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“Good girl.” He leans forward and I shiver as his lips brush my cheek. “Should we seal this? Call it a deal?”
“Seal it—how?”
“The traditional way.” His mouth hovers inches from mine. His eyes and his handsome face are everything, bigger than the moon. “With a kiss.”
I stifle a moan as his lips find mine. His mouth opens, and my mouth opens, and we’re kissing again, and that familiar taste bombards me, that delicious and spicy taste. His tongue laps along mine and his lips move slowly and sensually, andI whimper again—god, what is wrong with me, why do I keepwhimpering—but this time he groans in response.
That noise is easily the sexiest thing I’ve heard in my life.
But I break away from him after another moment because if I don’t then I’ll end up taking this too far. I’m riled up, sweating and excited, my core buzzing, and sweat rolling down my back, and I have to put one palm on his chest to keep him away. His heart is racing—like he’s as excited as I am.
“I guess that’s better than a handshake,” I whisper.
“Just a taste of what’s to come. You don’t have to like me, Kat, but you will be my wife, and you will play the role.”
“So long as you hold up your end of the bargain.” I stand quickly and step away from the bench. I crouch down and snatch up my heels. “Where do we go from here?”
“One last thing.” He shifts himself toward me and comes off the bench. I think he’s going to put his shoes on, but actually he’s kneeling in front of me and there’s something glittering in his palm. I stare down at the ring and my eyes go wide. “Let’s make it official.”
“You brought—”
“Give me your hand.”
I reach out, pulse hammering. “That’s a ring.”
“An engagement ring. And if I’m a good judge—” He slips it down my ringer finger. “Perfect.”
I stare at the diamond. It’s very simple, just a cluster of stones and white gold, but it’s beautiful in its austerity.
I’ve never dreamed of having an actual engagement ring on my finger before and, for a second, I can forget that it’s from Ford Arc, an asshole and a bastard, the sort of man I promised I’d never marry, but when I look up he’s looming above me, and my mind flashes back to that football game and his gleeful smile as he hurt Sara Lynn.
Who am I about to marry? Did I make a deal with a literal devil? I don’t know anything about this man, but I just swore I’d be his wife and sleep in his bed and have his children and now I’m wearing his ring and this is happening so fast—
But I have to keep it together.
This is going to protect Mom, and that’s all I care about.
“I should go,” I say, backing away from him.
“I’ll see you soon,” he says as I hurry away. “It won’t be easy, but it might be fun.”
I rush to the door we used to get out here and hurriedly put on my heels. He doesn’t follow me but I can’t seem to catch my breath until I’m in the lobby again under the oak tree. The taste of his lips still tingles on my mouth and I look down at my hand, at the ring glittering in the soft lighting.
It’s real.
This is real.
I’m going to be Mrs. Katherine Arc and my family is going to lose their shit.
Chapter 9
Ford
Kat squirms in the passenger seat of my car and stares out the window at the Arc family home. She doesn’t say anything and the silence stretches, but I don’t mind watching her. The morning light glitters through her auburn hair, and I stare at her neck, at her lips, at her full figure, and I marvel at how anyone could ignore this girl. She’s been hiding out from the society world for so long, and I bet her family has a lot to do with that—the fucking Stocktons are about as conservative as it gets, and if she doesn’t fit in with their idea of a perfect women then they’ll keep her locked away.
The idea that anyone could be embarrassed of this girl is heartbreaking.
Now I’m setting her free.
