"I guess we know who gets the gold star award when it comes to self-control," she adds. "I'm pretty impressed with him. I heard it took him a long time to be able to shift back into human form. But he’s still new, and he's able to put his hands all over you. So, well done." She claps her hands in quiet applause.
I just smile and shake my head and resume my pacing.
This is taking way longer than I would've expected. I can't imagine why this would take more than twenty minutes. Fifteen of those minutes would be spent walking to and from whatever store Jaxon has in mind. All we need is a prop, so anything should do.
But finally, nearly an hour later, I see the door open once again and Jaxon and Azrael step through.
He doesn't hold a bag, but I do see something bulging slightly in his right pocket.
"Let's go," he says with a knowing smile as he grabs his helmet once again.
"What? You didn't find anything that will work?" I ask. I'm still slightly annoyed, my tone is maybe a little bit too sharp.
"Oh, I found something," he says as he leans in close. He hooks his hand behind my neck and draws my face close to his. "Just…not right here, not with them."
I arch an eyebrow at him. I don't know where he thinks he's going to get this magical time to slide this fake ring onto my finger. But still, the sentiment, the way he is executing this, sends a flutter of butterflies through my stomach.
I should say something. I always have something to say. But I find myself a little bit speechless. So I simply grab my helmet and climb back onto the bike. Jaxon climbs on as well and starts it back up.
He revs the engine, and we make our way back out onto the street. He turns left and aims for the casino I was expecting. Just three minutes later, he is turning into another parking garage. He stalls in the opening, turning back to the car that is following us. Azrael rolls down the window and pokes his head out.
"Park on the second floor," Jaxon says. "My family monitors the third floor, where we all park. We’ll be going up to the fifteenth floor. Hang back. My family is huge. You might not even realize that someone who's watching you is one of my brothers or sisters."
Azrael nods his understanding and rolls the windows back up.
Jaxon rolls forward and makes his way up to the third floor of the parking garage. Excitement and anxiety spikes in my blood when he parks next to his own motorcycle.
I've been here before. A few times. Under several different circumstances. When I first tried to track the ultralight down, and both AJ and Jaxon stepped out, I had no idea which one of them was the one I was looking for. And then again, later that night, when I followed him back here and followed him all the way up to the fifteenth floor. And once again, when I returned here with Jaxon and pretended to be his girlfriend.
Now I am here to pretend to be his wife.
He kills the engine, and we both climb off. I pull my helmet off and set it on the seat. Jaxon does the same.
“Come with me," he says. He reaches forward and takes my hand. I'm an emotional wreck right now. I'm nervous, filled with anticipation from all different angles. But I don't question him. I follow after him.
We walk through the doors and down the hall to the elevators. He presses the button, and we only have to wait five seconds before it opens. We walk in, and he pushes the button for the second floor. Just fifteen seconds later, the doors open again and we step out onto one of the main floors.
This is one of the casinos I haven't spent much time in. Once upon a time, I spent a year going through every one of these casinos on the Strip, learning all the ins and outs of them. I knew which casinos to avoid, which ones had sketchy activities going on inside of them. This was one of them. Now, I know some of the reasons why.
But it's still exceptionally nice. There are lots of nice shops. Plenty of nice restaurants. It doesn't smell as bad as some of the other casinos.
Jaxon leads me down the middle hallway. The ceiling stretches high above us, a fancy arch filled with details. But halfway down, Jaxon hooks to the left. And pushes the door open.
I had definitely never come to this part of this casino.
We step out into an arboretum. It's humid in here, and it feels…good. I've lived in this desert for a long time, so I have completely forgotten what humidity feels like. But it's warm, just the right temperature considering it's still early enough in the day that the temperatures are not scorching. And it's a jungle in here. The entire place is packed with tons and tons of plants. They climb up the walls, they cover the ground entirely. There are plants hanging from the ceiling. There are even exotic birds walking around, some of them with big, long legs, others sitting in branches, all of their feathers exceptionally bright and beautiful.
It's…an oasis in the middle of this loud and sinful city.
Jaxon looks around the beautiful space, and I realize there is no one else in here. It's early for Sin City, the majority of people are still in bed. He guides me back to the center of the arboretum and we stop next to the miniature waterfall.
Jaxon looks nervous.
Why is he nervous?
This is all fake, right?
Suddenly, I’m nervous.
He takes in a shaking breath and meets my eyes. "This has been…complete insanity from the very moment we first met." I look into his green eyes, and my racing heart begins to calm. "It started perfect, and then there was a death, and then I found out that sometimes people aren't simply human. We ran away together, and I thought you were going to kill me, but I also couldn't make myself run when I knew that I should."
I smile, because I remember feeling so stupid for trusting him so much in those first two days. He should have run.
"It's been a roller coaster of insanity since I met you, Serena," Jaxon says. His tone is low, intimate. He takes my left hand in his. "But I haven't regretted any of it. And I know that this part is for show, but…" Once again, he raises my hand to his lips. Gently, he presses them to my knuckles, and his eyes slide closed. My body doesn’t know what to do. One second it’s calm, convinced that everything is going to be okay. The next, my heart is sprinting with anticipation. Slowly, Jaxon opens his eyes again. "But I'm still in this for real, Serena. It's still so early but…" he trails off.
I know what he means. We still have only known each other for a month and one day. Yet, he's everything to me.
"I hate that we have to pretend like this," Jaxon says. "But if I have to pretend to be married to someone, I wouldn't want it to be anyone but you."
Jaxon reaches into his pocket and withdraws a black velvet box.
My heart beats even faster.
He opens the lid, and he actually drops down onto one knee. "Serena the darkling," he says with a slight smile. "Will you pretend to be my wife?"
I actually laugh. I honestly didn't know what was going to come out of his mouth after he opened that box.
But I am relieved.
"Yes," I say with a laugh as I nod.
Jaxon’s smile is huge, and it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. He rises up and pulls the ring from the box. I hold my hand up, and he slides it onto my ring finger.
Despite the lightness of the previous moment, all of my insides still as I look at the ring on my finger.