TRAILING TRISHA - A Black Hounds Motorcycle Club Romance (The Fox and the Hounds Book #2) (7 page)

Now, it was the perfect time.

Suddenly, the music stopped playing. Even if she hadn’t been let on the secret, Trisha suspected something was up. Dante went down on one knee.

He had thought of an elaborate ruse with the restaurant staff being in on the proposal. However, his father’s proposal had been simple and to the point. He got and his knees, showed his mother the ring, and prayed for the best. He’d do the same.

“Trisha, I’ve been in love with you ever since I met you on that faithful day. You’ve been everything from a friend to a confidant… and lover. That day, I didn’t just meet you… I met a new me. I could be a better person. Someone who was optimistic and responsible instead of an adrenaline junkie running from one thrill to the next. And I want that new me to spend the rest of his life with you.”

He meant every word. It would tear his heart in two to lie to her. Would she believe it in light of the circumstances?

Trisha tried to hold back tears and utterly failed. The onlookers began softly clapping but he tuned them out. All of his thoughts were on Trisha as he continued. “Trisha, the short time we’ve been together have been as long as a lifetime to me. Trisha, when I look at you… I see the future staring back at me. A future where I spend every fiber of my being making you as happy as you’ve made me… because you deserve the best. I don’t want to spend another moment without you by my side.”

He had thrown out the proposal speech suggested to him by the company’s public relationships team straight into the garbage can. If he was going to propose to Trisha, then these words would be written by himself rather than some pretentious blue ribbon committee. They would come from his own heart.

Dante pulled out a small velveteen box from his pocket. “Trisha, I’m offering you this ring as a promise. A promise that I will keep you safe and loved. A promise that I will always be yours.”

Her eyes were wide open when he opened the box.

For the first time since he learned of his mother’s death, Dante Alastair’s voice cracked. “T-Trisha, will you marry me?”

She came down on her knees and reached out to touch his shoulder. Tears stained her face and fell upon her black dress which hid them well. Then, she brought him in for an embrace.

“Yes.”

They kissed as Dante struggled to hold onto the box. It was all of their love, pain, and sorrow given form through this one action. Soon, her tears fell upon his cheek. The ring itself was forgotten under the sheer emotion of the event.

For the first time since the day Trisha first signed the contract, Dante felt great relief.

The rest of the guests enjoyed their little show. Trisha turned flush until the others congratulated her. It’s hard to be embarrassed when everyone thought they were the luckiest couple in the room.

“It’s a replica of my mother’s ring,” he revealed to her shock. “A silver band fitted with emeralds around the rim and a diamond set on it. I’d have given you the original but your finger is a different size.”

She stared slack-jawed at the ring as if it were the Hope Diamond. “You’d have given me your mother’s ring?”

He smiled and slipped the ring onto her finger. “If it wasn’t for the size differences, it would’ve gone to good use on your hand.”

She marveled at the craftsmanship. “Thank you. The diamond alone looks like it costs a small fortune.”

“I also wanted to start from scratch to make some modifications from the original,” he continued. “I had the jeweler add emeralds to this new ring. I figure emeralds would fit you. The green reminds me of your farm.”

Her eyes narrowed as though they were a natural microscope. “Wait, what’s this on the side?”

“I also had the jeweler etch a little something on the rim.”

Trisha scanned the engravings until a smile broke out on her already jovial face. “It’s a fox and… a hound.”

“They’re lying together,” Dante replied. “I figure if they’re willing to do make peace, why can’t we?”

That got him another sloppy kiss.

The other guests clapped and hollered at the live action romantic comedy. People Dante didn’t even know offered to shake his hand. Likewise, women fawned over Trisha’s new ring and husband with obvious envy. Feeling festive, Dante told the bar he’d pay for a round of drinks. “It’s on me.”

The bartender took to it like a fish to water. “Sure thing!”

The biker smiled.

The newly engaged man forgot that this was a fake engagement. Neither of them had put a foot wrong. Perhaps, a part of them believed that the romance was real.

Their dancing certainly felt real. So did the feel of Trisha nuzzling her nose against his. There was no use thinking about their arrangement. No matter what that damn contract said, this felt real.

He was falling for Trisha Kaplan. Or Trisha Alastair after a visit to the state registry. Dante wondered how deep the rabbit hole would go.

Then he didn’t care as long as he had Trisha at his side. With her head resting on his shoulder, he whispered. “Come on, the night’s still young.”

Things were looking up for them.

They rode back in a taxi called in by the restaurant. Apparently, they were used to guests having too much to drink and needing a safe ride back. Dante’s car would be picked up by one of his employees. The taxi itself had a divider in the middle which blocked out most of the sound and gave them some degree of privacy.

