Between Marriage and Merger

by Karen Booth

  The next thing she knew, she had all ten fingers working into his hair. Her arms landed on his shoulders. His hand was molded around her hip, squeezing like he was trying to get down to the bone. Their lips were in a mad scramble, parted, making way for tongues to roam. In under two seconds, they’d gone from zero to sexy sixty. The kiss was flat-out reckless now, like neither of them cared about ramifications. She was a woman and he was the hottest man she’d ever set her eyes on. One well-placed rub and they might as well be dry tinder. A fire was inevitable.

  Lily dropped one hand and worked her way inside Noah’s coat, which he’d been kind enough to leave unbuttoned. She palmed his firm chest, and even through layers of clothes—his suit coat, his shirt—she could feel the frantic pounding of his heart. She wanted nothing more than to experience that with bare skin against bare skin. Noah’s hand traveled down to her knee and under the hem of her skirt. Lily felt like she might burst into full flame. He didn’t waste a second, heading north, his palm caressing her stocking. Her heart was beating like a kid dragging a stick across a picket fence. He came to a dead stop when his thumb reached the top of her thigh-highs. Noah pulled back, breaking their kiss, breathless. Thankfully, his hand hadn’t moved.

  “Are those?” His eyes were dark with a brew of lust and curiosity.

  She nodded, her lips floating back to meet his and steal one more kiss. “I can’t stand regular panty hose,” she murmured against his mouth. She took a soft nip of his lower lip.

  A low groan escaped his throat.

  The divider between the driver and the back seat started to lower. Lily scrambled to find a more demure position. The driver, most likely accustomed to this scene, didn’t look at them. “Mr. Locke. We’re here at Tiffany.”

  Noah gawked at Lily. Maybe he hadn’t expected her to go for it. Carpe diem, Mr. Locke. Carpe diem. “Um. Ready?” he asked.

  For what? she almost answered. For you to tear off my clothes? “Hold on a sec.” She reached out and combed her fingers through his silky hair, which was just as tangled as her thoughts right now. “Your hair.” It was even softer than it had been a minute ago. Maybe it was because she wasn’t wholly distracted by his lips and chest.

  “Thanks for looking out for me.” He then scrutinized her hair and smoothed back one strand that was grazing her cheek. “You weren’t nearly as disheveled.”

  Embarrassment crept over her, shrouding her from head to toe. She hadn’t merely gone overboard, she’d behaved like a teenager who’d spent her adolescence locked up in an all-girls school. Lily made a mental note: practice some damn decorum. At least this was probably the norm for Noah, women going crazy for him. He didn’t seem particularly fazed by it at all.

  * * *

  Noah was quite frankly shocked that he could climb out of the back seat and straighten to his full height. It felt like his pants had shrunk two sizes and not in the waist. Thank goodness for unseasonably cool weather, as well as his long wool coat. It could hide a multitude of sins. And stiffness.

  He took Lily’s hand as she stepped out of the car. The flush in her cheeks filled him with an unavoidable sense of accomplishment. He liked knowing that had been her response to him, but even better was having experienced it firsthand. She’d gone for far more than a practice kiss, which had honestly surprised him. She was always so businesslike in the office, never showing any interest in him outside the professional. Which was fine, and as it should have been. But it had disappointed him from time to time, for sure. Was there more there? Or was she amped up because her whole financial future was about to become so much sunnier?

  Either way, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to be his father. He couldn’t go overboard like that again. He had a professional relationship to maintain with Lily. Kissing like they just had was a one-way ticket to ruin.

  They stepped inside Tiffany & Co., the beautifully appointed showroom with a maze of glass cases filled with jewelry, towering displays of crystal bowls and the ever-present flashes of their signature blue. Lily squeezed his hand a little tighter, which only made him want to reassure her that they were in this together. As unorthodox as their arrangement was, they had each other. For a few days.

