Page 39 of Size King

Cue more laughter from the audience and more pictures being taken.

“Where’s the ring!?” someone shouts.

“Can we see the ring, Ms. Harly?”

Without missing a beat, I hold up a finger and reach into my jacket pocket.

“I was actually out getting it properly sized for her finger,” I explain. “Having only dated her for a few months, I was kind of guessing what size to get it in.”

I hand Kate the small jewelry box from my old dresser. She opens it out of sight from the cameras, and her eyes widen like dinner plates.

To her astonishment, I have an engagement ring there for her. The ring is fine platinum and the diamond in the center is big enough to kill someone with. I truly don’t know if it’s going to fit Kate’s ring finger, but I have faith that it will.

Sure enough, I’m able to slide the ring on her finger without any effort at all. We hold her hand up to the press, showing off the massive engagement ring. The crowd is more shocked by the ring than anything else concerning Kate or me.

“What do you know?” I whisper into Kate’s ear. “It fits perfectly.”

* * *

After the conference,Kate and I quickly step away and take our leave, with security escorting us safely into the building. We spend the rest of our Tuesday waiting and seeing what is going to occur now.

Things seem to be turning around quickly. Aside from my perplexed staff, the whole country appears to be eating up our story like Tuesday brunch. The sun hasn’t even set before we realize that what is trending isn’t the sex tape, but rather our engagement.

We are generally surrounded by people. Adam can barely find the words he wants, the board is mostly indifferent but pleased that the scandals seem to be evaporating, and family and friends all around the world are congratulating us.

I finally get a private moment with Kate after lunch. The ring is sparkly and looks elegant on her finger.

“Thank you so much for going along with all of this,” I say to her.

“Well, I mostly did it because the media seemed to be more accepting of the explanation that we were engaged, so I rolled with it,” says Kate. “I’d rather them think I’m your fiancée and not that you just fuck all your PR managers.”

“Right.” I nod. “I promise we won’t have to pretend for long.”

“I’m a professional, Aiden,” says Kate. “I’m just doing my job.”

“Oh,justdoing your job?”

“Well, I do like this ring,” she says, holding her hand out to admire it.

“So, we’re cool?” I ask.

“Of course, we are,” she replies. “Things are already looking up, and the day isn’t even over. We can stop being engaged once the coverage dies down.”

“And I swear to you Kate,” I vow. “I’ll find out who leaked the tape. I still feel convinced that it was Sarah, but I’ll figure out for sure as soon as possible. I won’t stand for this humiliation. Really, I don’t care what it did to me, but to you? You did nothing wrong, and someone is willing to jeopardize everything for you.”

“Aiden, I’m fine,” she says. “We’ll figure it out soon. Don’t ruin this good day with vengeful thoughts. Fuck Sarah, and fuck the tape. Just be glad that we both still have our jobs, and we can keep staying at each other’s places overnight.”

“Fuck yeah,” I agree. “So, at the risk of further rejection, I have to ask. Would you like to come over to my place tonight? We can celebrate our engagement. After all, you did say I could do anything I wanted to you after our press conference. I’d like to play with you tonight.”

The desire is palpable, and I can see that she doesn’t even need to consider it. She runs her hands through my hair, staring into me with her stunning amber eyes.

“I would love to,” she says.

16

Kate

Things heat up, becoming more intense by the second. We don’t even kiss each other’s lips until many minutes of wrestling and horseplay in the back of his limo. We’re like two horny teenagers lost in the bewilderment that comes with raw sexual awakening.