“Let me help you.” Jaxon fastened the clasp for her.
Bryn held her arm up and smiled at the snowflakes sparkling on her wrist. “I love it.” And she did. In a strange way, it felt like she had a piece of her family back. Maybe he wasn’t a complete jerk after all. She gestured toward the box from the bookstore. “Your turn.”
He carefully removed the paper without ripping it. When he saw the leather-bound copies of Lord of the Rings he appeared confused. He picked up the first book and carefully opened the brown leather cover, smiling at the inscription on the first page. “How did you know?”
“I called your mom because I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome.”
“Jaxon, I know your father has something he wants to give you,” her grandfather said. “Why don’t you go see what it is? You can come back for cocoa afterward.”
Jaxon left the table and headed to his family. Bryn relaxed in her chair. “That went better than I expected. Now I have gifts for both of you.” She handed her grandparents their gifts.
Her grandfather opened his pen and grinned. “Very nice. I can always use new pens.” Her grandmother ran her fingers over the cashmere scarf. “It’s lovely. And I can wear it with my new hat.”
A cart came around with cocoa. Bryn grabbed one cup with marshmallows for herself and one without for Jaxon, which she put next to his books. For the moment, the world seemed to be back on track. All around her, happy families exchanged gifts and chattered. So far no one was attacking the estate like they’d done last year. Life was good.
Jaxon returned a few minutes later, with a huge grin on his face. “What has you so happy?” she asked him.
He pulled a set of car keys from his pocket. “A Lexus hybrid SUV, for those days when I need an SUV rather than my car.”
Yes. Because everyone needed two vehicles. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He sat and drank his cocoa. Bryn did her best to relax, but it felt like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. What was supposed to happen after the gift exchange? The ball had been interrupted at this point last year, so she had no idea. “Not that I’m complaining about the calm, but what’s next on the agenda?”
“After cocoa, everyone is free to mingle or relax. Guests with young children will head home,” her grandmother said. “The evening will wind down, and we’ll say goodbye to people as they leave.”
Bryn sipped her cocoa. “That sounds nice and uneventful.”
“Which would be a change from your usual life,” Jaxon said.
She knew he was teasing but felt the need to give him some grief. “I’d like to point out that you, too, tend to be in the middle of the chaos.”
“I prefer to think of myself as chaos adjacent,” he said. “Mostly due to my interactions with you.”
The orchestra started playing at a louder volume again. Several couples went back to the dance floor. The ones that did were looking at each other with what appeared to be love. Maybe they were just thrilled with their Christmas gifts, though it would be nice to think that some of them were happy in their relationships.
Jaxon sipped his cocoa and looked at his book. He should ask her to dance but he seemed to have no intention of doing that. She cleared her throat, to gain his attention. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your books, but you should probably ask me to dance.”
“Okay.” He closed the book and slid it back into the box. “Bryn, would you like to dance?”
“I would. Thank you.”
They joined the other couples on the dance floor and started to waltz.
“Did you want to dance,” Jaxon asked, “or did you just want people to see us dancing?”
“Both.” And that was the truth. “I’d like to think that dancing with me isn’t terrible.”
“And now you’re fishing for compliments.”
“If you’d actually given me a compliment, or commented on my appearance at all this evening,” she said, “I wouldn’t have to go fishing. And isn’t that part of your job description anyway?”
“My job description?” Once again he appeared confused.
“Just so you know, there’s a little voice in my head, set on repeat, saying, ‘Don’t kick him in the shins.’”
He stopped dancing. Luckily, the few couples on the dance floor were able to move around them. “We need to talk,” he said.
“We can’t talk here?” she said.
“No.”
“Fine. Follow me.” She led him out of the ballroom and up the stairs to the small living room next to the dining room where she usually ate with her grandparents. There were bookshelves and several wing-backed chairs and a chaise lounge. “Does this work for you?”
“Yes.” He sat in one of the black leather wing-backed chairs. She sat on the gray chaise lounge that faced him.
“Okay,” she said. “We’re here. Talk.”
“You’ve been acting strange this evening,” he said.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Me?” She laughed. “I’m the one who’s been acting strange?”
“You’ve threatened to kick me multiple times.”
“You’re right, I did, and with good cause. You haven’t said a single nice thing to me this evening except when you asked me about the cake. I realize you’re used to looking good all the time, but I put extra effort into my appearance this evening. It would be nice if you recognized that fact.”
He sat forward in his chair. “Seriously?”
It took skill to put so much contempt into such a short answer. Fire sparked in her gut. She closed her eyes and thought of snow. “Do you care to expand on that answer?”
“You’re being ridiculous.” He stood like he planned to leave.
Bryn ticked items off on her fingers. “You spent the first part of the evening avoiding me. You left me sitting by myself for the first dance and didn’t realize it was a problem until my grandmother pointed it out. You did work to make everyone believe that you didn’t mean to insult me or try to break our marriage contract because apparently, appearances matter more than my actual feelings, and now you’re acting like I’m the one with the problem. What in the hell is going on?”
“Why did you buy me those books?” Jaxon asked.
Okay. He didn’t answer her question but at least he was talking to her. “I wanted to find something you’d like. I didn’t want to do the impersonal-expensive gift. I wanted it to mean something.”
Jaxon reached into his jacket and pulled out another jeweler’s box. He came to sit next to her on the chaise. “I brought two gifts.” He popped open the lid on a sapphire and diamond bracelet that twinkled in the lights. “Behold the impersonal expensive gift. The one I didn’t give you because I wanted to give you something that had meaning, too.”
Okay. Where was he going with this? And then she understood. “You were hedging your bets in case I didn’t buy you something personal?”
He nodded. “And I traded in the bracelet I’d ordered for Rhianna to partially pay for these. Not because I needed the money, but I needed to do it to move on…to move forward in my relationship with you.”
“Okay.” How should she respond? “You get credit for that but why did you spend the first part of the evening ignoring me?”
He closed the jeweler’s box and shoved it back in his pocket. “I didn’t know how to deal with you.”
He sat close enough that she could look into his eyes and see he was being truthful. Too bad what he was saying didn’t make sense. “What are you talking about? You deal with me every day at school.”
“I do.” He reached over and touched one of the loose pieces of hair that wasn’t bound up by the hairpin. His fingers brushed across her neck, giving her goosebumps. His gaze locked onto hers. “But I’ve never seen you like this.”