Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club, #1)(37)

And then Shepherd did a terrible thing. He smiled. That genuine, beautiful smile that showed his perfect teeth and puckered his adorable dimples. It squeezed my heart—hard. Made my traitorous body light up with little sparks and tingles. It was like a window into the real Shepherd, the man he kept hidden on the inside.

I liked that man. A lot. Far too much for my own good.

A woman with curly dark hair wearing a stylish pinstripe pantsuit and deep burgundy lipstick walked over, holding out her hand. “You must be Mr. Calloway. Welcome.”

Her presence broke me from my trance. He’d made an appointment? He’d actually planned this.

“This is Everly.” Shepherd’s hand moved from my elbow across my back, to slide around my waist.

“Lovely to meet you, Everly, and congratulations on your engagement. I’m Shauna. If you’ll follow me, please?”

Shepherd’s hand on the small of my back was oddly reassuring as we followed Shauna past the glittering display cases and through a door. I glanced back, wondering why we weren’t going to look through their selection. We’d passed dozens of engagement rings, if not more.

The room was the same soft beige, but the niches in the walls had some of the most opulent—and no doubt expensive—jewels I’d ever seen. A dark wood desk sat near the back wall, the shelves behind it decorated with exotic sculptures and a few pieces of jewelry in glass cases.

Shepherd pulled out a chair for me and we both sat on one side of the desk while Shauna took the other.

“I have some beautiful options for you.” Shauna lifted a black cloth, revealing a variety of diamond rings held in a velvet tray. “We have many more to choose from, so if none of these speak to you, I’ll be happy to show you more. But this should get you started.”

Of course—a private showing. That’s exactly how Shepherd would do this. I could feel his eyes on me, rather than the rings, as I gazed at the selection. One on the end instantly caught my eye. The band was rose gold, and it was much smaller than the rest, with a center stone surrounded by a halo of little diamonds.

“It looks like you’re drawn to this one.” Shauna plucked the ring off the tray and held it up. “Would you like to try it on?”

“Please.” I held up my hand and she slipped the ring on my finger.

For a heartbeat, it felt like the stars all aligned, triumphant music played in the distance, and a beam of sunlight cut straight through the building to shine on my outstretched hand. It was perfect. The engagement ring of my dreams.

My heart squeezed again. I would have loved a ring like this. It was exactly what I’d always envisioned.

But I couldn’t use it. I’d ruin it forever if I got fake-engaged with this ring. Not that I thought my someday-fiancé would buy this exact ring. But I was afraid I’d never be able to wear one like it if I wore one now, when this was all just for show.

“Hmm, I don’t know.” I took it off and handed it back to Shauna. “Maybe I should try a few more.”

“How about I let you two peruse in private.” She rose from her seat. “I’ll come check on you in a little while. In the meantime, if you have any questions, or would like to see something else, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you,” I said, and Shepherd nodded to her.

Shauna left and I let out a long exhale. “This is so overwhelming.”

“It seemed as if you liked that one.” Shepherd gestured to the ring I’d tried on.

“I don’t just like it. I love it.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I lowered my voice, almost to a whisper, although no one was here. “I can’t use my dream ring for a fake engagement.”

Shepherd regarded me through narrowed eyes for a long moment before speaking. “All right. Do you want to know which one I think we should choose?”

“I do, actually.”

The ring he picked up from the tray was a simple solitaire—a platinum band with a single setting. But the simplicity ended there. The diamond was enormous. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a diamond so large in person before.

“That?”

“Here.” He motioned for me to give him my hand, so I let him slide the ring on my finger.

I held out my hand, fingers splayed, the giant rock glittering. I was surprised it didn’t bend the light and cast rainbows all over the room. “This one?”

“We’ll choose the diamond separately,” he said. “So if you think it should be larger, that’s not a problem.”

“Larger? Are you joking?” I moved my hand closer to his face. “I can hardly lift this thing.”

He laughed softly and there went another heart-squeeze. “It’s not that big.”

“Yes, it is. How do people function with rings this size? It’ll get caught on everything.”

“It’s what Shepherd Calloway would buy his fiancée,” he said, his voice nonchalant. “And it’ll make Svetlana insane.”

“You evil man.” I couldn’t help but grin at him. “You’re right, this would make her crazy with jealousy. It’s exactly what she’d want.”

“She’ll probably hope it’ll give my dad ideas.” He winced.

I held out my hand, looking at the monstrosity that was going to be my fake-engagement ring. “No, regardless of your dad’s perceived wealth, that’s not her goal. She wants you.”