Chapter 63

The fear gripping me holds at his eye contact, and I find the inner courage to slowly slide it further down inside me, gripping with fingernails to keep control. I hold still, trying not to portray my feelings on my face in case he sees it, and paste a smile on my mouth, loosening my death grip on his arm.

I can’t ruin this for him. I can’t hurt him again after everything we’ve been through. I just need to pretend I don’t know and pray I don’t freak out when he finally gets on one knee.

“Yeah, just a little overwhelmed with all this grandeur.” I smile, maintaining a steady voice with a stoic effort, and he relaxes a little. I draw on all my old

PA Emma

abilities to be emotionless, even under extreme pressure. He’s studying me a little too closely, so I stretch up and kiss him quickly, making him kiss me properly and deeply, trying to remove any doubts about what I know. It seems to do the trick, and he relaxes a little, all flickers of question smoothing fr