“We should probably head back,” he said as they’d shared ice cream cones in a little shop down the street. “I’d like to get you to my security again, as soon as possible.”
Adelie licked the tip of her vanilla cone. Get back didn’t mean to their hotel. He meant returning to Vermont. “What does that mean? Did Ruby say something to you?”
His smile seemed too forced. “No, it’s just that I don’t think we should stay too much longer. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Being in Paris? This had been the best trip of her life. It didn’t hurt that Maddox continued stealing kisses on street corners and bridges.
Maddox tipped his ice cream toward her. “That’s just it. We don’t know, so we’d better head back.”
Later, while back in their room, he spent some time on the phone with someone named Rosabel, whom Adelie discovered was Duncan’s assistant who’d arranged their trip in the first place. From the sound of things, they were set to depart for Vermont the following day.
Maddox ended the call and turned to face her.
“Leaving so soon?” Adelie added a pout for good measure.
Amused, Maddox scooped her into his arms. “I think I’d stay here with you longer if we could. You should know I think Ruby has something up her sleeve. I’d rather be on home base, to have you within my security’s protection in case of whatever it is.”
“You can’t think she’d actually do anything to me.” Adelie’s dismay was genuine. He’d called Ruby territorial. Would Ruby come at Adelie physically?
“No, not to you personally. It’s just that, she implied…”
“Implied what?”
His brow pinched. “Nothing. It may not even happen. But there is one thing I’d like to do before we leave Paris.”
“Oh?” Her thoughts tangled into knots. So many possibilities could fit that particular description.
He wove his fingers through hers and gave her an endearing grin. “Yes. Get your shoes on, Mrs. Hatter. We’re going for a walk.”
***
Maddox talked easily of memories of his first visit to Paris with his family as a teen, and of the time he’d eaten ice cream on the bridge while they’d waited for the sun to set and the Eiffel Tower to flare to life.
“Where are we going?” Adelie asked, completely flummoxed and dying of anticipation. She had to know what he had up his sleeve.
“You’ll see.”
They rounded a corner to a row of picturesque shops. Adelie wasn’t sure she’d ever acclimate to the architecture in this city. Haussmanian stone buildings with wrought-iron railings and stained glass seemed like the epitome of class, and they were everywhere.
“Here we go.” Maddox gestured to a store bearing the title Chez Mercier Bijoux. Tall glass windows displayed delicate, sparkling necklaces on dainty stands, set off by black velvet. So much sparkle in one window almost put the Eiffel Tower to shame. Almost.
“A jewelry store? What are we doing here?”
Maddox smirked. Pinning his gaze on hers, he lifted her left hand and kissed a certain, bare finger. “I just wanted to make our marriage official. I didn’t ever give you a ring.”
Adelie’s hand lingered in his. He couldn’t be serious. “Maddox, that means—you know what a ring means, right?”
“Commitment,” he said. “I know this marriage of ours has been completely backward and inside out from the start, but I’m of the opinion it’s never too late to set things right. I’d like you to feel secure about me, in case…”
“In case what?”
A thought bothered him. He shook it away and smiled. “Nothing. I just want you to have a ring. You deserve a ring.”
Adelie stared, flabbergasted. Was he serious?
She didn’t voice the question aloud, and he didn’t answer with words. Instead, he brought his lips to hers, spearing heat all the way through the empty spaces inside of her. The gleam in his eyes said more than anything he ever could. How could he look at her like that? Like she was the only woman who’d ever existed?
“What do you say?” he said, his voice low.
She managed to find her voice. “Yes. I’d love a ring from you.”
He kissed her once more and opened the door.
The displays were blinding. Adelie examined each carefully, receiving gentle nudges and tickling strokes from Maddox whenever he caught her staring too long at anything but him.
She didn’t want anything too gaudy. Just something simple and perfect, unassuming and plain, the way she wanted to be viewed. Maddox tried to talk her into a larger carat, but she insisted on something small. She was the one who’d be wearing it, after all. Not him.
“This one,” she finally said, admiring its fit on her hand. It was a thin, white-gold band, accented by a square diamond and paired with a diamond-plaited wedding band so it looked as though she wore two rings with one jewel.
“It’s perfect,” Maddox said as the jeweler took it to the back to be sized to her slim fingers. Adelie was thrilled when Maddox agreed on wearing the corresponding men’s band.
The next day, after they retrieved the rings, Maddox slid hers onto her finger. With the new addition, her hand seemed to make its way out in front of her everywhere she went. She admired its gleam as she took in the sight of her hand twined with Maddox’s in the car on the way to the airport. She admired it on his plane as they shared kisses on the luxurious leather couch and eventually fell asleep together for the long flight home. And she admired it after they made it back to Vermont and through Maddox’s security to his generously sized home.
Somehow, the ring made things that much more secure for her. He wouldn’t have bought one for her—and for himself—if he didn’t want this relationship of theirs to remain as it was.
She still felt uncertain and wanted things out in the open. She wanted to know exactly how he felt. Exactly how long he wanted to
