Knight in Shining Suit (9 page)

“
Why the ring?” he
asked.

I took a sip of my
margarita. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“
I find a lot of things
you’ve said to me tonight hard to believe, but damn, I still
believe you. So try me again,” he replied.

“
My fiancé gave me a two
carat diamond ring when he proposed. He said he worked hard for it
and that it represented how much he valued me. When we broke up, my
friends convinced me to pawn it to get back at him. I was jobless
anyway, and I could use the money. I went to the jewelry store and
had the ring checked out… it turned out to be cubic zirconia, gold
plated. I couldn’t believe it. What a fool I’d been! I rushed out
of the shop crying like a baby.” I didn’t realize it, but tears
were rolling down my cheek.

Again, Ryder reached out
to wipe my cheeks with his fingers. When I looked up at him I saw
that his expression was soft, like his heart just broke for me,
too.

“
Do you really think I’m
capable of making your ex-fiancé feel like a dwarf?” he asked
softly.

I giggled in spite of my
tears. “Needless to say, you’re a hundred times better-looking than
he is. Plus, he’s just an inch taller than me. He’s short to begin
with.”

He chuckled. Then gently,
he squeezed my nose.

“
Alright. I’ll help you
out. You name the time and the place.”

I looked up at him and
searched his face. And somehow his expression was warm and genuine.
It seemed that my story moved him and he was helping me out just
to… help me out. Not just for the cash.

“
You need to rent out a
nice suit. I might be wearing something violet at the wedding.
Their motif is green. I want to make sure I will stand
out.”

He laughed. “Alright. I’ll
be your knight in shining Armani.”

“
Plus, you need a good
cover. Tell them you graduated with honors from an Ivy League
school. Doesn’t matter where exactly. Just make something up. You
invest money here and there. You have a six digit monthly
income.”

“
You really are going to
murder your ex, aren’t you?”

“
I want to make him cry!”
I muttered. “As much as I want to save myself from a little
humiliation.”

He laughed. “Then I won’t
disappoint you.”

I took out the envelope in
my bag and wrote my name and contact number on it.

“
This is… a sign of good
faith. You’ll get the rest after the party,” I said, handing him
the envelope.

He stared at it for a
while and then he took it. But he didn’t open it to see what was
inside.

“
How will I find you?” I
asked him. “What’s your full name?”

“
I won’t be here for the
rest of the week. But I’ll be back in time for your wedding,” he
said. He took my hand in his and wrote something at the back of my
palm. I stared as he wrote his number gently. Then slowly, he
brought my hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “It’s Ryder
… Ryder W-Woodson,” he whispered.

I knew I was blushing from
the kiss he gave me. He saw my expression and he
laughed.

“
You better get used to
it,” he whispered. “Your knight in shining Armani will be doing
more than that at the wedding.”

I swallowed hard and I
knew I couldn’t control my blush anymore.

“
Okay. So, I’ll get my
bill now,” I said.

“
On the house,” he
replied.

“
No, no. This is separate
from our deal.”

He shook his head. “I’ll
just take it out of your deposit.”

I stared back at his
handsome face and I realized that he was serious.

“
Th… Thanks.”

“
You’re welcome, Astrid,”
he said, saying my name for the first time. I realized I hadn’t
given it to him, but I had written it on the envelope.

“
I… better go,” I
said.

He nodded. “Are you going
to be alright? Do you want a ride home?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be
fine.”

He nodded again. “I’ll see
you next week then.”

I’m pretty sure I was
still shaking when I got out of the cab in front of Adam’s place.
In fact, I was still shaking when I entered his house. He was
there, having some drinks on his deck.

“
So, how did it
go?”

“
Well, my friends all
stood me up.”

“
So not good?”

I shrugged. “I can’t
really say. Because… since they left me alone, I got to chat with
the bartender. And… oh my God, Adam! He is
hhhhooooootttt
!!!”

“
Boundaries, sweetheart.
Boundaries!” he scolded me.

“
Alright, I’m sorry. What
I’m saying is, this bartender was so pretty. Like he just stepped
out of the covers of a magazine. He looked classy and aristocratic
and yet, when he smiled, it seemed like a million fireworks just
burst into the room.”

“
Ash… I get it, okay?”
Adam looked at me sternly.

“
Right. So, to make the
long story short, I ended up telling him that I needed a guy to
pretend with me for this wedding. And I ended up asking him if he
was up for the job.”

“
And he was?”

“
At first, he wasn’t. But
then I told him the story of my… fake ring. He must have realized
how pathetic I am and… how desperately I needed help. So he
agreed.”

“
And you gave him my
check?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry
Adam. I didn’t bargain. Ten grand.”

He shrugged. “You’ll get
the rest next week. So, you told him he needs a cover?”

I nodded. “I will call him
tomorrow when I’m not too tipsy anymore. Just to give him the
specifics.”

“
Great! I can’t wait to
see the look on Bryan’s face.”

I smiled at Adam. Then I
reached forward and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“
Thank you, Adam. I don’t
know what I would do without you.”

He smiled back at me and
ruffled my hair. “You’re welcome.”

When I went to bed that
night, I was smiling. I remembered Ryder’s handsome face and how he
looked when he kissed my hand.

With a grin still on my
face, I thought,
where have I been all
these years?

5.

BRIDAL CAR:

The car that carries the
Bride and the Groom after the ceremony; usually adorned with
flowers and signage saying “Just Married!”

