Chasing Jane (6 page)
Authors: Noelle Adams
The next day was Saturday, so they went shopping for rings.
“It’s too
expensive,” Jessica said, eyeing the diamond solitaire in the case Daniel had just
asked her about. This was the third jewelry store they’d visited. Jessica kept
gravitating toward the cases with the cheaper rings, but Daniel refused to
consider them.
“It’s an
engagement ring. I’m not going to pull it out of a cereal box.” Daniel was
starting to look a little grumpy since their shopping expedition hadn’t been
very successful so far and they’d been looking now for over two hours.
“Yeah, but
it’s not like there’s a huge romantic gesture to be made here.” The store was
mostly empty except for a salesman who was discreetly standing out of their way
since they’d told him they would let him know when they needed help. But
Jessica kept her voice low instinctively. “We shouldn’t waste money on an
expensive ring for me.”
He slanted
her an annoyed look which she dutifully ignored.
She scanned
the case. All the rings looked great to her. She’d had as many romantic
daydreams as any other girl about the love of her life offering a ring like
these. But that wasn’t what was happening here. It wasn’t even what she wanted.
She wanted exactly what she’d told Daniel, and she wasn’t going to make up
silly fantasies, even about him.
“Why don’t
you just buy one online?” she suggested. “You can get a better deal that way
anyway.”
“Would you stop
that?” Daniel groaned. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to buy an engagement ring
for you without at least holding it first.”
It really
was very sweet—that he was taking this so seriously even though he’d never
thought about her as anything but a friend. Her heart melted just a little at
the sight of his stubbly, aggravated face.
“I don’t
even need an engagement ring,” she said.
He
completely ignored that comment and kept peering at the rings in the case.
“What about
this one?” he asked, gesturing toward another one in the expensive display.
She tried to
tug him to another case—one with more reasonably priced options. “I don’t need
a real diamond. What about one of these other stones? They basically look like
diamonds, and they’re so much cheaper.”
He ignored
her again. She could tell he was doing it on purpose.
Annoyed, she
stepped back over and gave him a hard poke in the side. “I’m talking to you.”
“You’re not
saying anything I’m going to take seriously. My wife is going to have an
engagement ring, and it’s not going to be a piece of junk.”
She knew he
was comfortable financially since he’d saved for years and didn’t splurge on
anything except books. But preachers never made fortunes, and he’d had to use some
of his savings while he was between jobs.
“But—” She
broke off when she noticed a ring in the corner of the expensive case. It was
white gold with a princess cut diamond in an engraved setting. It was the most
beautiful ring she’d ever seen.
She stared
at it for a few seconds before she jerked her eyes away. She pointed toward
another ring that was obviously much cheaper. It wasn’t nearly as beautiful,
but that simply didn’t matter. “I like this one.”
“You are the
most frustrating woman on the face of the earth,” he gritted out.
“You just
say that because I beat you at that math competition in fifth grade even though
you were two years older.”
His face
softened into a smile at the memory. “I’m still not sure that competition wasn’t
rigged.”
She tried—very
hard—not to laugh. Didn’t exactly succeed.
“But
seriously,” she went on, “this ring here is perfectly nice.”
“Forget it.
This is futile. I’ll get the ring myself, and you’ll be stuck with whatever I
pick out.”
“Fine. Whatever
you get me will be great, as long as it’s not too expensive.”
Daniel gave
her a look as they left the store and a very confused salesman. She giggled and
took his arm companionably since she knew his grumpiness was mostly for show.
The few
times she’d seen Daniel genuinely angry, he’d been silent and ice cold. Just
the thought of it gave her shivers.
Their normal
camaraderie restored, they went to grab some coffee before they headed back to
Daniel’s truck.
She
absolutely didn’t care about the engagement ring. She was getting what she most
wanted, and romance wasn’t high enough on the list to matter.
***
You can find out more about Married for Christmas
here
.
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a
spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing
since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in
Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on,
and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She
loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of
her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and
focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out
her website:
noelle-adams.com
.
Books by Noelle Adams
Beaufort Brides Series
One Night Novellas
One
Hot Night: Three Contemporary Romance Novellas
Willow Park Series
Heirs of Damon Series
Standalones
The Protectors
Series (co-written with Samantha Chase)