“I’m sorry,” Lynn said. “I know you mean well, but I just can’t go through with this!” she insisted. His sense of honor was amazing, his tenacity more on the order of irritating.
Russ took her hand and held it tightly. “You can, and you will. Come on.” He tugged her into the mall and down one of the wide hallways, passing by clothing stores, a toy store and a specialty chocolate shop. “There’s got to be a jewelry store in here somewhere.” He wanted his ring on Lynn’s finger before Jake and Catherine returned. Facing one of her brothers without his intentions known had been hard enough.
“I’ve been here lots of times,” Lynn insisted, “and I don’t remember one.” She finished speaking just as
they were turning a corner. Russ stopped in his tracks, and she bumped right into him. He turned, and as she stepped back, gave her a hard stare.
“Oh? So, what’s this?” he asked, his tone sarcastic. They were standing in front of a small, but well-known jewelry store. “A figment of my imagination?”
Lynn tugged on her hand. “I’m not going in there with you!” Even as she said the words, he let go of her hand, slid his arm behind her back and propelled her forward. The touch of his hand against her sent a rush of awareness throughout her entire body, zapping her resistance. Grimacing, she told herself she had to work on her self-control. She just couldn’t turn to jelly every time he touched her.
A well-dressed woman approached them as soon as they entered. “May I help you?” she asked, a polite and welcoming smile on her lips.
Russ nodded. “Yes, ma’am. We’re here to pick out an engagement ring.” Somehow Lynn had managed to disengage herself from him, and he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to him, this time holding her a little closer to keep her next to him. “This is my fiancée,” he said.
The woman’s smile turned brighter. “Oh, wonderful! Do you have any idea of the kind of ring you’re interested in? We have some beautiful diamonds, and of course, other precious stones if you’re looking for something unique.” She urged them to follow her, then she stepped behind a counter and faced them. Using a key to open it, she withdrew part of the display and placed it on the counter. An array of sparkling diamonds glistened against dark, midnight blue velvet.
Russ looked at Lynn. “Which one do you like?”
Aghast at the selection, she shook her head. “I can’t pick out one of these,” she whispered, not even daring to look at the sales associate.
“Yes, you can,” Russ replied, placing his hand on his hip. Because he wasn’t sure of her taste in diamonds, he didn’t know which one appealed to her. It would be best if she picked out her own. “Go ahead and choose,” he encouraged.
“No.” Lynn drew in a deep breath, then with forced courage, she looked at him again. “This isn’t right,” she insisted in a whisper, hoping the woman assisting them hadn’t heard her. Blood rushed through her veins, and the pressure inside her ears increased, blocking out everything around her. An engagement ring signified love and devotion, a promise of forever. Although like many other women she hoped that someday she’d wear the ring of a man who truly loved her, she didn’t feel right taking a ring from Russ.
He didn’t love her.
And she wasn’t in love with him. Not at all, she told herself. Her silent denial of her feelings for him contradicted the sudden pounding of her heart. He took her hand and lifted it, and Lynn tried to pull it back.
“Russ,” she pleaded. But she could see in his eyes that his mind was made up.
“It’s okay, honey,” he told her, drawing her closer. “I’ll help. I like this one.” He pointed to a princess-cut stone set in gold, graced with smaller triangular diamonds at its sides.
Lynn lost her breath. “That’s much too big,” she replied quickly. And would cost a fortune—money
she was sure Russ didn’t have or surely didn’t want to spend on her. She stared at the choices, her heart hammering. She didn’t want to go through with this, but she wasn’t about to embarrass them both in front of the sales associate. “I…uh…they all look so expensive,” she said in a low voice.
With a frustrated sigh, he tried again. “Okay, how about this one?” he suggested and picked up another ring, this one cut in the shape of an oval.
“Um, no, I don’t think so.”
“Okay, let’s try this from another angle,” Russ suggested, frowning as he picked up a diamond that reminded him of a football. “Try this on,” he ordered. Lynn hesitated, and he drew her hand closer. She smacked his hand away, then put it on herself, fussing under her breath.
“There. Are you satisfied? It’s too big.” She spread her fingers wide so he could see.
“Oh, if you like it, we can have it sized for you,” the sales associate quickly assured her.
