Wicked Heart (Starcrossed #3)(101)

“Something like that.”

“How does it work?”

“You pick a box. That’s pretty much it.”

“Huh. Sounds boring.” He gives me a smile that tells me he’s not buying my nonchalance. “Okay, I’ll take the one on the left.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so.” There’s a smugness to him that’s making me nervous. He was smug the very first time I met him, and he’s even smugger right now. Considering he changed my life all those years ago, I can’t help but wonder what the heck is going on.

“What if the one on the right contains something amazing?” he asks.

“Then you should have put it on the left ’cause that’s the one I’m choosing.”

“Don’t want to change your mind?”

“Nope.”

God, he’s bought me a car, hasn’t he? Although I have no idea why he would. I’ve lived in New York my whole life. I can’t drive.

“Okay, then.” He passes me the box on the right. “First of all, let’s see what you’re missing out on.”

I open the box. Inside is a joke check for a million dollars and a card written in Liam’s messy handwriting: Thank God you didn’t choose this box. This box sucks. Really. Out of all the boxes in the world, this one is the worst. P.S. I love you.

I look at Liam and smile. “I love you, too.”

“Good. Now, you can choose to keep that check for a million dollars, or stay with the other box.”

I laugh. “Hmmm, let me think if I should keep the bogus check.”

He says nothing and smiles. I look down at the small piece of paper. “Oh my God, Liam, this is a real check for a million dollars?! What the hell?”

“Does that change your mind about choosing the other box?”

I fan myself with the check. “No.”

“You sure about that?”

I just about scream in frustration. “Liam!”

“Okay, fine. Here.” He passes me the box. “Just remember, you turned down a million dollars for this box. I couldn’t be happier with your choice. I just hope you’ll feel the same way.”

I take a deep breath and let it out. When I lift off the lid and peer inside, my breath catches.

Oh, God.

Inside is a black velvet ring box. A very expensive-looking ring box.

I look up at Liam, and he smiles. “Take it out.”

I clasp the tiny box with trembling fingers and pull it out.

Oh my God. He bought me a ring. And knowing Liam and his generosity, it’s going to be a monster.

Okay, Elissa, just breathe. Don’t pass out when you see he’s bought you something that makes the Hope Diamond look like a Cracker Jack prize.

I take a deep breath and exhale.

I’m not prepared for this. Not even a little. It’s not that I haven’t considered marrying Liam, because I have. I still get embarrassed about how passionately I pictured myself walking down the aisle to him when I was trying on wedding dresses with Angel. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon.

Liam leans over and presses his lips against my ear. “So are you going to open that thing or just hold on to it all day?” There’s the smugness again.

I close my eyes as I open the case. When I open them, I can’t believe what I’m looking at.

“Uh . . . wow. Okay.” It’s not a ring. It’s a quarter nestled in the place where a ring should go. “I’m so confused right now. You said the box containing a million dollars sucked, but you’re happy I’ve chosen the one containing . . . twenty-five cents? Is it just that you’ve saved yourself a whole bunch of cash, or . . . ?”

Liam reaches over and takes the coin. Then he gets down on one knee and pulls another ring box from his pocket, and this one doesn’t contain a coin. It contains the most stunning engagement ring I’ve even seen. Emotion knots in my throat as he takes my hand and kisses it.

“Elissa, I love you more than anything in the world and desperately want to be your husband. I’ve wanted it for a long time. And yesterday, seeing you walk down the aisle in that church . . . I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life. I want to be yours, and for you to be mine. And even though I’m certain you want that, too, I know your sensible side will try to argue that it’s too soon. at the world’s not ready to see me committed to another woman. So, I’m going to challenge you to leave it up to fate. What can be more random than a coin toss, right? Five flips. If it comes up heads every time, you wear that ring to the fund-raiser tonight. You don’t have to make a big announcement or anything, but if anyone asks, you tell them we’re engaged. And if I lose, well then—”

I stop him with a kiss. The kind of kiss that tells him I’m not interested in flipping a coin to prove how much I love him. My love isn’t based on chance or luck. It’s a fact. Solid and irrefutable. I’ll shout it from the rooftops if that’s what he wants.

“Put that ring on my finger,” I say, holding my hand out as I pull back. “It would make me the happiest woman on the planet to be your fiancée.”

He beams at me, and I feel like my heart and my eyes are about to over flow. With the care of handling something precious, he slides the ring onto my finger. When it’s on and glinting in the light, he lets out a shaky sigh of relief.