The look on her face was one I’d never forget. I had the diamond ring in the palm of my hand as she stared at me with her eyes wide and her mouth dropped pretty damn close to the floor.

“What?” she asked.

“You heard me, darlin’,” I said. “I’m asking you to marry me. To wear this ring. And I want you to come to Steph’s wedding.”

“I’m…we…”

I grinned. “I know. We just met not that long ago. But here’s the deal, Bella. You get it. You get what this all feels like. I don’t think Steph believes I’ll show up to the wedding. Or if I do, she’s expecting to see me either alone or with someone all done up to make her jealous.”

“And I won’t make her jealous?” Bella asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“I didn’t say that. But if you go to the wedding with me, wearing that ring, it’ll work. You’re beautiful, Bella. And you’re down to earth. You’re normal. And you get this.”

“All the people in this town,” she said. “And you want me to do this? Some stranger? Some woman from the side of the road.”

“Some woman who’s had her heart broken,” I said.

“I can’t do this, Zayne,” she said. “I’m not going to be used.”

She walked away. I started to go after her but stopped. I had reached the limit with her.

So I stood there and just talked. “Bella, I’d do it for you. I don’t want someone to show up with me and be fake and sloppy. I want to hit her where it hurts. Because she really did hurt me. I can’t tell anyone that, though. Not in this town. Not in St. Skin, either. They wouldn’t get it. They wouldn’t do it.”

Bella froze and slowly turned. “And then what? I’m supposed to go to a wedding with you? Your ex’s wedding? And play your fiancée? Stand with you. Hold your hand. Kiss you. Dance with you.”

“We’ve done all of that already, darlin’,” I said. “Except dancing. When I was holding you last night…”

“Zayne, don’t.”

“No, I am,” I said. “I felt something, Bella. I could feel the way you were hurting. I would never fucking do that for anyone else. You somehow managed to make me forget about sex for a few minutes. Considering you were topless and I was hard as a rock, that says something.”

Bella sighed. “What do you want me to do, Zayne? Go up to her and tell her she lost out on you?”

“That could be fun,” I said. “I want someone I trust. I trust you, Bella. You would understand it all as it happened.”

“And if she got pissed and started something?”

“It’s her wedding. Let her ruin it on her own.”

Bella swallowed hard and then bit at her finger. “No. No way, Zayne. Because what if she goes after you? Not in a fighting way. But what if she gets jealous and decides she wants you again. Huh? Then what happens? Would you do something with her on her wedding day? Because if she’s as crazy as you just said, she’d do that. Just to have the power.”

I ran a hand through my hair.

Yeah, okay, fine, maybe thoughts like that had gone through my head before. I could destroy her new marriage, just for fun. Watch her pick up the pieces later as I laughed. Just for once, I wanted to stomp on her fucking heart. Was it that wrong?

“See, you can’t even answer me, Zayne. This is insane. This whole thing is insane.”

Bella turned and walked away.

This time, I didn’t chase after her.

* * *

I knocked on my own fucking door. Yeah, it was the spare bedroom and yeah, I let Bella stay there, but it was my fucking door. And I was knocking on it. The night before, I had kicked it open as I carried her, kissing her. Later in the night, I checked on her as she slept. Now, it was like walking on eggshells.

“Are you really knocking?” she called out.

I pushed the door open. I still had the ring in my hand.

I walked to the nightstand and put the ring on it.

“It’s a lot to ask,” I said. “I’m an asshole for asking it. I’m an asshole for assuming you’d do it. I’m an asshole for feeling the way I feel. You know, the guys at St. Skin are really good guys. Cass is tied down with Diem and Paisley. River is deep in a relationship that started a long time ago. Maddox and his girl, Hazel, are always taking pictures of each other and the world around them. Prick is…well, a prick. He falls in and out of love each night and every morning. Axel’s divorced. Tate keeps it straight with his business and hits the strip clubs for pleasure. Need I go on?”

Bella just stared at me.

I pointed to the ring. “I thought I was doing right by this ring. Looking back, it was all wrong. All of it. Call me fucking crazy, darlin’, but I feel like since I bought that ring, it should be put to good use. Now, making your ex jealous and pissed off maybe isn’t a good use, but it’s better than just letting it sit in my fucking drawer. With that fucking invitation. Tempting me. Fucking with my head and my heart. I thought for a second you could see that and appreciate it. Hell, come with me and let it be your moment to show you what it’s like. We could be each other’s everything and fuck the world.”

“That’s crazy, Zayne,” she whispered.

“I know it is. I know. I just want to see it play out. I want to see if she’s really happy so I could wish her happiness and be the bigger person. Really though, I hope she wants to fuck me. So I could string her along and make her piss her wedding away. Because I’ll never touch her again. And you could be there, forgetting about your shit too. We deserve it.”

Bella didn’t respond.

I reached for my phone and tapped the screen a few times, and cheap classical music started to play. I put the phone next to the ring on the night stand and walked to Bella. I scooped her up by the waist and pulled her tight to me.

“Dance with me, darlin’,” I whispered, “so we have all the bases covered.”

She touched my shoulders.

We started to sway gently.

“I don’t think you’re really supposed to dance to classical music,” she said. “Or at least, not at a wedding.”

“Right,” I said. “Do you want me to change the song?”

“No,” she said.

“Okay.”

The swaying stopped, and we ended up just standing there. Looking at each other.

What the fuck is happening here?

I put my forehead to hers. “Bella…”

“Shut up,” she said.

Then she started to sidestep, wanting me to go with her. We went to the nightstand, and she reached for the ring. I watched as she put it between her thumb and forefinger. She lifted it up, then put her other hand to my chest and pushed away from me.

“Are you serious about this?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“So, I’m supposed to go to your ex’s wedding and pretend to be your fiancée?”

“Yeah.”

“After I crashed in your place because my car broke down…and I let you tattoo me…and I let you take me to bed where I ended up crying instead of screwing you.”

“Basically,” I said.

Bella sighed. “Okay. Let’s do it, Zayne.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Sure. Why not? I appreciate you being honest with me. I can’t get mad at that, all things considered. “

“Hey, Bella,” I said. “I need to…”

The classical music suddenly cut out. I looked at the screen and saw it was Gonzo calling.

I grabbed the phone. “I need to take this. I have something else to talk to you about, too. Just let me deal with this.”

I hurried out of the room.

Then it hit me.

For the second time in my life, I’d proposed to a woman for the wrong reason.