“I am so sorr—”
“It’s okay. Greg is outside waiting to take me to the airport because my brother is too in love to pay me any attention right now.”
I rolled my eyes and helped her out of her chair. “Have a safe flight. Thank you so much for coming.”
“I will. I love you.”
“Love you too.” I gave her a hug and watched as she left the room.
I realized Claire had been gone for quite a while and stood up. I started walking towards the restrooms, but I saw her walking my way.
“Where’s Hayley?” she asked.
“She was sick of us staring at each other apparently. Are you okay?”
“Yeah...It’s just...Ashley and Caroline are driving me crazy about their shared car again...They called me on three-way to ask about letting one of them drive my car tonight.”
“You said no?”
“Of course I said no. They need to stick together and share what they have.”
“Okay... Are you ready to go?”
“After you open your presents. Let’s do that first and then—”
“I want to open them at home.”
I set the two presents—one sparkling red rectangular box, and one fat silver box—in front of the fireplace, waiting for Claire to sit next to me.
“Which one should I open first?” I asked.
“The silver one...”
“Okay.” I took my time un-wrapping it, unfolding every corner and gently pulling away each strip of tape. I placed each torn sheet in a neat stack and stuck all the tape pieces together.
“Why is it taking you so long?” She laughed. “Do you need help un-wrapping it? You’re acting like you’ve never received a birthday present before.”
“I haven’t.”
Her eyes widened and her face paled. “I’m sorry...I was just joking. I didn’t—”
I pulled her close. “You didn’t know. It’s okay.” I peeled the last bit of paper off and flipped over the box. I took the lid off and sucked in a breath once I saw what it was.
“I wasn’t sure what to get you since you seem to have everything already,” she said as she pulled the golden sea hooks out of the box. “Since you love yachts so much I figured I’d get you these...They say that sea hooks are—”
I knew exactly what sea hooks meant, exactly what they stood for. To someone who didn’t know yachts, they were simply huge golden metal hooks in the shape of an anchor, but I knew better. Every man who owned a yacht had a set of loose sea hooks, and whenever he was seeing someone he loved, someone he couldn’t live without, he was supposed to personalize them and weld them onto the ship’s real anchor. They were a symbol of longevity, a way of saying “I want to be with you.”
I looked over them and noticed that she’d already personalized them: Her name was etched alongside the edges in cursive and my name was etched at the bottom.
I didn’t know what to say so I simply opened the other present—much faster this time.
I laughed once I tore the last sheet of paper off. “I didn’t know they made a Harry Potter version of Monopoly...”
“They don’t...” She took the box from my hands. “I did some pretty intense work for Parker Brothers years ago and they owed me one, so I asked them to make a one of kind game just for you. I know that neither of these gifts is a new car or a–”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers, wrapping my arms around her tightly, not wanting to let her go. I pulled her down to the carpet and ran my hands across her hips, still exploring her mouth with my tongue—saying everything with kisses that I couldn’t say with words.
“Thank you very much,” I whispered once I had to take a breath. “Everything you did today means a lot to me...”
I’d never had a birthday party, birthday gifts, anything. My real parents never gave a shit about birthdays and my foster parents only gave me one present per year—on Christmas, and it was usually a used electronic device or a book. After growing up so long without a birthday, I never saw a point in celebrating.
I slowly let her go and reached into my back pocket. “I bought something for you too.” I handed her a small jewelry box.
“This isn’t an engagement ring is it?” She paled. “I can’t accept or agree to—”
“What?” I sat up and laughed. “No. I think I know you much better than that. Open it.”
“Can it wait until tomorrow? It’s your birthday and I don’t want to—”
“Open. The. Box.”
“But—”
“Now.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “I really don’t want to...”
Chapter 22
Claire
“Open the damn box, Claire.” His voice was stern. “I don’t feel like threatening you on my birthday.”
“You’re acknowledging that it’s your birthday now?”
“Five seconds.”
“No.”
“No?” He raised his eyebrow.