  An older gentleman at the first counter stepped out from behind it. “Mr. Locke?” His British accent made him even more distinguished than his appearance. His silvery hair was impeccably groomed.

  “Yes. You must be Mr. Russell.” Noah turned to Lily. “I made an appointment. I didn’t want us to have to wait.”

  “Absolutely not. I understand you are a very busy man, Mr. Locke.” He then turned his attention to Lily. A warm grin crossed his face and he stood even straighter. “And this must be the future Mrs. Locke.” He reached out his hand and shook hers, regarding her as if she were made of fine china.

  “Yes. That’s me. Won’t be long and I’ll be Lily Locke.” Mr. Russell let go and Lily smiled nervously at Noah. He got it. He hadn’t thought about it in terms of her married name yet either.

  They followed Mr. Russell to a counter in the middle of the store. He pulled out a velvet-covered board with at least a dozen engagement rings on it. “I took the liberty of picking out a few things to start. You had said platinum, right? And something larger than a carat? But you also wanted something ready-made. Not a custom ring, correct?”

  Noah nodded. He didn’t much like the idea of something right off the sales floor, but thus was their timeline. “Yes. Correct. We don’t want to wait.” He put his hand on the small of Lily’s back. “What do you think?”

  Lily leaned down, perusing them, but didn’t touch a thing. When she turned back to Noah, there was a decidedly panicked edge to her expression. “These all seem really big.”

  “Yes...” His mind went blank as he tried to decide what sort of pet name Lily might like. “Honey. We talked about this before. Remember? I want you to have a beautiful ring. A ring that’s just as gorgeous and amazing as you.” That was the sort of thing a romantic guy would say, wasn’t it?

  “But aren’t these a little extravagant?”

  He shook his head as sweetly as possible. “No. I don’t think so.”

  Mr. Russell cleared his throat. “Oh, dear. A few of these aren’t quite as clean as they should be. Let me polish them up and I’ll give you two a chance to chat.” He’d obviously been doing this for a very long time. He seemed quite practiced in the art of ducking away when a couple was about to have an argument. “I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as Mr. Russell was gone with the rings, Lily started in. “They’re too much, Noah. It doesn’t seem right that I would get that on top of the one percent. I want to be compensated, but I also don’t want to take advantage of you or Sawyer.”

  “I hear what you’re saying. And it’s sweet, but you need to think about me and my family. People are going to expect Noah Locke’s fiancée to have a huge hulking ring. Did you see the rock that Sawyer gave Kendall?”

  “It all seems very superficial. A man’s love should not be demonstrated by the size of an engagement ring.”

  “And it isn’t. The size of a man’s wallet is demonstrated by the ring. The love part people will have to figure out on their own.” That last thought gave him a sour stomach. He and Lily both deserved better than to be picking out engagement rings with someone they weren’t head over heels for. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one. When we get to the wedding this weekend and you show off that ring, we want people to be blinded by it. If it’s small, it’ll just cast suspicion on the engagement and that’s one thing we can’t afford.”

  Lily blew out a long breath through her nose and looked around the store, shaking her head the whole time. “You know, I’m surprised the grand Locke family doesn’t have a cache of heirloom engagement rings tucked away somewhere. Surely you guys have been handing down jewelry from generation to generation. Maybe that would be easier. Then I could give it back wh
en we’re done.”

  He didn’t like that she was making assumptions about his family or their history. There might have been many Locke fortunes made over the last century, but there had been a lot of sadness and heartache, too. They weren’t all spending their days rolling around on piles of money. “There’s no cache of rings. There is one family ring in the mix, and that’s all I know of. It was my mother’s. The sapphire engagement ring my father gave her. He gave it to me when I turned eighteen.”

  “It sounds pretty.”

  “It’s beautiful. A big oval surrounded by diamonds.” Noah almost choked on the words. More than twenty years later and he still missed his mom. Plus, all he could think about was what his dad had said when he’d given him the ring. If you ever manage to find the right woman, you should give this to her when you ask her to marry you. I’m just not sure you have it in you to be like me. “I didn’t really think that was appropriate for today.”

