“That’s a two-carat, internally flawless oval cut. That baby is as pure as they come.”
Grey assessed it from every angle, admiring the way it refracted the overhead lights, taking in the color, the size, its flawlessness. He set it down.“I need a moment.” He pulled out his phone, dialed on automatic, and lifted it to his ear, casually eyeing the other patrons in the store as they peered into the jewelry cases while he waited for Louisa to answer. “Louisa. Can you come down to Fried’s for a moment? Michigan Avenue; a large, very fine store. I need your opinion on something.”
When he hung up, he smoothed his tie in place and paced the length of the store, his eyes roving the glass cases, occasionally pausing on a particularly brilliant jewel that caught his interest. Patience, Grey, it is a virtue....
His lips curled when the words popped into his head. He could be the most patient man when it came to business deals; he could take weeks, months, years, to tailor matters to his specifications, shape them just as he wanted them. But in personal matters—more exactly, in this matter—he wasn’t feeling particularly at ease. Much less patient.
The memory of them posing three nights ago, smiling for those blasted cameras,Toni’s smile so stiff on her lips—a sad, forced smile she’d placed on her face because he’d asked her to put it there . . . Grey hated it. Loathed himself for having asked her to do it. Hated forcing Toni to bend to these people. She was right; it wasn’t their fucking business. And Grey did want to tell them to screw themselves. Them and his father.
She was so brave, so spirited, a fiery creature of passion and life. . . .
She’d have rather chowed on cement than placate the press, but she had done it for him. Out of love for him.Though he’d thought it impossible to love her any more than he already had, he did. He cherished her. Adored her.Wanted to, needed to, marry her.
By the time Louisa appeared through the sliding glass doors, flushed and excited and dressed indecently like always, he was simmering with impatience. Charging across the store to lead her to his corner, he sat her down on the upholstered chair next to his and briskly lifted the tweezers up to her line of vision. “It’s a gray diamond.”
Louisa’s expression was an interesting mix of awe and confusion that looked almost painful.
“Do you think Toni would like it?” Grey pressed.
She raised stunned blue eyes to his; she didn’t seem to be breathing. “Are . . . are you going to propose?”
“This is between you and me. What happens at . . .” He gave a meaningful glance at the store logo. “Fried’s, stays at Fried’s. Until the ring is on her finger.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Do you like it?”
After a timid moment, she took the tweezers between awkward fingers, gave the stone an expeditious look, then lowered her hand. “I just don’t believe Toni ever intended to marry.”
“Nothing is set in stone.” Grey turned to the jeweler, who’d been eyeing their exchange with a benign look on his face. “And this is?”
“Two hundred seventy- five thousand.”
Louisa’s hand flew to her mouth, not quite in time to cover her gasp; then she coughed and patted her chest with the other.
“It’s a GIA certified diamond, sir.”
Pleased with this new important detail and unfazed by the price, Grey raised his hand to the jeweler’s inhumanly devoid gaze and tapped the base of his wedding finger.“Would this include it being set in a band?”
“A setting, yes. I’d suggest platinum, with white pave diamonds surrounding the central stone to bring out the color in it, and a very delicate band.”
“Could we arrange for a wire transfer to be made to the store today, Louisa?”
She was on her feet, twisting a bracelet around her wrist. “Sure, it’s—Yes, anything is possible.”
“Splendid,” the man said.
Grey drummed his fingers on the glass in a restless gesture, studying his fidgeting assistant. “How should I give it to her, do you think? The old- fashioned way, roses, dropping at her feet?”
Louisa’s sudden laugh had a raspy, unattractive quality to it. It almost sounded cynical. “Toni isn’t that old- fashioned.”
“You’re right. Hmm.” He considered his Toni in all her dimensions, caring and funny and explosive.“Something fun, maybe. Balloons and a mime?”
“A mime?”
“Something she won’t expect.” Grey smiled at his own inge niousness, his mind racing full speed. “Yes. I like that.”
Stubborn, stubborn Grey.