She wore pearl earrings, ones Vi had given her as a gift years ago, ones she had supposedly received as a gift from a pearl diver in the South Pacific. Their story had always filled Amy with a sense of romance and intrigue, and she felt like she wanted to have them with her as she went on her first proper date with Ethan. She glanced in the mirror at the dress she had finally settled on after hours of poring through her closet. It was a deep navy with a lace overlay that cinched in at the waist and hit a few inches above her knee. She took one last look in the mirror and added a simple drop necklace to compliment the somewhat deep v neckline of the dress. She smiled, perfect.
She peeked out the window again to see Ethan in a navy blue suit walking up to her front door with something in hand. It was too small to be flowers.
When she answered the door, Ethan stood at the threshold and handed her the small box. “You look beautiful,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to give you something.”
Amy looked down at the box in Ethan’s hand. It looked just the right size for a necklace or maybe a bracelet. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t need gifts like this, but she couldn’t help herself. Amy smiled and took the box. She pulled it open and found two keys. “Really?” Amy said. “What am I supposed to do with these?”
“You could probably sell them for a great deal of money,” Ethan replied. “Or you could, I don’t know, use them when you move into my place.” He looked up toward the roof of Amy’s house, scanning each level as he raised his gaze. “We could turn this place into a museum, or a boarding house for socialites who have fallen on hard times.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“How many people live with you?” Ethan asked.
“Just Vi. Why?”
“How many bedrooms does this place have?”
“Six,” Amy replied. “Though one’s my office, two are for guests, and one is just storage.”
“My place has three,” Ethan said. “It makes for easier cleaning. You should try simplifying things.”
“Says the billionaire with a multinational empire.”
“And a reasonable apartment.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s so humble.”
“Well, I never said anything about humble.”
“Are you going to feed me or what?” Amy asked.
Ethan reached out and wrapped his arm around Amy. “Get in the car,” he said. “We’re going downtown.”
***
As their car pulled up to the restaurant, Amy looked out to see several photographers standing by the entrance. She had dealt with enough of them over the years to know why they were there. They wanted pictures of Ethan with his bride. “How did they know you’d be here?” Amy asked, pointing toward the crowd.#p#分页标题#e#
“I have no idea. I can promise you that I had nothing to do with this.”
“What do you want to do?” Amy asked. She thought about everything she had said about the marriage being a business deal, about trying to keep a low profile, and for a moment, she wondered what it would be like to walk out in front of those cameras with Ethan’s arm around her for the whole world to see.
“It’s already set,” Ethan replied, “We’ll sneak in through the back. There’s a parking garage below the building and another entrance. I’ve used it before.”
“Oh, great,” Amy said. “Let’s go.”
As they sat down at their table, Amy couldn’t help but ask. “Is there a reason you don’t want to be photographed with me?”
“Yes,” Ethan replied. “You said you didn’t want the attention.”
“It’s not that,” Amy said. “I mean, I don’t need the attention, it’s just I’m not really sure what we are right now, and I want to know where we stand.”
“Oh,” Ethan said. He signaled to the waiter. “I’m sorry, but something has come up, a family emergency. Please, send my apologies to the manager, and charge my card for the meal. He pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to the waiter. “For your troubles.”
Before Amy could ask him what the hell he was doing, Ethan had gotten up and taken her hand. She barely kept up with him as he headed for the door. “Where are we going?”
“For a walk,” Ethan replied, but as soon as they made it through the front door of the restaurant, he wrapped his arm around Amy and kissed her, leaning into her as he pressed his lips against hers, sending a wave of warmth through her body. Amy felt like fireworks were going off around her.