tough to focus. A mere twenty-four hours into their fake engagement and Noah was about to take her to buy the ring. She’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about stepping into a fancy jewelry store with a sweet, handsome, romantic guy. Her broken engagement had come with a ring that was a family heirloom, no shopping required. She’d had no idea that Peter wouldn’t be able to go through with the promise that accompanied that ring, but returning it had been a simple process. She’d thrown it at him in a quiet room just outside the nave. He’d cursed her, scrambled on his hands and knees for it, nearly ruining his tuxedo pants. She’d cried and braced herself for what followed—telling a church full of invited guests that they were welcome to enjoy the reception, but there would be no wedding.