A dress?
She stared at him. ‘Oh, yes, of course—for the party.’
His gaze rested on her face. ‘Are you having second thoughts?’
His tone was relaxed, but there was an intensity in his grey eyes that made her heart beat faster.
‘About the party?’
‘About agreeing to marry me?’
Looking up, she shook her head. ‘No. Are you?’
Gently he reached over and, smoothing her hair back from her face, he gave her one of those sweet, extraordinary smiles that could light up a room.
‘If I could walk outside and find a registrar and a couple of witnesses, you’d be making an honest man out of me right this second!’
She burst out laughing. ‘I thought the bride was supposed to be the pushy one?’
His face grew serious. ‘I don’t want to push you into anything, Nola. Not anymore. I just want you to give me a chance—to give us a chance.’
Heart bumping into her ribs, she nodded. ‘I want that too.’ Taking a quick breath, she smiled at him. ‘So what happens next?’
There was a fraction of a pause.
‘I suppose we make it official,’ he said casually. ‘How do you feel about announcing our engagement at the party?’
Her pulse darted forward. Engagement?
But of course logically their getting engaged was the next step.
Only up until yesterday marrying Ram had been more of a hypothetical option than a solid, nuts and bolts reality. And now he wanted to announce their engagement in three days.
Three days!
Ram watched with narrowed eyes as Nola bit her lip. Taking her to the party was a statement of sorts, but announcing their engagement there would escalate and consolidate their relationship in the
most public way possible. Clearly Nola thought so too, for he could see the conflict in her eyes. Only instead of making him question his actions, her doubt and confusion only made him more determined than ever to make it happen.
But he’d learnt his lesson, and he wasn’t about to make demands or start backing her into a corner.
‘It does make sense,’ she said finally.
And it did—but that didn’t stop the feeling of dread rising up inside her. For how was everyone going to react to the news? Her heart gave a shiver. She might have finally come to terms with the idea of marrying Ram, but this was a reminder that their marriage was going to be conducted in public, with not only friends and family having an opinion but the media too.
‘What is it?’
The unexpected gentleness of his voice caught her off guard, and quickly she looked away—for how could she explain her fears to him? Ram didn’t know what it felt like to be hurt and humiliated in public, to have his failures held up and examined.
A lump filled her throat as she remembered the first time her father had let her down in front of other people. She’d been on a school trip, and he’d promised to collect her in his new car. She had been so convinced that he would pick her up, adamant that he wouldn’t forget her. In the end one of the mothers had taken pity on her and driven her home, but of course the next day at school everyone had known.
She clenched her fists. And then there was what had happened with Connor. It had been bad enough splitting up with him. To do so under the microscope of her colleagues’ curiosity and judgement had been excruciating.
Even thinking about it made her feel sick to her stomach.
She took a breath. ‘It’s just...once we tell everyone it won’t be just the two of us anymore.’
‘Yes—but, like I said, if we go to the party together then they’ll know about us anyway.’ He frowned. ‘I’m confused—I thought you wanted to get married.’