Page 18 of The Encore Effect

“Kat.” The roughness of his tone snapped her attention back to his face just as a flash went off somewhere behind the car. “We have to go.”

She took his hand and stepped from the car into a flurry of flashes and shouting. Recoiling, she ducked her head, blinking behind her sunglasses. Beckett’s hold on her hand tightened, and he tugged her along behind him, guiding her to the safety of the jewelry store entrance, where a man in a three-piece suit was already waiting to usher them inside.

“Mr. Hayes, we’re so glad to have you in the shop with us today,” the man said, beaming. “Congratulations on your engagement. I am the Master Jeweler here at CB Diamond and Company and—”

“Joseph.” Beckett cut him off as he read from the silver nametag on the man’s chest. The jeweler’s smile widened. “Let’s move somewhere more private where my fiancée and I will not be photographed through your front window.”

Joseph’s smile faltered. “Of course, sir. Right this way.”

Kat and Beckett followed Joseph through the store, beneath gold and crystal chandeliers and past glass cases full of the kind of jewelry Kat had only seen on red carpets. Beckett gripped her hand, his thumb sweeping over the pulse point at her wrist, as if he somehow knew that her heart had sped up when he referred to her as his fiancée. They were nearly to the back of the store before Kat realized they were the only ones in the building.

“Did you have them open up just for us?” she whispered.

“Of course not.” Her relief was short-lived. “I had them shut down for us.”

“Right this way, Mr. Hayes, Ms. Luna.” Joseph gestured for them to enter a private room at the back of the shop.

The polished marble floors and opulent chandeliers continued into the small space, but instead of rows of glass cases, the room was outfitted with a dark green tufted love seat and a mahogany table laid with a rectangular black velvet tray.

It was only once they’d been seated, the door silently closing them in, that Joseph placed a series of small black boxes in the tray. “I pulled a selection of our most highly acclaimed pieces, just as you asked. I believe they’ll all meet your specifications. You were very clear on the phone,” he said to Beckett.

Kat found herself focused on the man beside her rather than the jewelry being laid on the table. He’d called ahead to close down the shop. He’d given specifications to a jeweler about what kind of engagement rings he wanted to see. What kind of engagement ring he wanted for her.

It’s pretend, she reminded herself. It’s part of the charade.

“Would the lady like to try one on?” Joseph asked.

She tore her eyes away from Beckett’s stoic profile and tugged her hand free of his grasp, clasping her hands in her lap. Beside her, his hand flexed, the veins running up to his forearms highlighted by the movement, before he threw his arm over the back of the loveseat behind her.

Joseph smiled encouragingly. “Take your time. Which one is speaking to you?”

She scanned the tray in front of her, but she hardly saw the rings sparkling in their boxes. Each stone was larger than the last, the light from the chandelier overhead reflecting off the diamonds. “That one,” she said, gesturing to the smallest of the stones.

The jeweler reached to remove the ring from the box, but Beckett stopped him. “No.”

“No?” Joseph asked.

“You don’t like cushion cut,” Beckett said.

“I don’t?” Kat asked, taken aback. It was true—cushion cut was not her preferred shape—but how the hell did Beckett know what kinds of engagement rings she preferred?

“My apologies, Mr. Hayes.” Joseph swept away the offending ring. “I’m not sure how that one got in there.”

Kat looked over the rings, pausing to examine each one—a princess cut stone on a platinum band with one smaller stone on each side; an emerald cut set on an angle so it appeared diamond-shaped with a sweeping, architectural yellow gold band; an oval stone surrounded by a halo of tiny diamonds on a platinum band. Ring after ring, each so perfect it was like she’d chosen them herself.

A ludicrous thought. Kat had never shopped for engagement rings before.

At the center of the tray, she paused, reaching out to run her fingertips over the glittering stone. A marquise diamond flanked by pavé-set stones along a twisted, twining yellow gold band.

She knew this ring. Had images of it on her inspiration boards. Dreamed of a ring so much like this it was uncanny, imagined the way the light would reflect and refract from the gem’s multifaceted surface, how the smaller stones along the band would complement the diamonds in the earrings safely tucked away in her suitcase back at the hotel.

She’d written this ring. The way it felt when the hero slid it into place on the heroine’s finger, the weight of it, new and strange after so many years without a ring on that particular digit. This ring belonged on the pages of one of her novels.

“Ah, I see you are a woman of excellent taste.” Joseph took the ring from its case and held it out to her.

Her hands shook as he rattled on about color and clarity. This ring shouldn’t exist beyond the pages of her books, the pictures saved in her research folders. And it certainly shouldn’t be here, amongst a sea of stunning rings chosen according to Beckett’s specifications.

“Let me.” Beckett held her gaze as he took the ring from her trembling fingers. Slowly, gently, he slid it onto her left hand, the warmth of his fingertips chasing the band of cool metal.