Trisha gingerly touched the engagement ring as if the metal was red hot. Dante had offered to drop her off at her home in Foxtail Farms. But what newly minted fiancée went home alone after such a proposal?

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered, marveling at the diamond ring. The oversized diamond alone probably cost more than the land value of her farm. It felt strange to be wearing something that would sell for more on the market than her life’s work. “This… it’s too much for me.”

Dante thumbed over her ring finger. He touched more of her skin than the diamond ring itself. “I could always exchange it for a Ring Pop.”

Trisha raised an eyebrow. “A ring-what?”

“It’s a type of candy,” he explained after a chuckle. She must have looked like a sheltered farm girl. Well, it was true to an extent. “It’s plastic ring with a hard candy in place of the gemstone. One of my friends back in grade school swallowed the candy whole on a dare. It broke off with a piece of the plastic. He had to be rushed to a hospital. He swore off hard candy for the rest of his life.”

She laughed nervously. “I think I’ll stick with inedible rings.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself tonight,” he whispered. “I didn’t know how it would turn out… but it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? It means a lot to me to see you happy.”

She held his hand in hers. “I never thought I’d enjoy dates more than tuning up tractors.”

“And I never thought I’d be having the time of my life with someone who only drives tractors,” Dante laughed. “The other woman I’ve been with… they’re just not as fun as you. I always have to be Dante the Club President or Mr. Alastair the CEO around them.”

She wondered about Dante’s past relationships. “You mean biker babes or whatever you call them?”

“Ratchet girls, wrench heads, V8 Valkyries,” he counted off with a hand. “I dated the whole lot of them. Let me tell you, they were more interested in my motorcycle than in me. I can’t blame them. I was a pretty shallow guy back then and I had damn nice bike.”

Trisha poked him in the chest. “You’re still shallow, Mr. Alastair. Ordering burgers at the Maison Rouge? How positively Neanderthal of you.”

“And you’re the damn Mariana Trench with your taste in food,” he joked, eliciting a giggle from her. “It’s just so simple being with you.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said, her voice dropping down to a whisper. “It’s been pretty complicated with how everything’s been… staged.”

He reached up to caress her chin. “I’d take a fake relationship with emotion over a real relationship with no emotion, Trisha.”

She didn’t know whether or not is was part of the act. Trisha didn’t even care. She was tired of pretending that she didn’t enjoy being with Dante.

He kissed her shoulder.

It was rough as their previous kissing had been romantic. She felt like fox being trailed by a hound. His lips took her captive and his tongue sampled her. A hand trailed across her exposed legs.

“Trisha,” he growled, releasing her and sending a gust of warm breath against her neck. “I need you.”

His fingers traced a line across her thighs and stopped short of her panties. He went behind her backside and cupped her buttocks. The taxi driver was just a few feet in front of them but Trisha didn’t care. She wanted Dante to take her right here and and then.

Then, the car came to a stop.

The two broke apart like a pair of magnets with the same polarity. Dante’s apartment was just outside. The driver quickly went to the side door and opened it. “We’ve arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Alastair.”

Dante took her hand and placed a finger on the ring. “She’s just my fiancée for now.”

“Congratulations to the both of you,” the driver smiled. “Our service is always happy to serve!”

Trisha smiled back. At least someone was sincere about the proposal. “Thank you for the ride. Goodnight.”

Dante paid the man a sizeable tip. “Nice driving. I don’t make that comment lightly.”

The ride up the elevator was torture. Trisha knew Dante wanted to shed any pretenses of being actors in a chaste business arrangement. And shed some clothing as well while he was at it.

Dante slammed the door open before slamming it shut with even more force. Strangely enough, the layout of his apartment seemed unfamiliar and labyrinthine as he led her to his bedroom. Closing the door to his bedroom, he pressed her body against it.

She shivered like a Looney Tunes characters touching an exposed wire. “I need you too, Dante.”

Dante held his body against her like a second set of clothing. She felt his growing erection press against her abdomen as he brought her in for a kiss. Both of his hands cupped her face as if to sip water from a fountain.

His kisses were rough and hungry. There weren’t anything like their performance back at the restaurant. His hands roamed her sides like a pair of sharks encircling their victim.

Breaking off her, he demanded. “Take off your clothes.”

Part of her didn’t want to mangle the lovely provided to her by the Black Hounds. The other half simply resisted the urge to rip it off her body and launch herself at her lover. With trembling fingers, she slipped out of the black dress and let it puddle onto the floor.

Dante kicked away the dress as if it were an empty can on the street before tearing off her bra. It was as meaningless to him as a wrapper over a delicious piece of candy. With another tug, he pulled her panties down her thighs. Completely exposed, Trisha found herself lifted up and dropped onto Dante’s bed.