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I gape at the ring in shock and then back at his face. “Is that arealdiamond ring?”
“Yes.”
“My God, I-I can't possibly take that from you; it's not even a real engagement.”
“What's a bride without a ring?” he asks, taking my left hand in his. “We might as well make it as real as possible.”
Gently, he slips the ring on my fourth finger, and I'm surprised to see it fit perfectly.
“Now, there's a bride to be,” he says, smiling into my eyes. “My bride.”
Chapter Five
Damon
"Your parents seem like nice people," Dana says, a small smile lingering on her pretty face as she stares at the breathtaking view from the balcony of the room assigned to us in my parents' estate.
I, on the other hand, can't stop staring at her.
She looks ravishing tonight. On the way down here, we stopped at a beauty store where they did a total makeover for Dana. Not like I'd change anything about her, but we both agreed that we needed to look as believable as possible. The hairstylist did something to her hair; the long, shiny curls cascade down her shoulders in thick wavy curls that accentuate her beautiful oval face. For her dress, she'd chosen a gorgeous red gown with a slit running up to her thigh and a neckline just low enough to drive me crazy.
Right now, I'm barely fighting the urge to keep my hands to myself.
“You don't seem to agree with me,” she says, turning her body slightly to search my face.
The wind carries her soft jasmine scent and it envelopes me, teasing my senses and rendering me momentarily incapable of rational thought.
“Quite a number of people seem to think so,” I finally say, keeping my voice leveled.
“You don't agree?”
“They're my parents, but I don't really know them,” I reply with a casual shrug. “Mother is always on some charity medical trip, and Father… Well, let's just say we never see eye to eye.”
I never talk in-depth about my relationship with my parents to anyone, but somehow I find it easy to talk to her.Liberating, even.
“He's never really cared about what I want,” I continue when it seems like she’s waiting for me to. “He never cared about my person. To him, I'm just a tool to be trained to carry on the family's wealth and legacy. I refuse to become a puppet on his strings.” I look away from her as a heaviness settles on my chest. “But look at me now, conveniently dancing to his tune.”
“I'm sorry,” she says quietly after a few seconds of silence.
I frown slightly at her. “Why?”
She shrugs, a delicate movement of her slender shoulders. "It seems like I might have judged you a little too harshly. It just seemed… like you had it all. I was wrong; you have your share of struggles like everyone else."
Her words touch a part of me that I never knew existed until that moment. I never cared about being misunderstood in the past, but for some reason, it feels good to finally be acknowledged by someone. To be…seen.
“We should go in now,” I say, clearing my throat lightly to get rid of the knot forming in it. “It's getting cold.”
“Yeah, we should.”
Once inside the room, I throw my jacket over the sofa arm and sit with a tired sigh. "Sorry about the room arrangements. You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the sofa."
“We could share the bed…” she says with a hesitant shrug.
“That's a bad idea, kitty,” I say, amused and intrigued by her naivety. “Because I don't think I can control whatever comes after.”
“What are you talking about?”
"I want you, Dana," I say, pinning her gaze with mine as I lean forward in my seat. "You feel it, don't you? This attraction between us… We've been dancing around it in the past few days."