  The expression on Lily’s face fell. “Oh. Of course. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Noah understood how bad it sounded, but Mr. Russell was only a few feet away. “Wait. I didn’t mean it that way.”

  She waved him off, not looking at him. “No. It’s fine. I get it, Noah. Really.”

  “Right, then,” Mr. Russell started. “Have we had a chance to have the ‘size matters’ discussion?” He winked at Lily and she laughed quietly. Thank God for Mr. Russell.

  “Yes. We have.” She leaned down, her thumb resting on her lower lip. “I think I’d like to try that one.”

  Mr. Russell picked up the ring and placed it gently on Lily’s left ring finger. She slid it into place and held out her hand so Noah could see. “What do you think?”

  The ring was stunning. And it looked lovely on Lily’s hand.

  “It’s a square solitaire, just under two and a half carats. Platinum setting, of course, and approximately another two carats of small diamonds in the band.” Mr. Russell watched Lily closely. “I’ll get you the exact carat weight if this is the one you decide to take.”

  “It’s a gorgeous ring. No question about that,” Noah said. This was Lily’s decision. Not his.

  “Okay, then. We’ll take this one.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t want to try any others?” Mr. Russell asked. “How does the size of the band feel?”

  Lily shrugged. “No. I’m good. I like this one. It seems like it fits fine.”

  “Okay, then. You have to appreciate a woman who knows what she wants.” He smiled wide at Lily. “Truly. Some couples are here for hours.”

  “I bet.” At least we’re efficient.

  “I’ll get the paperwork together.” Mr. Russell didn’t leave, though. He seemed to be waiting, perhaps for the moment he’d undoubtedly witnessed many times with countless other couples.

  Lily leaned into Noah and showed him the ring again. “I love it, darling. Truly.”

  Noah then remembered the show they were supposed to be putting on. He gazed into her eyes, but it wasn’t the same as things had been when they were in the car together. Alone. This version of Lily was all business. “Good. I’m so glad.” He leaned closer and they kissed. It was sweet and soft, but only an echo of the passion they’d shared mere minutes ago.

  Mr. Russell smiled, seeming satisfied. He left for a moment, and returned with a packet of paperwork certifying the diamonds, along with a blue Tiffany box for Lily to keep the ring in, and the final bill. Noah pulled out his credit card, hoping that at some point, this might all start to seem at least a little more normal. Mr. Russell presented him with the receipt, Noah signed on the dotted line.

  And just like that, it was done.

  They bid their farewell and walked out of the store, hand in hand. As soon as they were in the car, he had to say something. “I’m sorry about what I said about my mom’s ring. It didn’t come out in a particularly kind way.”

  “No. It’s fine, Noah. I get it. Our arrangement isn’t real. We both knew that going into it.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. The chunky diamond sparkled. “And now I have the ring to prove it.”

  Four

  It didn’t take long for the photos of the Tiffany & Co. engagement ring kiss to end up online. In fact, it took less than an hour.

  Noah’s phone beeped with a text soon after they ordered their lunch at a restaurant he’d suggested. “It’s Sawyer. Kendall just sent him a link to the photo of us picking out your ring. I’m not sure whether I should be happy or not, but we are now officially tabloid fodder.”

  Lily scooted closer to him in the half-round booth. It would be so easy to become accustomed to being near him, breathing in his citrusy cologne and putting her hands on him anytime. He showed her the evidence of their dubious newfound fame. There they were on a gossip website, locking lips in the most famous jewelry store in the world. It was so surreal. That was Lily Foster from an average family in Philadelphia, doing something distinctly not run-of-the-mill. “Yikes.”

  “Are you not happy with this?”

