It shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t. Cora and I are not in a relationship. This is a business arrangement. We have ground rules and well-outlined roles and expectations.
But I can’t stop imagining her wearing this ring. Only this ring. On her knees before me with her hand wrapped around my—
“That one,” Cora says definitively. “I want that one.”
The rendering is of a simple diamond setting in the center with a crown of diamonds around it, opening as if they’re petals of a flower in bloom. The band is made of delicately molded gold leaves.
Kieran beams, telling me all I need to know about the price of it. “Impeccable choice. Any customizations?”
“No, I like it just the way—”
“I want the center diamond twice as big,” I say.
Kieran and Cora both turn to me, one of them looking far more deli
