Lessons in SECRET (22 page)

“I’m keeping you.”

“Thank God.”

She kisses me and pulls
me along with her to look at other jewelry. I see her eyes light up
at a pretty cool looking diamond set. “You want something else,
don’t you babe?”

“I’ll buy the
earrings and bracelet. Will you buy me…um, the necklace?”

It takes me a moment to
understand why she seems a little shy all of a sudden, but then I get
it. She wants a necklace. From me. Well, I want something else.

“I’d like to buy
you all three.”

“Just the necklace,
please. I’d like to join that exclusive club.”

“I’m not going to
lie to you. There are a good many women before you who got a necklace
from me—with just one little diamond in it and not a few hundred,
by the way—but there will be none after you. You know that, right?”

“What if your mom
wants a necklace?”

“My dad will buy it.
Necklaces are for you, and you alone from now on.”

“Are you trying to
make me cry?”

“If it means I did
something to make you happy, then yes. If you’re pissed or hurting
because of me, then fuck no.”

“Happy. Definitely
happy.”

“Then let’s get you
that necklace.”

“I love you so much,
Jake Mason.”

“And I love you,
Isabelle Mason to-be.”

* * *

Isa

I think I may have
woken up in a fairytale this morning. I certainly feel like a
princess at the moment. The dress Stella got me is dark pink and
strapless. Instead of just being plain on top, it has extra fabric
cresting over in a 3-D effect. It hugs my body until right above my
knees, where a couple layers of big ruffles hit the floor in front
and flow into a small train in the back. You can’t see my shoes,
but they have silver heels and tips with clear, crystal encrusted
material covering the sides of my feet.

If the dress and shoes
don’t do enough to enforce the princess look, then my diamonds most
certainly do. The necklace features a strand of diamonds, with
another curving onto it. Below those is a small flower made of a
diamonds, and a big diamond flower with what looks like ribbons of
diamonds wrapping around it. If that’s not enough, a small row of
diamonds leads to a large oval diamond on the bottom. The earrings
and bracelets match perfectly. They can’t outshine my ring, though.

I’ve never been one
for fancy things, including jewelry. But when I saw this ring, I
wanted it so bad that I almost cried. Jake wouldn’t let me hear the
total, but I know it was high. Hell, just from paying for the
bracelet and earrings, I know that my necklace was in the seven
figures. It’s the ring that I care the most about, though. I’d
give up every other material item in my life to keep this ring. I
know I don’t have to, but I would.

I finish pinning my
hair up into the fancy bun Stella taught me and have just applied my
last coat of lipstick when my prince knocks at the guest room door.
“Come in,” I tell him.

I turn and lose my
breath. I seriously can’t breathe for a moment. I thought he was
hot as Mason the teacher, Mase the bad guy, and Jake the military
man. But this Jake, the one who was born into privilege? He blows all
the other versions away. His tux is obviously custom, and he’s
just…I don’t even have words that can convey how perfect he
looks.

“Isa, you’re
staying next to me all night.”

“Where else would I
be?”

“I don’t know, but
if any guy besides your friends tries to talk to you, or even looks
at you too long, I’m probably going to punch him.”

“Have you looked in
the mirror? I’m going to be the one getting into a fight.”

“You’re wearing my
ring, babe. No one’s going to try anything with me.”

“Yes they are, but
you love me. So it won’t matter.”

“Not even a tiny
iota.”

We kiss, making a mess
of my mouth and his. Neither one of us cares as we put ourselves back
together a few minutes later. I grab my clutch, which only has my
license, lipstick, and Jake’s gift in it, before we head out to the
waiting limo. We talk about Jake’s new job, and his move, deciding
to pack up before we leave D.C. I’m due some time off, so it will
work out perfectly.

When we walk towards
the ballroom at the hotel, I’m almost blinded by the flashbulbs
that go off. Jake makes sure to place my left hand on his arm so
everyone can see my ring. When the photographers ask, he introduces
me as his fiancé. I hold my head high and smile through my anxiety.
I can do this. I
am
doing this.

