“All right, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
“One more thing,” he said and took her hand, pulling her from the room. He walked her down the hall to his room and spread his arms wide. “Before the end of the day, I want you to officially move into my room.”
She leapt into his arms, covering him with kisses. “I think I can manage that.”
Natalie crackedher knuckles as they climbed out of the truck.
“Well, on the bright side, I actually think you’re handling vehicles better,” Vincent mused beside her. “You don’t look like you’re about to vomit this time.”
“That’s good. It’d be a real shame to lose those pancakes. What did you use to make them, by the way?” she asked, trying to get her mind off the roiling in her stomach.
“The mix in the pantry. Why?”
“Just curious. Maybe sometime soon, I’ll show you how to make them from scratch.”
He pinched her rear and she jumped, smacking his arm teasingly. “Not all of us can learn how to cook in a day.” He linked his fingers through hers, and she melted into his side. “Time to find you a ring, Mrs. Cunningham.”
They were buzzed inside, and Natalie pinned her arms to the side. The rings were beautiful beyond any she’d seen in the department stores. She was terrified of simply touching the cases and having to pay thousands of dollars.
“Mr. Cunningham, welcome back,” a woman behind the counter said. “And this must be your wife. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Thanks,” Natalie said shyly and held out her hand. The woman shook it.
“I’m glad to see you found time to come back for the official ring. Tell me, Mrs. Cunningham, what type of stone are you after?”
She glanced at Vincent, but he shrugged. “Your choice.”
She shifted from foot to foot and leaned in close. “What about price?” she whispered.
“Natalie, you do remember who you married, right?” he replied just as quietly. “Indulge yourself, please.”
The woman behind the counter nodded in agreement. The diamond ring he presented her at the wedding had been pretty, but she was not a diamond girl. She paced from one case to the next, eyeing the sparkling stones beneath the bright lights of the cases while her hands fidgeted at her sides. What stone? Vincent remained a few steps behind her, his hands in his pockets and a subtle lift to his lips. The flowers he brought her the other day were all oranges and pink, like the phoenix on her back and the fire that used to fill her spirit before a real fire tried to snatch it away.
Her hand rested on a case holding stones of white gold rings with citrine and ruby stones adorning their bands. One of the rings towards the back drew her eye and she pointed to it.
“You’re sure?” the woman asked.
“Yes, definitely sure,” Natalie said.
The woman unlocked the case, and after laying out a small piece of felt, she set the ring down. The rubies and citrine twisted around the band in a swirl of fiery color, igniting the spirit of who she was. The stones were that of a faraway burning sun and the flames of a phoenix, two things Natalie held dear to her heart. She slipped the ring on her finger and held it up before her gaze.
“What do you think?” she asked Vincent, looking over her shoulder.
“I think you couldn’t have chosen a better ring.”
“If we can measure your finger, we’ll have the order placed.”
Natalie removed the ring carefully and handed it back to the woman before she went through several ring sizes to find her perfect fit. Vincent took care of the order, ensuring Natalie had no knowledge of how much the ring cost. He whispered something to the woman at the end, and she appeared to add something to the order.
“What are you up to?” she asked as they left the jewelers.
“Just a little something extra, is all. And I have one more surprise for you. If you think you can handle a two-hour car ride, I would like to take you away on a mini honeymoon at my ranch. Not this weekend, but the next. What do you say?”
Two hours, in a car? Natalie gulped as her hands shook. “Two hours?”
“Away from the city, away from everyone,” he whispered. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do,” she said without hesitation. Fear gripped her like a vice. He brushed the back of his knuckles against her cheek, and Natalie’s heart pounded quicker for a very different reason. “We’ll be all alone? As in completely and utterly alone?”
“Yes, and there are quite a few things I’d like to show you once we’re there.”
Nibbling her tongue as she regained control of her trembling body, she winked. “Maybe there are a few things I’d like to show you, too.”
His gaze darkened and his hands tightened around her hips. “Later then. Lunch first would be a good idea.”
“Oh, yes please. I need to gain back my ten pounds.”
He huffed, rolling his eyes as she giggled, linking her arm through his. A few people stopped and talked to him as they strolled through downtown Houston, but thankfully, a large crowd of reporters never swarmed them. He told her, once they reached the restaurant for lunch, that type of crowd was normal. Once the campaign picked up steam, it would only get worse. Natalie had learned to hate being in public, but with Vincent by her side, it was easier to breathe through the situation and keep a smile on her face, even if she was quietly screaming inside at the curious gazes. Her name was out there. Any one of those damn reporters could look up her accident. Thankfully, Billy had managed to hold off on any in-depth interviews with the hopeful Congressman and his wife so far, but he warned her that eventually, they would want the scoop.
She’d brought up her fear to Vincent last night as they lay in her bed, half-asleep, about someone tracking down her family. She admitted she hadn’t told her parents she was married yet, but he said Billy was handling everything at the moment.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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