Lynn immediately took the ring off and put it back in its place. “No, thank you.” She hesitantly fingered a couple of other rings, smaller stones that didn’t look like they cost more money than a prize race horse. She tried two of them on—one was too small, the other too big.
Russ picked up a round-shaped diamond with a prong setting in a shiny gold band.
“Although we sell many different shapes, that’s the most popular,” the sales associate assured him. “Do you prefer gold or platinum?” she asked Lynn.
Lynn shrugged, hesitant to reveal her thoughts. “I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Well, you should, dear. You’ll be wearing this ring for a long time.”
The woman’s words hit a nerve, and Lynn grimaced. This engagement ring also signified control—something she’d been trying to get away from. She didn’t want to be under Russ’s control anymore than she wanted to be under Jake’s.
“Try it on,” Russ suggested. Before she could stop him, he had her hand in his and was sliding the ring on her finger, slipping it over her knuckle. “It fits,” he commented thoughtfully, then looked at Lynn’s face. Her expression was hesitant and unsure, but her eyes widened, indicating that she liked the ring.
“It’s beautiful, but—”
“Could you excuse us a minute?” Russ said, speaking to the woman helping them. She nodded, putting the display of rings back inside the counter. Then she stepped away, staying close enough to keep an eye on them, but far enough to afford them some privacy.
Russ’s gaze met Lynn’s as he took both of her hands in his and faced her. Apprehension flashed in her eyes as she looked up at him, followed quickly by surprise and a little bit of wonder as she watched his expression turn serious.
“If this was real, if you were marrying someone you loved and wanted to spend a lifetime with, would you want this ring?” he asked, his tone dropping to a whisper.
“Oh, Russ, what woman wouldn’t want a ring this beautiful?” Lynn asked, staring at the brilliant diamond with open appreciation.
“Would
you,
Lynn?” he asked again, his face unreadable.
Lynn gazed at him, and her breath caught. As he pressed closer, butterflies flitted in her stomach.
This isn’t real.
“I…yes,” she answered honestly, his gaze holding hers. For a moment, they just stared at each other, neither of them speaking. The bold, reassuring look in his eyes made her knees go weak.
She gazed at the ring. Lynn had felt a rush of pleasure when he’d slipped it on her finger, and her entire body still tingled. Her lungs felt starved for air. It was ridiculous, she knew, because she didn’t want to get married, but at that moment their engagement felt real, and despite her protests about getting a ring, it felt so right on her, like it belonged there.
That scared her.
Looking back at Russ, she realized he was watching her. His touch was doing crazy things to her insides, making her think about things that weren’t possible. Making her want him to kiss her. As if reading her mind, he dipped his head, and she tilted hers in response. Her tongue slipped out and wet her lips. Just as his mouth was about to touch hers, he stopped, and she could feel his entire body stiffen.
“I don’t guess we’d better go there,” he said, pulling back, his tone serious.
“Um, no. No, we shouldn’t,” she whispered, and a let-down feeling consumed her. He was right. She knew it. The problem was, her body didn’t. She knew she should move out of his arms, but she couldn’t.
Suddenly, as if he’d read her thoughts, he let her go, and taking a deep breath, he turned away. He motioned for the woman who’d been helping them to return. “We’ll take this one,” he said, his tone rough as he spoke. “And the wedding band to match.”
“That’s a splendid choice,” she commented. “If you’ll take it off, I’ll remove the tag for you.”
Lynn started to reach for the ring but was stopped when Russ quickly grasped her hand again. “You don’t need to take it off,” he told her. It had been hard enough getting her to put on the ring. He wasn’t taking any chances on her changing her mind. Turning her hand over, he looked at the woman and said, “You can get the tag off with the ring on her finger, right?”
“Of course, sir,” she answered, looking a little confused. She carefully pushed the tiny tag through the gold string, then pulled it free. “I’ll just write this up for you.”
“Wait here. Don’t move,” Russ told Lynn. He hesitated until she nodded, then he walked away, following the woman to the register. A few minutes later he was back and they were leaving the mall.
Though Russ walked close beside her as they returned to the truck, he didn’t touch her. He couldn’t. Touching her made him want her, and he knew Lynn wasn’t his to have. She’d made that clear enough. She hadn’t wanted his ring. She didn’t want him. Sexual chemistry was all there was between them, and if he kept his distance, he could keep that under control.
