That’s more than doubling our money.
He saves the ten, queen, king, and ace, and then I set my finger on the button.
He presses my finger.
I squeeze my eyes shut because I can’t look. I’m too damn nervous.
“Holy fuck,” he murmurs close to my ear, and that’s when I know.
My eyes pop open. “Oh my God!” I squeal when I spot the jack of hearts in the place where that four was sitting before. The machine starts going crazy, and the jackpot song plays as a big, blue stripe across the center of the screen screams, “JACKPOT! Hand pay required.”
We’re both in shock. We stare at the screen, and then we look at each other, and then we look back at the screen, and holy shit we let fate decide and fate is absolutely pushing us together—for this fake marriage, at least. He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips, and I want to hold on for more. I want to straddle his lap and hump him right here as we celebrate our big win, but it’s a quick celebratory kiss because we just won twenty-five thousand dollars in a public place.
“I guess we’ve got our wedding budget,” he says, and I burst into giggles.
CHAPTER 9
We’re both a little drunk by the time the Uber drops us back in Luke’s driveway, and when we get into the kitchen, I drop my purse on the counter and kick off my shoes.
So we’re really doing this.
I have hundreds of questions, but I have no idea where to even start and all the celebratory wine I had mixed with coming down off the thrill of winning is making me sleepy. We can deal with the questions in the morning.
To my surprise, though, Luke steps closer to me and grabs my hand. He links his fingers through mine. “Thanks for a fun night, Ellie. You’re making me see that not all women are evil.”
I laugh, but he doesn’t.
“I’m serious.” He pulls our joined hands up and presses a feather light kiss to my knuckles.
My knees go weak.
“I’m not like them,” I whisper. “I won’t manipulate you. I won’t hurt you. I’ll just be here for you. However you need me to be.”
He leans a little closer. “You’re definitely going to hurt me.” His warm whiskey breath mixes with his Luke scent so close to me, and it overwhelms my senses.
“Why do you think that?” I ask, genuinely curious as I wonder whether whiskey is some sort of truth serum or if it’s just a horndog pill and he’s coming onto me.
“You already have.” He leans even closer, and his nose brushes mine. I think he’s going to kiss me, but I’m not sure.
My chest buzzes with excitement, and my legs nearly give out as my hands start to tremble. My body responds even though my brain is trying to do the right thing. I don’t even know what the right thing is at this point. We just let a fucking poker machine decide we’re getting married.
And I want him.
God, do I want him.
My mind races back to our night together. Snippets here and there—his hand on my ass as he pounded into me from behind. A stolen kiss on a lounge chair by the pool.
“How?” I ask, my breath a whisper just inches from his mouth.
“By being you. By being everything I want but nothing I can have.” His lips brush mine, and everything inside me lights with fire as rockets explode in my chest.
“But you can have me, Luke,” I argue softly against his lips.
He shakes his head as if my words sober him for a beat. “No,” he says. “I can’t. I’ll only hurt you in the end. It’s what I do. My past relationships that ended...there were two people involved, and I’m not innocent. You’re too good for that.” He brushes his lips across mine again. “You’re too goddamn good for me.” He kisses me just for a second where it’s more than a brush of lip on lip, it’s a tender press of his mouth to mine, but then he pulls back from me. He backs up a step.
“Goodnight,” he says softly, and then he strides out of the room.
I’m not sure where he goes, but I give him some time in case he went upstairs to the bedroom we’re sharing.
When I finally go up to bed, though, he’s not in there. My heart drops with disappointment.
He must be sleeping in one of the guest rooms, which is probably a good thing considering the amount of alcohol we both had tonight.
Drunk or not, I want another night with him.
I want all the nights, but I’d settle for one.
* * *
I’m in my office working on some community outreach for Luke when he knocks on the doorframe.
“You can just walk in,” I say a little more testily than I intend to. “It is your house, you know.”
“I know,” he says. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about last night.”
“Which part?” I ask a little flippantly, my eyes returning to my laptop screen. Does he mean the part where he let a slot machine decide our fate, the part where he kissed me and then bolted, or the part where he said he’s no good for me? It appears he has much to apologize for.
“All of it, but mostly for kissing you.”
“I’m not.” My eyes flick to his. “Anything else?”
He sighs. “Do you still want to do this thing with me?”
“First, don’t call it a thing, and second, I have no idea why, but sure, why not.”
His brows both rise in surprise, like he was sure I was going to back out. “I still don’t understand why, either, but if you really are on board, then I’m not going to question it.”
I glance up at him, and he seems conflicted where he stands as his gaze falls to the window. “Did you want to win on that machine?” I ask.
His eyes slide over to mine. “I’ve never lost on it,” he says softly.
I’m glad I’m sitting, because my knees would freaking give out if I wasn’t.
“So I guess we should make it official.” He draws in a shaky breath, and then he shifts as he moves to get down on one knee. He grabs something from his pocket, a little box, and he flips open the lid.
I gasp.
I’m still sitting at my damn desk.
“Ellie Nolan, will you be my wife?” he says.
Of all the scenarios I imagined upon receiving a ring for the first time from the man of my dreams, faking it was never part of the story. Sitting behind a desk while he asked was also not part of the story.
Yet here we are.
I stand up, my demeanor softening, and I walk around the desk to where he kneels.
I smile down at him. “I’d love to,” I say, and I’m a little scared at how very much I mean those words.
It’s only going to mean bad news for me when it’s all over.
He slides the rock onto my hand, and I can’t help when I bring it up a little closer to inspect it. It’s gorgeous and the diamond is almost heavy it’s so big. Way too big.
But beautiful.
And mine.
It’s square with smaller diamonds surrounding it set in a platinum band. It must’ve cost a fortune, and it sparkles in the bright white office where we stand. I already know I’ll always look at the spot where Luke kneels and think of this moment.
I just have no idea how I’ll feel when I look at this spot.