Knight in Shining Suit (25 page)

It took a minute for Jake
to recover and longer for Janis.

“
I’m sorry,” Jake said.
“We don’t mean to freak you out. It’s just that… this is a
surprise! Right, honey?”

Jake had to pat Janis
lightly on the back to bring her back to Earth.

“
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Quite a
surprise! We… didn’t expect Ryder to have a… guest. You know… he…
he usually comes alone.” Janis smiled. Then she took a deep breath
and leaned forward to give me a hug. “It’s lovely to meet you. I
hope we didn’t freak you out.”

“
It’s okay.” I hugged her
back and then I smiled at her. “It’s actually… good to know that he
rarely brings girls to your gatherings.”

Ryder chuckled, “Oh,
sweetheart! You have nothing to worry about, you were the first!”
He stared at me with dancing eyes and I knew that the charade had
begun. Ryder was not a stranger to me from now on. It’s time to
resume the play we started at Bryan’s and Geena’s
wedding.

I smiled at Janis and Jake
shyly. I knew I was blushing. Ryder put an arm around my shoulders
and gave me a kiss on the temple. Then he pulled out a chair for
me.

“
So, how did you two
meet?” Janis asked.

We spun the same tale. I
met Ryder through a common friend and he fell in love with me at
first sight, as if love at first sight were possible at all. He
pursued me, but I was careful since I just came out of a serious
relationship and so on and so forth.

His friends were amazed,
but I could tell that Janis was sizing me up. Trying to see if I
genuinely liked her friend and not his money. Jake was trying to
measure Ryder’s reactions to me. Maybe trying to determine if Ryder
was not just after the sex.

It was easy to smile and
look in love with Ryder. He was sweet and funny. I could almost
tell what his punch line was going to be before the words were out
of his mouth, and so I found myself giggling ahead of Janis and
Jake.

By the end of lunch, I
think I almost had Janis convinced that I didn’t want Ryder’s
money. She was surprised that I didn’t know all the names of
Ryder’s businesses and I didn’t really show interest. Instead, I
was genuinely concerned about how he was going to fit me in his
busy life.

Janis was fascinated about
what I did. I told her about the concepts I did for the weddings
and she was impressed. I knew from the look on Jake’s face that he
was going to propose to her soon… give it a year or less. I might
have a potential customer here. Although, I don’t know if they will
hire me if they find out that I was just pretending to be Ryder’s
girlfriend just so he’d win his wager with them.

We spent the whole
afternoon together, all four of us. I discovered that Janis and
Jake, although both coming from rich, powerful families were both
down to earth. They did not have that heir or heiress syndrome,
they didn’t feel that everybody should bow down to them.

It was easy enough to
laugh with them and joke with them. They felt like… normal people,
and so did Ryder.

I realized that for the
whole afternoon that we were together, I forgot that I didn’t know
him. He felt like the Ryder I was with at the wedding. I felt like
I didn’t know he was filthy rich. Like I thought he was just the
bartender that I could laugh with and talk to. Like he was not out
of my league at all.

We decided to swim. Ryder
had a mischievous grin on his face; I instantly knew he was
planning something.

I started running away
from him, but he was too fast for me. He caught up with me after
barely five steps. He carried me in his arms towards the water
until we landed with a splash.

I was shrieking. When we
emerged from the water together, he was roaring in laughter and I
was punching him about the shoulders with a pout on my
face.

Then his face descended
towards mine and he gave me a thorough kiss on the lips, which I
welcomed… and enjoyed.

That evening we played
charades. Janis and Jake, who claimed they’d been together for
almost all of their lives, couldn’t get each other’s
clues.

Ryder and I on the other
hand, just had this connection… like we could read each other’s
minds. He would give me a simple clue, a simple gesture, and the
right word would come to my mind.

One time, Ryder acted out
a clue. He pointed a finger at himself, and then gestured an
imaginary cap being put on his head.

“
Bartender?” I
guessed.

He nodded. I shouted and
jumped for joy. He came to take me in his arms, and lifted me off
my feet. I gave a little hop in the air and wrapped both my legs
around his waist. We were both laughing, then I leaned forward and
gave him a kiss.

We were still laughing
when he put me back on my feet.

They decided to kick it up
a notch by moving on to phrases.

“
Are you sure, guys?”
Ryder asked them teasingly. “You can’t even get the words
‘pancakes’ and ‘lions’.”

We annihilated them. It
was like Ryder and I had known each other for a long time and our
minds were totally connected.

The last word we had was
the most difficult one and Janis and Jake were quite confident that
we wouldn’t be able to get it.

I stood in front of Ryder
and showed my ring finger.

“
Ring?” he
asked.

I nodded. I pointed at
myself and then at him, I made a hugging gesture, and I ran my
finger from my eyes down my cheeks.

“
A fake diamond ring!” he
guessed.

I shrieked and ran to him
again. He caught me in his arms and spun me around. He was
laughing. I felt like crying, remembering my fake engagement ring
for the first time in months. I stared up at Ryder and he was
smiling apologetically at me. But I felt like it all happened in
another lifetime.

Ryder leaned forward and
kissed me passionately. I wrapped my arms around his neck and
kissed him back. We only stopped kissing when Jake not-so-subtly
coughed at us.

Ryder chuckled and kissed
my forehead before finally releasing me.

“
How long have you guys
really known each other?” Janis asked in amazement. “I wouldn’t
make that one out for a
fake diamond
ring
!”

“
Neither would I if it
didn’t have a story behind it,” Ryder said.

“
Okay, tell us the story,”
Janis said.

We sat on the benches.
Ryder pulled me over so I could sit on his lap. He wound his arms
around me.

