"What's this?" I asked as I moved closer to get a better look.
Archer turned his face to shoot me a sly grin. "Princess, you didn't think we were sending you out there totally unarmed, did you?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not." Hitching my long, lilac skirts up, I showed him where I'd attached my butterfly blade to my garter belt. Except apparently showing them my sexy lingerie interwoven with a deadly weapon had hit their stun buttons again, and both boys froze with their eyes glued to my, uh, knife.
"Actually, Steele," Archer said, clearing his throat as he recovered first. "I wanted to talk to Kate for a moment in private. Do you mind?"
Steele rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. He was already dressed in a sharp suit but hadn't put his jacket on just yet. "Bullshit, Arch," he snapped back. "Unless by talk you mean fuck, which I'd believe."
Archer glowered at his friend. "I'm serious, bro. Just give me five minutes."
I could tell Steele wanted to refuse. He wanted to argue and keep me to himself a little longer, but something in Archer's expression made his shoulders sag.
"Fine," he ground out. "Five minutes. Not even you can fuck that fast." He gave me a wink, then glared at Archer again before leaving the room.
When he was gone, I gave Archer a quizzical look. "Okay, you're acting kind of weird this morning, Arch." I sank down to sit on the sofa beside the gun case. He was on his knees, so it put us at eye level. "What's going on?"
His lips quirked in a half smile. "I can't just want to give my bride a gun on our wedding day?"
My glare flattened, even though I did appreciate the gun. "Steele could have given me the gun, Arch. Fess up; you've got something else on your mind."
He didn't disagree, but his gaze did drop away from my eyes and rake over my body, pausing over the dangerously low neckline and the generous curves of my breasts on display. "You look sensational, Kate," he told me, his voice rough. "Better than anything I could have imagined. You're a fucking goddess right now, you know that?"
I couldn't fight my smile but still shook my head. "Don't change the subject, Sunshine. What's going on with you?"
His smile turned almost apprehensive, and he let out a sigh. "I wanted to give you something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. A fucking ring box. What the fuck?
"Arch—" I started to say in a panic, but he just shot me a lopsided smile and handed me the envelope that he'd pulled out with the ring box.
"Just read the letter," he told me in a gruff voice, running a hand through his hair anxiously.
I wrinkled my nose in confusion, one eye still on the ring box in his other hand, but I did as he asked and opened the envelope. With one more suspicious look at him, I tugged the letter out and unfolded the linen-textured paper.
My gaze lowered from Archer's stupidly handsome face and started taking in the elegant, flowing handwriting of the letter. The first thing that became totally apparent: It wasn't written by Archer. I'd seen his handwriting, and it was a far cry from the neat, looping cursive on the page.
It was addressed to me, and it only took a couple of words to realize it was from Archer's grandmother. I read another sentence, then glanced up at Archer with a frown.
"Have you read this?"
He shook his head. "No. She was pretty clear with me, that letter is for your eyes only."
Relieved, I bit my lip and turned my attention back to the letter. Line by line, word by word, Constance D'Ath reached through the page and wrapped me in her arms, in her love, and in her approval. It was hands down the most heartfelt thing I'd ever read, and by the time I reached the end, my cheeks were wet and my vision blurry.
"Baby girl," Archer breathed, "don't cry." He gently dabbed my cheeks with a fabric handkerchief, and I let out a short laugh.
"Sorry," I groaned, taking the handkerchief from him. "Fuck, I've messed up my makeup, haven't I?"
The corner of his mouth hitched in a half smile. "Nah, you still look like a fucking angel."
I rolled my eyes and dabbed underneath them to try and clean up what was likely a mascara mess. Yep, sure enough, black smudges came away on the handkerchief. "Fallen angel, more like."
Archer's smile spread wider. "My favorite type."
The ring box still in his hand caught my attention once more, and I nodded to it. "So, are you going to show me what's in the box?"
His gaze dropped down to it as he turned it over in his fingers thoughtfully. Then he cleared his throat. A faint blush crept up his neck, which was starting to freak me right the fuck out, but then he opened the box.
My breath caught. "Holy shit."
"Kate," Archer said in a soft voice, his gaze capturing mine despite the gorgeous, sparkling diamond ring in his hand. "I know everything that's happened has been just all kinds of fucked up. I messed things up from day one, and I'll probably spend forever trying to make up for it. Hell, I want to spend forever making up for it because that’ll mean we’re together..." He trailed off, but my throat was so tight I couldn't have said anything even if I had words to say.
Archer drew another deep breath. "I'm not asking you to marry me."
A smile tugged at my lips. "Because we're already married. Yeah, you skipped that step."
His eyes flashed with some deep, painful emotion. "I did. But this might be as close to a real wedding as you'll ever let me have, and..." He trailed off, his gaze dipping to the ring. "I dunno. I guess I wanted to make it more real. I don’t want to put some cheap costume jewelry on your finger, Kate. Not today, not ever." He pinched the delicate ring between his way-too-big fingers, making it look comical as he offered it to me.
I bit my lip, my pulse racing, but I didn't flinch as he slid it onto my finger. It was a perfect fit. Of course it was.
"This came from my great-grandmother." Archer’s thumb stroked over the glittering diamonds as he gripped my fingers tight.
I drew a long breath, feeling the weight of his gift. This had nothing to do with today's fake wedding and everything to do with us. Just us. Archer and me... and our unconventional marriage.
"What are we calling this, then?" I wet my lips as his gaze met mine once more.
He gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Fuck if I know. I just want my family ring on your finger, Princess. Don't ask me to analyze it any more than that."
I swallowed a laugh but couldn't wipe the grin from my face. "Well, it's stunning. But—"
"I know," he cut me off with a shake of his head. "I know. When this is all over, I swear I'll personally file our divorce papers, if that's what you still want. But in the meantime..." He gave another small shrug. "In the meantime, just let a man hold out hope that you might not want that."
My brows shot up, and a rush of something surged through me. But it wasn't panic like I'd have expected. More like... I didn't even know. Excitement? Was that weird? Ugh, everything about us was weird, so be it.
"I... don't even know what to say," I finally admitted after sitting there with my eyes locked on his for way too damn long.