Chapter 13 Cole
Cole
The limousine glided through the city. Charlotte hadn’t taken her eyes from the window.
Blue was definitely her color, and I didn’t give a fuck about straps or whatever she was worried about, because her perfect voluptuous tits had made it hard to form a coherent sentence.
I couldn’t stop myself from another glance to drink her in.
She kept her face turned away. Her fingers fidgeted in her lap.
“Nervous?”
She turned to meet my eyes. Her hair fell in lush dark waves, and crimson glossed her lips. A dazzling diamond choker sparkled at her throat. “Aren’t you? This could go spectacularly wrong.”
“In what way?”
She glanced at the partition between us and the driver and lowered her voice to a whisper. “In the way that I don’t want to mess it up. What if someone figures out what’s going on?”
“Why would they?”
She dropped her voice even lower. “Because people might ask questions, and I don’t want to embarrass myself. What if we get quizzed? We hardly know each other anymore.”
“We know the important things. It will be fine. Everyone at these events is fake. No one asks questions because they care about the answers. Just follow my lead. This is the perfect dry run. Nobody that matters is here.”
Her hand fluttered to her diamond earring. “It’s going to be full of fancy people. This isn’t the kind of place I fit in.”
“Look at me, Charlotte.”
She snapped her gaze to mine.
“You fit in anywhere you want to fit in. You look incredible. Just be yourself. If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable, then you tell me.”
A small smile pulled at her lips. “And if anyone asks about the wedding? We haven’t discussed it yet.”
Fine. Now was as good a time as any. “I don’t care how we do it. A wedding is just an admin task in front of an audience.”
“Admin with an audience?” She shook her head and let out the smallest chuff of laughter. “Pass the smelling salts, please. I might swoon.”
I tried not to stare at her mouth. I wanted to make her laugh again. “Am I wrong?”
“I don’t think that’s how most people approach it.”
“It’s how we’re approaching it. I just have to make sure it’s the right audience. I’m thinking something low-key so it’s less pressure to perform. Close family and friends for the service, then afterward we’ll have a reception with the people I need to schmooze. How does that sound?”
Her jaw clenched, and she turned her face back to the dark city rushing by outside. “How soon?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Can we do it back home?”
“Ecclesdale?”
It wasn’t a bad idea. It would sell it nicely to the shareholders. A twee little venue in Yorkshire. It’s not what any of them would expect from me. They could take all that charm and authenticity and shove it up their arses. “Yes. If you like.”
“I always imagined Dad walking me down the aisle.” She kept her face turned to the window. “But anywhere will do. It’s not real, anyway.”
My fingers itched to wrap around her hand and give her some reassurance, but we had boundaries in the contract for a reason.
It was bad enough that the sight of her in that dress was giving me a hard-on.
Get it together. This wasn’t a party. I was here with one purpose: pin Gabe Rivers down to a meeting.
A charming fiancée on my arm would be my secret weapon.
Shit. How could I forget the most important part? Reaching into the pocket of my tux, I pulled out the ring box.
“Here.” I put the box into Charlotte’s hands. “For you.”
“What is it?”
Hesitantly, she flipped the lid. The enormous diamond glinted in the cool blue limo lights.
“It’s emerald cut. Internally flawless.”
It had cost six million, but that might be an overwhelming piece of information to absorb. She peered down at the ring in my hands and brushed her finger over the glittering diamond.
“This is too much. I don’t know how my finger is going to stand the weight of it.” Her eyes drifted over me and they held a hint of wonder. “So this is our official engagement?” Her expression turned wry. “I take it you’re not going to get on one knee?”
“I’m afraid I don’t kneel for anyone anymore, Charlotte.”
She gave me a long, probing look, as though she was trying to peel back the years and uncover the person she’d once known.
The Cole she was looking for was long gone.
No hope of finding him. No wonder she looked faintly disappointed.
The engine’s hum filled the tense hush between us.
Warmth climbed the back of my neck and I turned my face away to take in the bright city lights blinking past outside.
The journey passed in silence until we pulled up at the entrance to the Natural History Museum. Charlotte sucked in a sharp breath. I turned to face her and took in the engagement ring newly glittering on her finger. Mine.
I gave her a nod. “Remember, just be yourself. Don’t oversell it. Let me do the talking.”
Her shoulders were tense, but she fixed on a sardonic smile. “Fine. No overselling. Let’s just go and pretend to be madly in love.”