“
The very first time I saw
her was when she was walking out of a jewelry shop,” Ryder said. “I
was picking up a bracelet for my mother. As I walked into the shop,
she ran into me. She wasn’t looking where she was going. Her eyes
were… blinded by tears.” I leaned my head against Ryder’s shoulder
as I listened to his story. “We collided with each other and I had
to hold her steady to prevent her from falling on her
butt…

“
But instead of pulling
away from me, she held on to me and leaned her cheek on my shoulder
and she… cried. She wept in my arms, without looking up to see whom
I was. It was as if she had received such terrible news and she was
desperate for some comfort. When she ran into me, she took her
chance. She held on to me. I didn’t know why she was crying, but
somehow, I felt for her. So I held her for a while. I… provided the
comfort that she needed at the time. And she… smelled so good, and
felt so soft in my arms, I couldn’t help it either.”

“
Why were you crying?”
Janis asked curiously.

I took a deep breath. And
then, with courage, I said quietly, “The guy at the jewelry shop
told me that my ex-fiancé gave me a fake diamond ring.”

There was silence. I
stared at Janis and Jake and they were looking at me
apologetically.

“
I’m sorry,” Janis
said.

I smiled at them. “It’s
okay now, guys. I’m over it. I’m lucky I ran into Ryder that day.
And I’m lucky to find him again shortly after that.”

It's true. I was lucky I
ran into him that day. I was also lucky that I found him again—at
the time when I needed him the most. And it didn’t matter whether
he was the bartender or the owner of the bar… he was my savior. My
knight in shining armor. When I looked into Ryder’s eyes, I knew he
knew that I meant those words too. He gently leaned forward and
gave me a kiss on the lips. And then he leaned his head towards
mine and breathed in the scent of me.

I sighed. I wanted to cry.
I realized that he
was
the same Ryder that was with me at Bryan and Geena’s wedding,
back when I thought he was just a mere bartender. Nothing changed
except for the fact that I knew who he really was now. But other
than the rich birthright, he seemed like the same amazing guy who
helped me show Bryan and Geena that I was better off without both
of them! The same guy who helped me get over my broken engagement
with flair. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how much I
missed him. Just how much I had wanted to be with him without the
pain I felt about Bryan and Geena.

As I leaned into his
shoulder, I realized I was completely over Bryan and Geena. I was
still angry with them, but I guess that will not change for a long
time. Now, I have Ryder with me again. He’s just so sweet and
perfect. But I knew his life was complicated and I may not be able
to keep up with it. And besides, being over your previous
relationship doesn’t mean you have to jump into a new one
immediately.

But I had this weekend. He
was mine again.

After this… I’m just not
yet ready to be heartbroken again. I could have fun. But I couldn’t
hope for forever. Not yet. I’m still too vulnerable.

So maybe for now, I should
just enjoy the moment while it lasts. For this weekend only…. Ryder
Van Woodsen was mine.

***

The minute I stopped
pretending, I started welcoming all his gestures. I started
responding positively and that encouraged him to do more. I didn’t
care. I only had this weekend. Outside of this time and place, this
fairy tale couldn’t be real. I was not yet ready for a
relationship. And I doubted I’d ever be ready to have a
relationship with Ryder Van Woodsen.

We partied after dinner
and a bonfire by the beach. Janis and I were becoming more
comfortable with each other.

“
So you were engaged
once?” she asked when Jake and Ryder went to get our
drinks.

I nodded. “He was my best
friend for years before we started dating.”

“
Why did it end? Because
he gave you a fake engagement ring?”

I shook my head. “No. It
was over long before that.” I sighed. “I was planning our wedding
when I caught him having an argument with my cousin over whether or
not they should keep their baby.”

Janis’s eyes widened. “You
did not!” Her tone was abhorred, as if she couldn’t believe what
she was hearing.

“
Did too.” I giggled
humorlessly.

“
And you called off the
whole wedding?”

I nodded. “But I made the
big mistake of not canceling all the arrangements myself. I threw
all the contacts and receipts in his face and asked him to make the
cancellations himself, if he wanted his money back.”

“
And then?”

I sighed. “He didn’t
cancel. Probably figured it would be easier and much cheaper for
him to push through with the wedding than call it off. So… my dream
wedding happened. From the invitations, down to the honeymoon
suite! It happened exactly how I wanted it to be. The only
difference was, I wasn’t the bride anymore!”

“
He didn’t!” Janis had her
hands on her mouth. “That is disgusting! How… how could your cousin
do that to you?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. But
I think I’ve had a bit of my revenge already.”

“
How?”

“
I attended the
wedding.”

Janis’s jaw dropped and I
had to smile at that.

“
I went there with Ryder.
I showed all my relatives how better off I was! I looked pretty and
sexy, with an even sexier man in my arms!”

Janis laughed. “I’ll bet
Ryder tried his best to impress your relatives!”

I nodded. “He wasn’t able
to resist. He knew everybody was going to feel sorry for me
because… I was supposed to be the bride that day. He tried his best
to help me keep my head up high.” I stared over at Ryder who was
approaching me with my drink in his hand. “A pretty thing like
that? Even the bride wished she was me.”

Janis laughed again. “How
wonderful! What a great way to get even! But still… what they did
to you was… unthinkable.”

“
Well, heartbreak went
even further. I lost my job after that because I didn’t believe in
‘
ever afters
’
anymore. I was telling brides-to-be that green was the color of
vomit, instead of the color of fresh harmony.”

“
Wow! That’s severe
bitterness.”

I nodded. “That was before
Ryder came into my life.” By that time, Ryder sat beside me and
handed me my drink.