A Promise Kept, A Heart Healed

oss the ballroom, her expres

d superior. With her family's fortune gone, she couldn't afford to bi

up for bid: an antique dia

ing at ten thousand dollars. Su

lled, her voice ringing

d. People turned to stare. She

your billionaire boyfriend paying for tha

sed up, his jaw clenched in anger at the insult directed at her. But h

ted, her voice trembling with a

e else was willing to jump

g twice..." the auctioneer called. "So

y approached Ashley with a payment ter

bravado crumbling. She turned and locked eyes w

" she

. "That bracelet is for his fi

adable. For a fleeting moment, I thought he was fina

rds him. "Liam, please," she

d, his voice

the air. A collective ga

blic rejection was too much for

bracelet, which the assistant was holding. With a wild cry, she snatched it a

are, then turned and fled the ballr

ace was a thunderous mask. He turned and strod

was going

outside the venue. Ashley was sitting on a stone

y?" he asked, his voice softer now, the a

t was the last piece of her jewelry I thought I could ev

The story, true or not,

me, I would have bought i

her eyes wide and we

rse," h

ay no in there? You le

off. "I'll make it up to you.

"How will yo

strange light in h

essed a soft, quick kiss

y went rigid. I saw the t

ned in again, and this time, the kiss wasn

me, Liam di

k of her head, his fingers tangling in her ha

her, a passionate, desper

ust an hour ago, promising me a romantic evening, was n

understood. It wasn't

as l