“Just what?”
He resisted the urge to follow her. Instead, he set the ring on the table beside the bottle of champagne, realizing that he’d been so focused on his own needs, he hadn’t taken Larkin’s into consideration. The ring and all that went with it could wait. He wanted her to enjoy their first time together, not be distracted by worries he could help ease.
“Honey, you barely spoke a word the entire way home. So either it’s that, or it’s the trip to the lake, or there’s something else worrying you. Why don’t you tell me which it is?”
He closed the distance between them and gathered her hands in his. It felt so right when he held her like this, felt the wash of warmth that flowed between them. Why did his family have to take something so basic, so natural, and wrap it up in myth and superstition? It was simple sexual attraction. Granted, the connection between them felt amazing. But couldn’t they just call a spade a spade and let it go at that? Did they have to cloak a simple chemical reaction behind a ridiculous fairy tale?
“What’s wrong, Larkin?”
Her gaze swept past him to fix on the table. “The only reason you bought me champagne and a ring is so you could make love to me.”
He winced. Stripping it down to the bare-bones truth tarnished what he’d considered a romantic overture. “I thought—”
She cut him off without hesitation. “You thought that since you were buying my services, a bottle of champagne and a ring were sufficient. That you didn’t have to turn it into some sort of big romantic gesture. I get that. It’s not real, so why pretend it’s anything more than sex, right?”
He released her hands. “Hell.”
“I want to make love to you. But this…” She shivered. “An engagement ring is real, Rafe. It’s a serious commitment, just like marriage. You’re treating it like it’s some sort of casual game or a fast, easy way to get me into bed.”
Anger flashed and he struggled to contain it. “I’m well aware that marriage isn’t a game. Cold, hard experience, remember?”
She stepped away from him, melting into the surrounding shadows, making it impossible to read her expression. “You hired me to do a job. You hired me to play the part of your fiancée for your friends and family and I’ve agreed to do that even though it goes against the grain to lie to them. You didn’t hire me to sleep with you.”
The comment had his anger ripping free of his control. “I’d never reduce it to something so sordid. One has nothing to do with the other. I wouldn’t dream of putting a price tag on that aspect of our relationship. It would be an insult to both of us.”
“And yet, you’re only offering me that ring so you can get me in bed. Seems to me that’s a hefty price tag.”
He went after her and pulled her from the shadows and into his arms. “You know damn well why I offered you that ring. I made a promise to Primo, a promise I won’t break. Do I want to make love to you? Hell, yes! But I can’t and won’t do it unless you’re officially my fiancée. It’s going to happen eventually. Why not now? So I woke Sev this morning to open up Dante Exclusive and I picked out a ring for you. And not just any ring. A ring that reminded me of you. That seemed tailor-made for you.”
He could tell his words had an impact. Her attention strayed to the table, her eyes full of curiosity and something else. A wistfulness that tore at his heart. “I won’t be bought.”
“And I’m not buying you. Not when it comes to this part of our relationship.” His anger dampened, allowing him to rein it in. He didn’t understand how she could rouse his emotions with such ease. He’d never had that problem with any other woman. “As far as I’m concerned, what happens in bed has nothing to do with your posing as my fiancée. If we’d met under different circumstances, we’d still have ended up there. You just wouldn’t have had my ring on your finger.”
She took a deep breath, conceding the point. “Show me the ring.”
He took that as an encouraging sign. Crossing to the table, he collected the jewelry box. Removing the ring, he gathered her hand in his and slid it onto the appropriate finger. Even in the subdued lighting, the stones took on a life of their own.