Inside the room there
are no more photographers. But there are catty comments and stares.
Lots of stares from women trying to make me feel like I don’t
belong. They’re wrong, though. There’s no other place on Earth
that I belong more than wherever Jake is. He introduces me to
everyone and makes sure that there’s no doubt about how much he
loves me.

After successfully
dodging his mother for almost an hour, she manages to corner us.
“Jake, I need you to come with me. Just for ten minutes. Please.”

“I’m not leaving
Isa. Her friends won’t be here until the press leaves, and she
doesn’t know anyone else.”

“I’ll keep her
company,” Vicki says, coming up to hug me. “Go be a good boy.”

“Thanks,” I tell
her when he leaves.

“I should be thanking
you. In fact, I will. Thank you for making my best friend truly happy
for the first time in years.”

“He makes me happy,
too.”

“Good. And girl, look
at that ring. And the other jewelry you’re sporting. I knew Jake
liked giving out sparkly things, but damn.”

My stomach sinks a
little at her words. “Sparkly things?”

“Oh yeah. That’s
Jake’s saying for jewelry. He didn’t say that to you?”

“He might have
mentioned it.”

“Well, be prepared to
be spoiled. For my birthday last year, he took me to this cool
jewelry store near his house and told me to get whatever I wanted. I
held back…a little. Seriously, though, my jewelry box is full of
baubles from him. I have my eye on a necklace for my birthday next
month. I can’t wait to add it to my ‘Jake’ collection,” she
says with a laugh. Until she sees my expression. “Oh. Maybe you
don’t know. Jake is famous for his necklaces. He used to give them
out like candy. And I always got the best ones. Until now,” she
says, looking pointedly at
my
necklace.

“Take it. It’s
yours. Happy early birthday from Jake,” I tell her as I remove it
from my neck and thrust it into her hand.

“What? No, Isa. I
didn’t mean…I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

“I appreciate your
honesty,” I say, pulling off my ring.

“Oh God. He’ll kill
me. Put your ring back on, Isa.”

“Take it or I’ll
throw it in the fountain outside.”

She reluctantly holds
out her hand, and I place my dream ring in her palm. It turns out
that she held my dreams in those hands all this time. She was just
letting me borrow them.

“Can you also give
him something for me?”

“You should give him
whatever you have yourself.”

“Please don’t make
this harder for me than it already is.”

She closes her eyes and
nods. I give her the drawstring bag that holds what I got him. It’s
stupid and now I know it won’t mean anything to him, but I want him
to have it.

“Have a great night,
Vicki,” I tell her as I walk away from her.

I start to head for the
main doors, but then remember the press outside. There’s no way I
can face them alone. I look around for a way to make a quiet exit,
but my choices are limited. I see a flash of silver on my right and
turn just enough to see Vicki approaching Jake. I have to get out of
here before he tries to lie to me again. And then I see my way out.

* * *

Jake

I need to get back to
Isa. Vicki will protect her from the vultures, but I don’t like
knowing she’s so close, yet not right next to me. I’m planning my
exit when I see my mom’s eyes go wide, and she pulls the guy we
were talking to away from me. I turn to see Vicki, and I know
something’s very wrong. Even if we hadn’t been best friends for
almost twenty-five years, I’d know.

“I screwed up, Jake.
I’m so sorry.”

“Wha—,” I start
to ask, and then see her hands.

She’s holding Isa’s
necklace and engagement ring in one hand. And a drawstring bag in the
other. “I was jealous of her, Jake.”

“What have you done?”

She tells me, and I
want to kill her. My best friend betrayed me and hurt the woman I
love. All because she was jealous. For no fucking reason.

“She was cool with
our friendship, Vick. She understood that you’re my best friend.
Some of her best friends are guys, so she knows it works sometimes.
She was never going to try and push me out of your life. But you just
pushed her the fuck out of mine!”

“I didn’t think
she’d be so upset. I just wanted her to realize that I’m
important to you, too.”

“You honestly think I
didn’t tell her that? How many women have I sent on their way
because they couldn’t accept my friendship with you?”

“Would you have sent
her away?”

And now we get to the
heart of the problem. I’m not going to lie to my best friend,
though. “No. But I knew I wouldn’t have to.”

