to Earth and snapped the lid shut.
“I hope the rings are fake.”
He cocked a brow at her.
Her stomach took a nosedive. “They’re real?”
“If we’re going to slide under the radar of a billionaire who knows the finer things in life, I can’t give you a cubic zirconia. Don’t worry—we’ll write the set off on the yearly taxes.”
She nodded. “That’s good news.” She dragged in a deep breath. “Before we do this, I’d like to know more.”
“Shoot,” he invited.
The fact Boone was suddenly willing to listen to her made her a little shy all of a sudden. She cleared her throat and fidgeted with her hair, pushing it over her shoulder. “Do I need to pretend to be in love with you during the ceremony?”
“No. This is a business deal, and the JP is a buddy of ours. He knows what we’re here for.”
“Okay.” A trickle of a sigh escaped her lips. “I wondered about Black’s wife—how exactly did she get word through the staff member? Did they phone Ross or…” Unsure how these things worked, she spread her hands, waiting for Boone’s reply.
“He received an email in the middle of the night and got the ball rolling then.”
“I see. Do I need to handle anything there—such as hacking the email and deleting it so the staff member can’t be tracked?”
He pinned her in his amber gaze. “You can do that?”
She nodded.
“Then take care of it. We don’t want any suspicions about us once we arrive at the ranch, and no fallout can land on the staff member. She might be our only link to his wife.”
She grabbed her phone.
“What are you doing?”
She gave him a look. “Texting Ross to have him forward that email so I can get to work.”
“You’ll have to dump your phone before we arrive at the ranch.”
She groaned. “I just bought this one!”
“The company will cover it.”
“Can’t I just hide it?”
“No. We’re going into this with no mistakes. Any wrong move could alert Black that his wife sought our help, and we can’t take the risk.”
She nodded. “I wasn’t thinking of that. There’s so much involved in this.”
“Probably a few things we don’t even know yet.”
Curling her fingers around her phone, she thumbed Ross a text while Boone navigated the streets of Stone Pass to the JP’s office.
When they parked, she took one look at the American flag hanging out front and her toes almost froze off, her case of cold feet was so bad.
Turning her head to Boone, she whispered, “We’re really going through with this?”
His grave expression didn’t offer an ounce of comfort to his prospective bride. But on the other hand, it assured her that he didn’t want her either. Therefore, nothing would come from this union except—with luck—a woman freed.
She dragged in a deep breath.
“Put on the ring, honey.”
She opened her mouth to blast him for calling her honey once again, and then cut herself short. If they were to pull off this hoax, they both needed to hone their acting skills, and what better time than now?
Slowly, she opened the box but jumped when it snapped again. She reached in and plucked out the engagement ring.
Hands damp, stomach wobbling, she slid it onto her ring finger. The square diamond glowed in the refractions of all the others surrounding it, and the entire piece sparkled as if a beam of bright sunshine hit it, even though a storm was coming.
“It’s too big.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know your size. I’ve never bought a woman a ring before.” His voice emitted as a hoarse rasp.
She studied his rugged, solemn features. “It’s fine. I’m ready.”
He gave her a nod and then opened his door. She climbed out too, watching Boone circle the front of the truck. He paused beside her and held out a hand.
With another dip of her stomach, she took it. The rough, dry touch of his callused palm and fingers were the exact opposite of her sweaty hand. She expected him to pull free and wipe his hand on his jeans, but he didn’t do such a thing as he led her inside.
The office smelled of furniture polish and paper. A big, broad-shouldered man was waiting for them, already dressed in his robe.
Boone released her hand to grip the JP’s. “Lexis. We can’t thank you enough for this.”
“Someday I expect to sit down together with a beer or two and you can tell me the whole story.” The man’s gaze settled on Lauralee.
Nerves kicking in even more, she shifted from foot to foot.