He should have been feeling relieved instead of agitated. The trouble was he hadn’t expected to feel anything when he’d put his ring on her finger. He’d gone through the same ritual with his first wife, and thought his divorce had pretty much settled his feelings on marriage. But something was different about Lynn wearing his ring. She represented everything that he’d once wanted from life—everything he had since come to realize would never be his.
The ring didn’t change anything. He had to remember that, as well as he had to remember that he couldn’t go around thinking with his libido and not his brain. He’d almost kissed her back there at the jewelry store.
He’d wanted to, he couldn’t deny it. As they walked across the parking lot, all he could think about was wanting to do a lot more than kiss her. She stirred all kinds of wants up inside him, and he was having a hard time separating those wants from reality.
He opened her door for her, then got in the driver’s side and started the engine. The silence between them was almost palpable. After they were down the road a bit, he chanced a glance at her. Her shoulders were stiff, her posture reserved. Taking a deep breath, he broke the silence between them and asked if she’d like to stop and get some lunch on the way back. He knew it was foolish, but he wanted to be in her company just a little longer.
Lynn shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, if you want,” she replied, avoiding looking at him.
He nodded as he turned the truck onto the interstate. They rode in silence until he pulled up to stop at Kelly’s, the only diner in Crockett. The restaurant was in an old building, located near the post office, a favorite meeting place for the locals. The place was bustling, and Russ was glad. They would probably run into someone they knew. If they did, it would serve to cut the tension between them.
She didn’t wait for him to open her door, but got out and walked beside him to the door of the diner. As he held it open, she stepped inside, careful not to touch him. Because of the plate glass windows across the front, the place was bright and sunny despite black
tables and matching chrome and vinyl chairs. They looked almost striking against the white walls.
Russ put his hand at Lynn’s back and steered her across the black and white checkered floor toward a booth in the back. They stopped along the way and spoke to several of their neighbors and some of their acquaintances from town. Their waitress approached as they took a seat in the booth.
“Well, hi there, Russ, Lynn. How’ve you been?” Rebecca Baker asked, placing napkins and silverware in front of them. Handing each of them a menu, she grinned.
Doing her best to return Rebecca’s smile, Lynn sat back in her seat. They’d attended school together, but hadn’t seen much of each other since graduation. “Fine,” she replied, then asked, “How about you?” Realizing that the engagement ring was sitting prominently on her finger, she quickly tucked her hands under the table.
“Oh, pretty good, I guess. Heard you decided not to go to college. You been working out at the ranch?”
Lynn nodded. “Yeah. It keeps me pretty busy.”
Rebecca winked, and her gaze slid slowly over Russ. “Doesn’t look like that’s all that’s kept you busy,” she commented with a meaningful look.
Lynn’s mouth fell open. Before she could speak, Russ leaned forward and pointed at the menu, giving Rebecca his order for lunch.
“I’d like some iced tea with that, please.” He didn’t miss the way Lynn went to great lengths to hide her engagement ring, like she was ashamed of it, ashamed of him.
Rebecca scribbled on the pad in her hand. “How about you, Lynn?”
“Um, I’ll have the same,” she replied quickly, just wanting to get rid of her friend. Seeing a high school friend and discussing college made her uncomfortable. She hated any reminder that made her look young in Russ’s eyes.
The waitress walked away, and Lynn sucked in a deep breath. “She couldn’t possibly know,” she stated, alluding to Rebecca’s innuendo. “There’s no way.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to reassure, herself or Russ.
“Anything’s possible,” Russ told her, his tone gruff. “News spreads quickly, rumors twice as fast.”
Lynn shook her head and whispered, “No one in here knows. If they did, if they had any idea we’re engaged, they would have mentioned it. I think Rebecca was just guessing.”
“Could be,” he agreed, wondering himself.
The waitress returned a few minutes later with their order. Because the diner was getting busier, she didn’t stop to chat this time, and Lynn was relieved. She and Russ ate their burgers and fries mostly in silence, though they did talk about the work waiting back at the ranch. As Lynn finished eating, she looked around for Rebecca, impatient for their bill so they could leave.