“Give me your left hand,” Raphael says once the car is parked in front of my apartment building.

I put my hand on Raphael’s. After all day at the wedding, physical touch with him feels natural now, and I even miss it when we’re not touching.

Raphael has big, warm, masculine hands that make mine look tiny. In fact, everything about him makes me feel like he could either protect me or ruin me with the sheer power contained within that sculpted body. I just want to curl up against him and feel his strong arms around me.

Holy shit, maybe that’s why McClaw ended up on his lap the other day.

Raphael takes out something small from the pocket of his suit jacket. It glints under the yellow street lights, but I can’t tell what it is until he slips it onto my ring finger.

I look up at him with surprise.

“This is…”

“It’s an engagement ring,” he says casually, as if it’s normal to take your tenant out on a one date and put a wedding ring on her finger at the end of the night.

“And you’re putting it on my finger because…?”

“Oh, my family expects me to propose tonight, so now you’re supposed to be my fiancée. Since you’ll be seeing them next week at my parents’ anniversary, it’s best if you always wear the ring from now on, just in case you bump into them somewhere,” he explains.

“I don’t remember you telling me anything about being engaged,” I protest.

“Oh, I didn’t?”

“You just said to go to two events with you.”

“Well, you can keep the ring,” he says with a grin as he keeps holding my hand in his. “How about that?”

He doesn’t have to say that twice for me to nod and say yes. The ring is beautiful, with a big round diamond in the middle that must cost, like, a gazillion dollars.

I wish I could keep it, but that wouldn’t be wise or practical. Maybe I’ll sell it and use the money to pay off my student loan. Or maybe I’ll save the family home from foreclosure.

“I’ll pick you up in the morning next week, then. Pack an overnight bag,” Raphael says with a mischievous grin.

“An overnight bag?” I frown. Yet another surprise. “Are we actually going to stay the night?”

“Oh, I didn’t mention that either?”

“I would’ve remembered if you did.”

“Sorry,” he says. “You don’t mind, do you? If it’s too much for you, we can call off the whole thing. I’ll let you stay for free for one month because you’ve gone to the wedding.”

“No, I’ll do it,” I say quickly. I like living in my cozy little studio.

“Good.” The way Raphael looks at me makes me want to hide and get closer at the same time. I feel like he’s playing with me like a cat playing with his food, and yet I can’t stay away. I want to see what else he has in store for me.

Also, I have to admit, having his hand on my waist has resulted in my panties getting soaked by my own wetness. I’m being such a virgin and it’s embarrassing.

Luckily for me, Raphael’s not going to find out, although I’m starting to wonder if that’s a good thing. Obviously, a part of me wants more of whatever he’s doing to me.

“Aren’t you going to invite your fiancé up?” Raphael asks, his green eyes glinting wickedly in the dark.

I laugh nervously as I open the car door. “See you next week, Rafe.”

“Okay. Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He shrugs. “Hey, another thing. The dress code is commando, so you’re not supposed to wear any underwear.”

“At your parents’ anniversary?” I grin at him as I close the car door. “Nice try, but I’m not going to fall for that.”

“Damn it,” Raphael curses playfully. “Well, good night, princess.”

My heart swells when he calls me that. It’s stupid, I know, but I do feel like a princess today, after the luxurious wedding, the ride in Raphael’s convertible, and the diamond ring.

“Good night, Rafe.”

I turn around and walk up the sidewalk to the main door of the apartment. Raphael’s car doesn’t leave until I’m safe inside the building.

It’s been a magical night. He has set the bar pretty high for a date. I don’t know if my future real dates can ever measure up to this fake one.

* * *

We’re somewhere near the shore, but the area is not familiar to me. Not surprising, since I’ve never been to most places not served by public transport.

Raphael grabs my large nylon tote bag from the back seat before I can touch it. He carries it and his own duffel bag easily with one hand.

“Where are we staying?” I ask. I don’t see anything that looks remotely like a hotel around here. In fact, the place looks more industrial than anything.

“You’ll see,” Raphael says with a secretive smile. “I’m glad you chose to wear a skirt today, by the way.”

“It just seems like the kind of thing a girlfriend would want to wear to meet the family,” I say. At least that’s what the articles online tell me, which is why I’m wearing a flowy A-line floral skirt instead of my usual skinny jeans.

But I keep that bit of information to myself. There’s no need to let Raphael know how nervous I am about this, and how much Googling I’ve done over the past few days.

“You mean a fiancée,” he says.

“Yeah.”

My jaw drops when we come to a clearing right by the water. There’s a big square area paved with concrete. On top of it is a helicopter.

Upon seeing us approach, some guys wearing black polo shirts beckon and point at the helicopter, I assume telling us to get in?

“Uh, Rafe?” I call out.

“Yeah.” He sounds amused. I know he’s staring at me now, watching my reaction.

“We’re getting on that?” I point at the big chunk of metal that has so far in my life been either a prop on some TV show or a thing flying high above me in the sky. I’ve never even seen a helicopter up close, much less used one as a mode of transport. “Where are we going, exactly?” I ask, suddenly realizing I haven’t heard any details about the venue. “We’re not leaving the country, are we?”

“No, princess.” Raphael laughs. “I would’ve asked you to bring your passport if we were. Besides, there’s not enough fuel in there to take us to Mexico, which is the closest foreign country from here.”

A thrill runs down my spine as I hear him call me princess again.

“And now you’ll see why I like seeing you in that skirt,” he says, wearing a naughty grin on his handsome face.

The helicopter engine roars to life and fills the air with the whirring of its wings. It wipes out all other sounds, until I can’t even say anything to Raphael.

I’m too busy holding down my skirt anyway. It’s annoying, but I also feel kind of glamorous. It’s like Marilyn Monroe’s classic pose.

Raphael holds out his hand to help me get into the helicopter. I’m glad he’s carrying my bag for me, because between holding on to him and keeping my skirt down, I’ve run out of hands.

Soon, the chopper floats up into the air, and I watch through the window as San Francisco grows smaller and smaller, until it looks like a toy city inside a display case at Toys ‘R Us.

I still don’t know where we’re going. And considering how loud the chopper is, it’s not like I can just ask. All I can do is look down as we get further and further away from the shore.

It occurs to me that I’m completely at Raphael’s mercy now. He can take me anywhere and nobody would be able to find me.

Nobody even knows where I’m going. All Carly knows is I have a date, and Dad knows absolutely nothing about my life. Nobody’s going to come find me if I go missing. I’m only realizing now how stupid I’ve been.

Still, I’m sure I’ll be fine. Raphael seems like a good person…right? He doesn’t strike me as the kidnapping type.

It takes about fifteen minutes for us to reach a small island. From above, I can see some tiny houses in the middle of the island, but they grow bigger and bigger as we get closer, until I can’t quite believe structures this big could exist in such a remote, isolated place.

We get off the helicopter, and Raphael leads me toward the buildings at the center of the island. He syncs his pace with mine and leans closer. He says, “I like that skirt. Too bad you didn’t take my recommendation about going commando.”

I blush, embarrassed and excited at the same time. So I guess I flashed him my panties after all.

It’s not that I’ve never been at the receiving end of male attention. I’ve just never felt this way about it before.

With other men, their lines just creep me out. With Raphael, though… I don’t know. The things he says send tingles all over my body. It’s almost like he’s touching me with just his words. And I like it.

We stand at the door to one of the buildings, which I now see are some kind of holiday villas. I can hear the murmur of conversation inside, as well as some childish shrieking.

Raphael winks at me and pushes the door open.