Jared's Counterfeit Fiancee - Brenda Jackson [22]
He chuckled as he shifted his gaze from her to stare straight ahead. “I’m an attorney, remember. My job is to be able to convince people.”
A grin spread over her face. “Yes, you’re right. Sorry, I forgot.” She was quiet for a few moments then said, “It was for the best anyway.”
He lifted a brow. “What was?”
“Getting a different ring. That article in the newspaper this morning has my office buzzing and of course everyone wanted to see my ring. It didn’t occur to me that had I kept Luther’s ring they would have remembered it.”
Jared blew out a breath. That hadn’t occurred to him, either. “What did you tell them?”
“That it was being sized.”
He nodded. “Sorry you were put in a sticky situation like that.”
She shrugged. “No problem. I just hadn’t expected that announcement to appear in the papers. I thought I only had to pretend this engagement for your family, not all Atlanta.”
“Will that cause you problems?” he asked, seeing how deep the extent of their deceit was going.
“No, not as long as it doesn’t cause you any problems.”
Jared’s forehead furrowed in confusion. “What kind of problems?” The car came to a stop at another traffic light and he glanced over at her.
“Your livelihood. You’re one of Atlanta’s most eligible bachelors. Being engaged takes you off the market for a while.”
One corner of his mouth curved slightly. Being engaged would definitely change his life, but only temporarily. “Umm, I guess it does, but only for a short while.” He held her gaze, studied it, looking for something, anything that would indicate she wished otherwise.
He let out a slow breath when he didn’t see anything. He was glad that she understood that nothing could and would develop between them. Those hot and heavy kisses hadn’t meant a thing and he didn’t want her to get lust confused with love. Not that he thought that she would. But still, he had to be certain they were on the same page.
Their engagement was a game and nothing more.
Dana was very much aware of the man who sat across from her in the exclusive restaurant, and had been since he had picked her up for lunch. The twenty-minute ride had been taxing when all she could do was remember what Cybil had asked about their physical relationship.
The thought that Jared might expect them to become intimate was confusing and something she knew they should discuss. But she hadn’t been able to bring it up. During the drive they had talked about several things but had played it safe and avoided mentioning their engagement. Instead they had discussed the weather, the new movies that had come out over the Easter weekend and Georgia’s recent elections.
She wasn’t surprised to learn that he lived in Country Club of the South, an affluent subdivision in North Atlanta, in the suburbs of Alpharetta. The houses were priced in the millions and a number of celebrities and sport entertainers lived there.
“You’re quiet.”
Dana glanced up and met Jared’s dark gaze. He had been watching her. Something flickered in the depths of those eyes that made her catch her breath, made something unbearably hot flow through her veins. She picked up her coffee cup to break eye contact. Cybil had warned her not to get in too deep and she had assured her friend that she wouldn’t. When she said it she had been sure, confident, but now all that assuredness was skating on thin ice. Jared Westmoreland was not a man to take lightly. He had made it clear in the car that their arrangement was temporary. She was smart enough to read between the lines. He’d been letting her know that he was not a man to whom any woman should give her heart. “Umm, I was just thinking about things,” she finally said.
“Are you thinking of changing your mind about this?” he asked quietly.
She looked up and met his gaze again. Although she couldn’t read his expression she really didn’t have to. She knew how much