I
picked out a bright lavender outfit that accented my curves,
bared my shoulders and exposed my long perfect legs. I was going to
tease Bryan… with something he never had. Something that he should
have been having by now, had he waited.

I used to be a little bit
on the conservative side when I was with him. But they’d stripped
me of almost everything so what did I have to lose?

I went to the salon to
color my hair. I tried a multi-colored hairstyle. Blonde, red,
reddish brown, dark brown and a few black strands. When the
hairdresser was finished, I thought I looked cool and my hair
looked stylish. As a benefit, no one could tell what my natural
hair color really was.

No contacts anymore. When
I put on my gown, it emphasized the violet hue of my eyes that,
according to my friends, is just beautiful.

I wore light makeup and I
curled the edges of my hair. When I slipped into a pair of silver
sandals and went downstairs, Dannie and John just applauded. Even
Adam was clearly impressed.

John whistled at
me.

“
You look fab,
sweetheart,” Dannie said.

Adam smiled at me. “I’m
glad to see you this way. No doubt you will be the most beautiful
woman in the ballroom tonight. Bryan won’t even know what hit
him.”

“
Thank you, guys!” I said
to them.

Apparently, Geena
approached Fiona to get an on-site, on-the-day wedding coordinator.
I told Nicole to volunteer for the job. It would be nice to have
one more ally in the party besides Adam.

I had been coordinating
with Ryder most of the week. His cover story was that he graduated
with honors at Harvard. He’s an entrepreneur. His family owns a
couple of restaurant chains in New York. He invests here and there.
I asked him to rent a Boxster for the night and a nice Armani suit.
I also asked him to rent a ring for the night or buy a fake one
that could pass as the real thing. We even agreed to rent a room in
the resort to leave no doubt that Ryder and I were for
real.

Bryan would be eating his
heart out! He knew I never, and I mean
never
, go for super wealthy guys. He
knew I preferred a guy who had more time to work on relationships
than meet with his business associates. He knew I wasn’t looking
for something grand. I wanted a simple, but happy life. Quiet and
comfortable. And moreover, I would never sleep with a guy outside
marriage.

Well, he was in for the
shock of his life!

The doorbell rang. Adam
went to get it.

I double-checked to make
sure that Adam’s check was in my purse… Ryder’s full
payment.

“
I look fine?” I asked
Dannie nervously.

“
You’re a goddess!” he
assured me and John agreed.

We all waited anxiously
for my date to come. I was beginning to wonder what was taking Adam
so long. Was he interrogating Ryder already?

Finally, Adam came back
into the room and behind him was a breathtaking god dressed in a
black silk Armani suit. His raven hair combed smoothly in place. He
was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and for a while I thought he
looked familiar. He was not wearing a stud on his ear and the guy I
was looking at now was ten times classier than the Ryder I met at
the bar. It was almost hard to believe that this was the same
guy.

“
Hello, Astrid. We meet
again,” he said.

“
Oh my God!” I heard
Dannie hyperventilate behind me.

“
Hey… Ryder.” I
tried…
hard…
to
keep my voice steady.

Only Adam seemed not so
pleased with my choice and I wondered why. He had a cold expression
on his face and somehow I knew that he was biting his tongue to
keep his thoughts from spilling out loud, which was obviously
painful for him.

“
Shall we?” Ryder
asked.

I nodded. He took my hand
in his and gently, he intertwined our fingers. I caught a whiff of
his cologne… sweet, yet masculine.

Adam raised a brow at
me.

“
Oh, sorry. Ryder, this is
my cousin, Adam. And these are my friends John and
Dannie.”

It’d been ages since I
last dated someone new, I completely forgot about the necessity of
introductions.

Ryder politely shook their
hands. Dannie was quite ecstatic to shake his hand, but I could
tell the squeeze that Adam gave Ryder was a warning of sorts;
probably some macho ‘big brother’ thing. I raised a brow at Adam.
He merely nodded at me coolly.

Finally, we said goodbye
to them. Ryder took my bag and led me outside towards a sports car
and immediately, my breath caught in my throat.

Now, I don’t know much
about cars, but I know an expensive, flashy car when I see
one.

He opened the passenger
door for me.

“
Mademoiselle?”

I smiled at him nervously
and then I got into the car. He put my bag in the trunk and then he
went around the car and sat beside me on the driver’s
seat.

“
You’re staying at the
resort tonight right?”

I looked at him. “You’re
not coming with me?”

“
Only if you’d like me
to.”

“
If you left, that would
make this all sound fake, right? Although it is fake. But… they
don’t know that.”

“
Yeah. They don’t.” He
smiled and I had to keep my breathing under control.

He started to drive. It
was going to be a long ride to the resort where the reception is
going to be.

“
What type of car is
this?” I asked him.

He laughed. “What does the
ex-fiancé drive?”

“
A Porsche
Boxster.”

He nodded. “Don’t worry.
If your ex knows about cars, he knows what this car is
worth.”

“
Yeah, he has a thing for
expensive cars. But what is it? Just in case somebody at the party
asks what car my…” I trailed off, not exactly sure what to call
him.

“
Your boyfriend for now,
your fiancé by tonight,” he supplied with a grin on his
face.

I swallowed hard; somehow,
even I couldn’t believe that I scored a guy like this.

“
Okay. Just in case
somebody asks me what car you drive.”

“
It’s an SLR McLaren,” he
said.

“
Mental note taken,” I
breathed.