Welcome to Mills & Boon. Jennifer Rae

off-plan, Flynn Ashton didn’t dawdle. Helena sighed. Maybe she could teach him.

      ‘Here,’ Flynn said and stopped so suddenly that Helena barely avoided crashing into him. As it was, she found herself staring into a shop window with her side pressed up against his, their joined hands tangled between them. She blamed his closeness for the long moments it took her to realise what she was looking at.

      ‘A jewellery shop?’ she asked, tearing her gaze away from the sparkly treasures in the window to look up at her husband.

      ‘Yes. I thought...well, the romantic and spontaneous nature of our wedding meant that you never got an engagement ring. I thought we could choose one together, to celebrate.’ He shuffled ever so slightly, from one foot to the other. Was he...no, really, was he nervous? Maybe that was why he avoided spontaneity—in case it went wrong.

      An engagement ring. A little after the fact, but still. It would be something just for her—something that wasn’t Thea’s first.

      She really liked that.

      ‘I think that’s a lovely idea,’ Helena said, squeezing Flynn’s fingers between her own. Then, impulsively, she stretched up on her toes to kiss him—not on the cheek like the sort of brother or friend he’d always been, but right on the lips. It was short but sweet, and enough to let him know that she was embracing her new role, she hoped. ‘Let’s go in.’

      Inside, the cramped little shop felt too warm despite the dim lighting and shady spot. Laid out in glass counters sat tray after tray of diamond solitaire rings, varying slightly in design and shape and style, but all very clearly appropriate engagement rings.

      ‘I spotted this shop walking through town the other day,’ Flynn murmured as Helena took in the racks of sparkles. ‘I just remembered it at lunch. Looks like it’s just the place for what we’re looking for.’

      ‘It does,’ Helena agreed, even as disappointment tugged at her belly. How was she supposed to pick one ring to symbolise their whole future life together when they were all basically the same? Which tiny variation might make the difference to her happy ever after?

      A neatly dressed woman stepped out from a back office behind the counter and smiled as she offered to let Helena try some on. Flynn smiled his encouragement as the shop assistant unlocked the cases and took out the first tray.

      Helena blinked as more diamonds than she’d ever imagined caught the light and sparkled up at her.

      Well, maybe she’d just have to try some on. Surely she’d know the right one when she found it?

      Somewhere around tray three, or ring thirty-six, Helena began to doubt her theory. Flynn had wandered off to the other side of the shop, leaving Helena and the increasingly bored assistant to wade through all the diamonds alone.

      ‘They’re all beautiful,’ Helena said apologetically, for what must have been the sixth time. ‘I just...I’m looking for one that feels right. You know?’

      ‘Of course,’ the assistant said in her thick Italian accent. ‘You will wear this ring forever. It must be perfect.’

      ‘Exactly,’ Helena said, her fingers clenching at the word ‘forever’. She sighed. ‘Why don’t we try this one again?’ It was beautiful. Simple, elegant... Helena couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it.

      Flynn appeared over her shoulder, frowning. ‘Not that one,’ he said. ‘Looks too much like—’

      ‘Thea’s,’ Helena finished, the problem suddenly clear. Slipping the ring off again, she placed it back in the tray and moved over to the next one.

      ‘Hang on,’ Flynn said. Helena glanced up—he was across the other side of the tiny shop again and this time he had the assistant with him, unlocking another cabinet. ‘I want to try something.’

      Helena frowned, but waited as instructed. Grinning, Flynn crossed the room with his fist clenched tightly around something. ‘Close your eyes.’

      ‘Really?’

      ‘Yep.’

      He looked so pleased with himself that she couldn’t help but do as he asked. She felt him take her left hand and slip a ring on to the fourth finger.

      ‘And it even fits perfectly,’ Flynn said. ‘Okay, open your eyes.’

      Helena stared at the jewel on her finger. ‘That’s not a diamond.’

      ‘Well, no. I mean, obviously, if that’s what you want, there’s plenty to choose from here. I just thought...’

      ‘No, no. I mean—it’s not a diamond! I couldn’t figure out why the other rings weren’t right, but now I get it. I wasn’t looking for a diamond.’ Helena grinned. It all seemed so obvious now that Flynn had solved it for her.

      The shop assistant muttered something in Italian that Helena couldn’t understand but guessed probably meant: Why couldn’t she have figured that out half an hour ago?

      Relief flooded Flynn’s features. ‘Oh, good. I just...that one made me think of you. I don’t know—maybe it’s because it’s blue.’

      ‘Sapphire,’ Helena said.

      ‘Whatever. It reminded me of your eyes. And I know it’s not traditional, but neither is buying the engagement ring after the wedding.’

      ‘It’s perfect.’ Helena tilted her finger to make it sparkle in the dim overhead lights. ‘I love it.’

      ‘Great. Then hand it over.’ He held out his hand, palm up.

      ‘What?’ Helena curled her fingers in to keep her ring right where it was, thank you very much.

      ‘You can’t wear it yet,’ Flynn said with exaggerated patience. ‘I need to propose properly with it.’

      ‘You also need to pay for it.’ The shop assistant gave them a not entirely patient smile, and Flynn laughed.

      ‘Very true. Perhaps we can have a ring box?’

      As the shop assistant rang up the total, Helena reluctantly slipped her sapphire off her finger and placed it in the velvet box on the counter. Everything about this marriage might be backwards, she thought, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t work.

      Flynn had picked out her perfect ring when she didn’t even know what she was looking for. What other marvels might he work in her life if she gave him the chance?

      * * *

      They were almost home when his phone rang.

      ‘I’m sorry,’ Flynn said, yanking it out of his pocket. ‘Do you mind?’

      Helena shook her head. ‘Go on. I think you’ve earned at least one business call today.’

      He flashed her a smile as he answered. He knew that the engagement ring idea was a good one. When in doubt, buy jewellery—his mother’s entire contribution to his education about how to treat women might not have been lengthy, but it worked.

      ‘Henry. I hope you’re calling with good news.’ And flight numbers, preferably. He wanted everything he and Helena had discussed down on paper before anything changed. And especially before they had to go back to London and deal with their families again. If anything was going to screw things up between them, Flynn would place money on it being Ezekiel Ashton—even if he didn’t mean to.

      ‘Afraid not.’ Henry sounded harassed. Henry never sounded anything other than cool and collected, even when Flynn woke him up at two in the morning. This was not a good sign. ‘Can you talk?’

      The car swept up the driveway of the villa, stopping right by the front door. ‘Yeah, I can talk. Just one moment.’

      ‘Let me guess,’ Helena said as the driver cut the engine. ‘You need to work.’

      ‘Just a little. But we’ll have dinner together?’

      ‘Definitely.’