  “It just...” Lily’s stomach was filled with all sorts of uncomfortable feelings. She did not like the loss of control. She disliked the scrutiny of her private life. She hated feeling as though other people’s opinions of her could boil down to this. For the first time, she understood how deeply upsetting it must have been to Noah when the tabloid video was released.

  “Just what?”

  “It’s strange. Why would anyone care about this?” She winced at how unworldly her words might make her seem. She didn’t want to be naive, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that a person’s love life should not be entertainment for perfect strangers.

  “Now you know how I felt when that video ran. At least we knew this was going to happen. That’s a big improvement over the way things happened for me.”

  Lily sighed and looked at the pixelated photograph again. This was the new cost of doing business, the price she’d be paying for securing her future with her small piece of Locke and Locke. This was the new normal. “Do you think this will be the extent of being in the tabloids? We won’t have to keep doing this, will we?”

  Noah took a sizable gulp of the Old-Fashioned he’d ordered to go alongside his steak sandwich and fries. “This should be enough to do the trick. We just needed Hannafort to buy the idea of us as an engaged couple before we show up at his daughter’s wedding.”

  She smiled thinly and nodded. His words pointed to one truth—the notion of Lily and Noah as a couple was indeed something that needed to be sold. It needed the help of smoke and mirrors. “Okay.”

  The expression on Noah’s face softened. “Are you just saying okay? I have the feeling this is really bothering you.”

  She didn’t want to make a stink. She wasn’t someone to complain, but it did bother her. At least Noah was being thoughtful about it. That she appreciated. “I don’t want to sound like a hopeless romantic, but it’s a big deal to get engaged. It feels like we’re tempting fate by doing it for show.”

  Worry crossed his face, a look she disliked. Noah was too perfect to stress. “Think of it this way, it’s helping you build a nest egg, right?”

  “Yes. That’s important.”

  “And, hopefully, there are worse people you could be fake engaged to.”

  I’m not sure there’s anyone better to be fake engaged to. “Of course. Don’t be silly.”

  “More than anything, do you have any idea how many people get stuck with super unflattering pictures of themselves in the tabloids? This photo of us is pretty hot. We look good together.” He smiled, seeming like he was desperate to reassure her everything would be okay. It was so endearing.

  “True.” Lily gnawed on her lower lip. She had noticed that. “Can you get Kendall to email me that link? So I have it?” She might be upset by the newspaper story, but she might also have that photo blown up and fra
med. She could hang it on the wall in her bedroom. Oddly enough, the kiss in the jewelry store hadn’t been particularly hot. It had been sweet and nice. She hadn’t noticed when it was happening that Noah had not only rested his hand on her hip, he’d curled his fingers into her coat. Even with the graininess of the photograph, she could see him pulling on her. Like he wanted her. Like that moment in the car when his hand slipped under her skirt and he’d discovered her stockings. There was a good deal of feminine pride wrapped up in being able to surprise a man like Noah. Very few women had likely made such an impression.

  Noah’s phone rang. “I’m so sorry. I should get this. It’s Charlotte.” He pressed the button on the screen and jabbed his finger into his ear. “Hey. What’s up?” He nodded and popped a French fry into his mouth. “Okay. Hold on.” He handed the phone to Lily. “She wants to talk to you.”

  “About?”

  “Something about shopping.”

  “Hello?”

  “Lily, it’s Charlotte. I’m wondering, and I’m not totally sure how to ask this, but do you have the right clothes for this trip?”

  Lily had no clue what that might entail. Did she have nice clothes? Of course. She made a point of being impeccably dressed at work. Did she have fancy, expensive clothes? No. “I’m not sure. Noah hasn’t told me anything about what we’re going to be doing.”

  “I’m not surprised. I’m sure it’s the last thing on his mind. Thankfully, it’s the first thing on mine. I do not want you feeling unprepared. You should feel comfortable in the Hannaforts’ world of big money and luxury. I’ll take you shopping to be safe. Plus, Noah’s paying.”