A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(41)

She looked up at the sound of laughter and watched Garrett and Milo perusing the men's section. Garrett wanted to pick something up for his mom's birthday so he tagged along with Parker and Milo while they shopped for wedding bands.

Parker sighed and looked back down at all of the plain bands. She didn't want plain. She wanted something that was more her. Parker made her way down the case, stopping suddenly when something caught her eyes.

It had diamonds and sapphires, her favorite gem and favorite color, all wrapped up in one ring. It was beautiful and simple at the same time without being extravagant or flashy.

Sapphire had always been her favorite color because it reminded her of the color of her mother's eyes. This was it. This was her ring.

"It's beautiful." Garrett’s voice spoke from over her shoulder as he looked down into the case with her.

Parker's fingertips traced the glass over the case that housed the ring.

"It's definitely you. You're not a plain wedding band kind of girl," he told her.

Milo walked over to her other side at that moment to see what she was looking at.

"That one?" he had asked in surprise, pointing to her ring. "I think that's a bit much, don't you? And who gets blue stones on a wedding band? Come on, babe, I found some plain silver ones over here. And they're on sale."



The memory faded from Parker's mind as she blinked back tears.

"Garrett...this is..."

Garrett looked away, unable to handle the emotion in her eyes. He should have just stuck with the plain silver bands he got from Risner, but it didn't feel right.

Garrett turned from her gaze and held out his elbow for her to take.

"It's nothing, Parker. This has to look real, remember? No one would ever mistake you for plain,” he said softly.

Garrett felt uncomfortable under Parker’s scrutiny and the intense look on her face. He needed to do something to lighten the situation before it got uncomfortable.

“And besides, I don’t want them thinking I’m a cheap bastard," he said with his usual smirk.

Parker slid her hand around Garrett's elbow as they made their way up the gradual staircase leading to the doors of the palace.

She couldn't help but wonder if this ring held more meaning for him than just trying to make their fake marriage more believable.





Chapter Ten



Garrett was mentally kicking himself for pulling that ring out of his pocket and slipping it on Parker’s finger at the last minute. He’d felt the plain silver band in his left pocket as he looked down at Parker standing there under the moonlight, looking more beautiful than ever, and he just couldn’t bear to put that plain, meaningless ring on her finger.

Instead, he’d quickly reached into the opposite pocket and pulled out the sparkling diamond and sapphire band he carried with him wherever he went ever since the day he bought it over a year ago. The same ring that made Parker get a dreamy, romantic look in her eyes that day in the jewelry store.

Garrett had bought that ring to give to his mother for her birthday. At least that was what he kept telling himself when he returned to the store by himself the next day and purchased it. He never ended up giving the ring to his mother. The only jewelry she ever wore was her wedding ring and she’d hinted that a plane ticket for her to come out and visit him would make her very happy. So Garrett bought her the ticket and kept the ring with him wherever he went over the last year, pulling it out of his pocket to stare at it and remind himself what a fool he was.

Garrett and Parker reached the top of the palace stairs and had to stop for another security check. The guards ghosted metal detector wands all around them and once satisfied, they bid them a good evening and Parker and Garrett walked through the palace doors.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t bring my gun,” Parker whispered with a laugh, her lips grazing Garrett's earlobe causing him to shiver.

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have been able to find a hiding place wearing that dress.”

Garrett’s eyes raked over her body and Parker’s heart sped up as she watched him absentmindedly lick his lips.

As they entered the lobby and got in the receiving line to greet President Fernandez and his wife, Parker leaned her body against Garrett’s and held her lips close to his ear again.

“You’d be surprised the places I can hide a gun, Garrett. A garter placed high up on my leg with the gun secured inside of my thigh is a great spot,” she whispered before turning away from him to greet someone from Fernandez’s administration.

As Garrett walked behind Parker, he watched her turn, smile, and socialize with the Chief of Staff. She introduced him as her husband and a natural smile lit up his face. Garrett’s eyes roamed over Parker’s back side while she was busy talking and zeroed in on the slit up the side of her dress that showed off one perfectly toned leg. Garrett imagined a translucent, red lace garter hugging her thigh and his tongue snaking out to lick the skin above it. He thought about sliding his hand up the inside of her thigh and removing the Glock she most likely carried under normal circumstances from the elastic holding it in place and sliding the cool metal down the length of her leg.

Parker played her part, wondering why Garrett was so quiet next to her. She introduced herself and her “husband” and explained who they were and what news station they worked for. As they made their way down the receiving line, Parker couldn’t help but glance down every few seconds at the ring on her left hand. Garrett brushed it off as no big deal, but Parker knew better. She knew his CO would have given Garrett wedding bands for them to use on this mission and those bands would have been generic and plain.