“But you would have.”

“Yes, Vicki. If I had
to choose between Isa and you, I would choose her. Always.”

“You’re choosing
her now.”

“I won’t have to
choose if you help me find her and explain why you lied.”

“Finding her won’t
be too hard. Matt Corrigan just practically ran through the ballroom
with a group of people.”

“Fuck. Let’s go.”

I’m probably going to
get punched. A lot. And this time I don’t even deserve it. I square
my shoulders and walk their way.

As I approach the group
outside, I see Ellie and another girl on their knees next to Isa. I
already found out that Ellie was undercover, and after talking to
Isa, I’m guessing the other girl is Jade. Before we can reach her,
Reina steps in front of us.

“We need to talk to
Isa.”

“She doesn’t want
to talk to you.”

I turn to Vicki. “Tell
her from here if you need to, but get the fucking words out.”

“I lied, Isa.”

My beautiful, broken
girl stands and takes a few steps towards us. “I know. When you
said I make him happy, right?”

“No. That was the
truth… and the problem.”

“Because you love
him.”

“Not like you think.
He’s like my brother. No woman has ever understood that, so he’s
broken things off with them. I knew he’d never leave you, and it
hurt. So I made it seem like I was more special to him than you.”

“I never would’ve
tried to break up your friendship.”

“I know that now.”

“You would’ve known
that earlier if you’d asked.”

Vicki nods. “The only
jewelry he ever bought me was a pair of diamond earrings for our high
school graduation. I buy everything else myself. He told me where he
was taking you, and what he joked about with you, but I’ve never
been there with him. I swear it.”

“If you want to be my
friend, you can never do anything like this again.”

“I-I won’t. We can
still really be friends?”

“Yes. You’re
important to my future husband, which makes you important to me.”

Reina steps aside when
Isa says that. I grab the jewelry, and the bag, from Vicki before
walking to her. I twirl my finger so she’ll turn around, and fasten
her necklace back where it belongs. She holds out her hand with a
smile, but I shake my head.

“Jake?”

“Let’s walk over to
that gazebo,” I say, nodding towards it.

“You can say whatever
you need to in front of my friends.”

“I’d rather do this
alone.”

“I can’t, Jake. I’m
scared.”

I take a step back.
“You’re scared of me?”

“No,” she says,
reaching for me. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m scared about
what you want to say to me.”

I nod, and then say
what I need to. “I didn’t put this ring on your finger lightly,
Isa. I did it because I love you, and I trust you. I always have. If
you look back at our time together, you’ll see that I never once
doubted you. I was willing to go to jail for you, and to die for you.
I even went to see Gary Griffin today because you said he was like a
father to you, and I wanted to make sure he was okay with me marrying
you, even if your biological father isn’t. I would do all of those
things over again, but I’m not sure I can marry you.”

“Why? I love you,
Jake. I want to be your wife more than anything.”

“Yet you took this
ring off without a second thought. Without coming to me and asking me
if what Vicki told you was true.”

“She’s your best
friend. You kept telling me that. I didn’t think she’d lie to
me.”

“Then you should’ve
confronted me. In front of that whole fucking room if need be.”

“You know I couldn’t
make a scene like that.”

“I’m just not going
to win with you, am I? You’re never going to see how much it
destroyed me to see this ring, the ring I watched you fall in love
with and then put on your finger, in Vicki’s hand.”

I don’t want to walk
away. The thought makes me feel physically ill. But if she’s not
all in with this, I can’t stay with her. No matter how much leaving
her is going to break me. I walk back into the ballroom and look for
the nearest bathroom to throw up in.

“Jake,” Isa yells
running past me, to stand and face me, right there at the edge of the
room where people can see her. Where they
are
seeing her because she’s making a little bit of a scene.
“I love you. I know that you never doubted us. Neither did I, until
this. You could also look back and remember the times I fought for
us. You’re right about tonight, though. I didn’t fight for us
tonight, and that was probably the biggest mistake I’ve ever made
in my life. I can’t promise I’ll never do it again, but I can
promise that I’ll try really hard not to. I love you so much. Will
you please marry me? I’ll buy you a ring tomorrow.”