have a few in settings so you can get a feel for some of the designs. We, of course, are happy to put you in touch with designers should you so choose.”
The proprietor separated out a few loose stones on a small velvet square, then added some rings in settings. He selected one and held it out to her. “Please. Try it on. I find brides have a better sense of what they’re looking for once they’ve seen the ring on their hand.”
Bride.
The word stuck in her mind, derailing every other thought with a heavy thud.
“Here, darling. Let me help you.” Jack reached for her hand, giving it a light squeeze before taking the ring from the proprietor.
The ring slid on, the fit perfect, and before she knew it, she had a six-carat diamond engagement ring winking off her left hand. “It’s beautiful.”
“No. You’re beautiful. The ring dims in comparison.”
A tight knot gripped her throat before her gaze slid to Jack’s. That knot only tightened when she saw something haunting and serious in those dark depths. She glanced down at her hand once more before the moment could completely overwhelm her.
And was blindsided by a memory.
Even though it had been more than fifteen years, Kensington could still see her mother’s diamond as it sparkled from her left hand. Although not as large as this one, she and her sister, Rowan, had always been fascinated by the ring and often begged to be allowed to try it on.
“Someday I’ll have a ring like this.” She held her hand up to the light, the heavy diamond sliding toward her pinky because the ring was so loose. “And a big wedding at the Plaza, with Daddy walking me down the aisle.”
Her mother’s smile was soft and gentle. “What about the young man?”
“What young man?”
“The one you’re going to marry.”
“What about him?”
“You seem to have a pretty good idea of what the wedding will be like. What do you think he’ll be like?”
“I don’t know.” Kensington hadn’t been able to hold back a small giggle. “I haven’t gotten that far yet. I always get lost thinking about the wedding.”
“Let me give you a suggestion, then, heart of my heart.” Her mother had reached for her hands and Kensington could feel the slight weight of the ring where it pressed into her the side of her fingers. “Marry for love.”
“But that’s what I’m talking about. Getting married.”
A warm smile had filled her mother’s face and for the briefest moment Kensington held her breath.
Like her mother was going to share something important.
“The wedding is a wonderful beginning, but that’s all it is. A beginning. The marriage will be yours for life. It will be what you make of it.”
“I certainly hope it’s not full of smelly boys like Liam and Campbell.”
Her mother had laughed at that before pulling her close in a tight hug. “I promise you. When the children are your boys, you’ll feel entirely differently.”
Her mother then pressed a kiss to her head and Kensington had reveled in the quiet moment, just the two of them. She loved her family—even the smelly boys despite her protests—but with three other siblings it was rare to get one-on-one time with either of her parents.
She’d pulled back with a start. “How will I know I’m in love?”
“That’s the great mystery that no one can explain until it happens.”
“What mystery?”
“That even if it seems impossible to imagine, one day you’ll meet the right person and you’ll just know.”
Kensington pulled herself from the memory—one she’d not had in years—as Jack smiled down at her. “What do you think?”
“It’s too much.”
And she knew her words were about far more than the ring.
* * *
Jack squeezed Kensington’s hand once more and hoped the gentle reassurance would ensure she stayed with him and in character. They had to see this through and the only way to do that was to keep up appearances. “It’s not too much.”
He turned toward the shop owner, pleased to see the calculation behind the man’s calm gaze. The guy knew a buyer when he saw one.
After a small cough the proprietor gestured to the velvet square on the table. “Perhaps we can look at some of the diamonds, and then we can return to the question of which setting is ideal.”
Kensington slipped the ring off and laid it on the velvet square. “By all means.”
The owner busied himself with the loose diamonds he’d laid out earlier, displaying them in a single row on the black velvet. Jack marveled how something so small could command such a premium. Even at six carats, the relative size of each diamond was tiny.
Yet despite their size, wars were fought over them and funded by them. Rulers had gone to battle to possess them. Thieves made their lives—or lost them—stealing them.
Gemstones were man’s folly. Beautiful baubles that often owned the possessor’s soul far more than the possessor owned them.
It made Kensington’s reaction to the ring that much more interesting. She appreciated the ring; that was evident. But where most women would be preening under the charade, he sensed a distinct discomfort at the extravagance of the piece.
The jeweler extended a loupe and Jack leaned forward to inspect one of the loose stones. He listened intently as the jeweler described various properties before handing the loupe to Kensington. Their fingers brushed, and Jack held his hand against hers a moment longer than necessary.
The woman was intoxicating.
He’d heard of her, of course. Although the House of Steele hadn’t been in business all that long, the Steele siblings had created quite a name for themselves and their family enterprise. Add on that the family name was well-known to begin with and it had been easy to find out more about the delectable Kensington Steele after their first encounter about a year ago.
She was cool, yet he wouldn’t go so far as to say icy. Rather, she had a calm, stoic demeanor that didn’t ruffle easily. That she’d shown even the slightest stammer over the ring was out of character.
And it gave him a tiny bit of hope things truly weren’t one-sided between them.
Which, Jack had to admit, was a rather large change. He’d spent the first thirty-five years of his life diligently avoiding romantic entanglements, so the fact that he was even toying with this strange attraction to the woman was more than a bit unsettling.
“What do you think, Mr. Andrews?”
Jack pulled his errant thoughts off of the soft sweep of hair that fell over Kensington’s shoulder and the graceful arch of her neck and turned to face the jeweler once more. “I think it’s time for Ms. Steele to decide.”
Her head snapped up from where she viewed one of the diamonds. “Jack. Are you sure? We just started this process.”
“When you know, you know.”
“But—”
He smiled and tapped on the counter. “Please, darling. You’ve already made me the happiest man on earth. Now select something that makes you happy.”
He didn’t miss the ever-so-slight raise of her eyebrow, or the hard glint in her crystal-blue gaze, but to her credit, she gave nothing else away.
“I like this one.” She pointed to a stone on the edge of the velvet. “It’s magnificent.”