His whole face spread into a smile, and he cupped the back of her head before brushing his lips against hers. The feel of his mouth against hers again caused the fire inside her to go from a small and manageable one to an out-of-control wildfire. Before she could fully enjoy it though, he pulled away, his face a mask of seriousness.
“Are you positive?” Josh asked, his tone both cautious and optimistic. “You usually stay out of the media. If we do this, you won’t be able to do that. The tabloids will be all over us, Courtney. Not everyone can handle it.”
The last part of his statement had her wondering if the media had played a role in the ending of his relationship with Naomi. Other than to tell her Naomi was the mother of his daughter, Josh hadn’t given her any details about their one-time relationship.
“Trust me, I already considered that. I’ll be fine. It’s not like the media has never bothered me before.”
Josh’s smile returned, and the hand on her shoulder slipped down to her waist. “Thank you.”
He brought his mouth down on hers and pulled her in closer. Memories of him holding her close once again bombarded her, and she briefly considered inviting him to stay the night. Common sense kicked in before she could do something she might later regret. Before she allowed their relationship to become intimate again, she needed to know for certain it was what she wanted. Courtney couldn’t make a decision like that with his lips and body touching hers.
Ending their kiss, she moved her hand, which had found its way to the back of his neck, and put some much needed space between them. “We should talk about how we’re going to proceed.” She wrapped both hands around her coffee mug again. She couldn’t touch Josh if they were both occupied.
“If you agreed, Evan said he’d pick up an engagement ring for me. Since we’re going to claim I proposed weeks ago, it’ll be safer if I’m not seen by anyone shopping for a diamond ring.”
A twinge of disappointment bubble
d up at the thought of another man buying the ring. But she couldn’t argue with his reasoning. It would look odd if anyone ever found out he’d bought the ring a day or two before they went public with their relationship.
“I’ll ask him to do it tomorrow. What size ring do you wear?”
Courtney didn’t shop for clothes or purses as much as some women, but she had a weakness when it came to jewelry, especially rings. Since there was no written rule stating an engagement ring had to be a diamond, she had the perfect piece to fulfill the role.
“Don’t worry about it. I have something I can use.”
The ten-carat oval ruby surrounded by fourteen solitaire diamonds had caught her eye the previous winter during a shopping trip in Manhattan. With so many options in her collection, she didn’t wear any one piece often, so no one in her family would remember seeing it on her prior to their announcement.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Besides, this way I can start wearing it tomorrow. If Evan purchases something, it’ll need to be sized to fit me, which won’t fit with the narrative that you proposed last month.”
“Okay. I’ll ask Pauline to prepare an announcement for the media outlets. Knowing her though, she already has one done.”
“You were confident I would agree.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“She was. Honestly, I didn’t know how you’d react.”
“In the meantime, we should both contact lawyers regarding a prenup.” She didn’t have a lawyer per se, but her cousin Derek worked in one of the largest firms in the city. He should be able to either help her out or get her in contact with someone who could. “We don’t have much time to plan. If you want, I can ask my uncle Mark to marry us. He did it for Derek and Brooklyn last year.” Sometimes having an uncle who was a Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice came in handy.
“Whatever you want is fine.”
What she wanted and what they needed were not the same thing, but Josh didn’t need to know that. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” She added calling her uncle to the mental to-do list forming. “I’ll let my parents know too. Don’t have Pauline release anything until after I have told them.”
If her mom found out about the engagement from a social media post rather than from Courtney, it would devastate her. As it was, she was going to be disappointed she wouldn’t be able to help Courtney plan a big, elaborate wedding similar to her cousin’s the previous summer.
Josh nodded and picked up his coffee as she ran through their plan for any other holes or possible complications. “It’s up to you, but it might help sell this whole thing if you move in here before news of our engagement goes public.”
He drained the coffee left in his mug before he answered. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don’t have a lot with me. I’ve been staying with Evan all week. I’ll have to go up to Maine and get more clothes.”
“Or we can go together this weekend. Either way, tomorrow bring what you have at Evan’s here.” She’d never been to Bar Harbor, but she’d heard it was a beautiful seaside town. A short getaway up there could make for an enjoyable weekend. “Do you have any plans for Saturday?”
With everything else today until she mentioned the weekend, she’d forgotten about her conversation with Addie over lunch. She’d agreed to join Addie, Trent, and Addie’s brother for dinner. If the world was going to learn she and Josh were engaged this week, she better show up Saturday night with him by her side or not go at all.
“No.”
You do now. “I’m supposed to have dinner at Trent and Addie’s. There is no way I can show up alone once news of our engagement goes public. You’ll have to come with me.”
Since Addie knew about her little fling with Josh last month, she assumed Trent knew as well even though, much to her relief, he hadn’t mentioned it to her. She didn’t know if Trent had reached out and discussed it with Josh, but if he had, Addie hadn’t shared the information.