Page 138 of By His Vow

She could still say no. I couldn’t blame her if she does.

But until I hear her answer from her own lips, nothing more is going to be happening between us.

I want to know she’s fully in this with me before I give any more of myself to her.

Although I fear she’s already taken more than I was willing to give.

“If you say so,” she mutters.

“What about you, baby? Want to show me that you’re not a prissy princess who’s scared of getting a little dirty?”

“You’re an asshole, you do know that, right?” she snaps as she marches toward me and snatches the boots from my hand.

“I might have been told a time or two.” She scowls at me as she drops her ass to the couch and pulls the boots on.

“Let me,” I say when she begins battling with the laces.

I drop to one knee in front of her and reach for them.

The air between us turns thick, but I refuse to look up until I have her securely into her boots.

“There,” I say after tightening a double knot like a good Boy Scout before I finally lift my eyes to hers.

The second our gazes connect, she gasps.

My heart pounds against my ribs.

Since the first moment Jonathon brought this situation to my attention along with the stipulations he required, thinking about asking her to be mine hasn’t been very far from my mind.

It might be fake, but it should still be special.

We’re both going to have to remember it for the rest of our lives, so it needs to be something worthy of the memory.

Jonathan wants our union to be public. That’s why Tatum expected me to do it last night. I understand her reasoning, I really do. But despite having to follow the rules laid out for us, for once, I don’t want to make a spectacle of the whole thing.

People are watching, watching closely, and I want it to look as authentic as possible.

Sure, we’ve known each other our whole lives, but it’s fast. Really fast.

In two weeks, we’ve gone from never really being seen together to forcing our relationship into the limelight.

The skeptics are going to be all over it. And we can’t have that.

Any whiff that this is fake, and it’ll be all over.

“Ready?” I ask, barely able to force the word out before I push to my feet.

“I can’t wait,” Tatum deadpans as I turn my back on her.

“Cell phones stay here. It’s just you, me, and the great outdoors today.”

“You really do know all the things to say to a girl, huh?”

“Many would think this is romantic,” I mutter, more annoyed than I should be that she’s not seeing it that way.

“I’m sure many would say anything is romantic just to get the chance to touch your dick.”

I watch her walk toward the door and pull it open.