“Yes. And…” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the long box he’d kept in his office for the last month. He handed it to her, not sure what to say. The thing had been burning a hole in his desk so he’d shoved it in his safe until today.
He’d overheard her conversation with a friend when she’d been on lunch break, talking about how once she’d gotten her retirement accounts maxed out for the next five years in a row, this was going to be her Christmas present to herself. Well fuck that. He was going to give it to her now. He wanted to give her the whole damn world, anything she wanted.
Her eyebrows raised slightly as she started to open the box. She let out a gasp when she saw the gold roped necklace inside. She ran her fingers over the thick chain almost reverently. “Abram, this is beautiful… Oh my God, no.” She handed it back to him, her hand trembling even as she looked at the beautiful necklace. “I can’t take this. It’s over eight thousand dollars.” She whispered the last part as if he’d committed a sin.
It was more like twelve grand because he’d had diamonds added to it, but he didn’t correct her. “Who cares?”
She blinked. “It’s too much. Way too much. And we’re not even… What are we?” She linked her fingers together again in her lap.
“I told you what I want. What do you want?”
“You. Since the moment we met.”
Relief slammed through him and without thinking he pulled her into his lap. She let out a squeak of surprise and then her cheeks flushed that sexy-as-fuck shade of pink again when she shifted over his erection.
“That’s because of you,” he murmured. He’d been walking around with a hard on for months because of her.
Sitting sideways in his lap, she turned more to face him, placing her gentle hands on his shoulders. He’d never thought to fall for anyone, but definitely not someone as delicate-looking as Lucy. He’d learned early on that she might look fragile, but she was a force of nature. He adored everything about her.
“So you and I…will be exclusive?” She sounded almost unsure about that.
He snorted. “I’ve been exclusive to you since we hired you.” Because the thought of being with anyone else had been impossible. After he’d met Lucy, gotten to know the sweet woman who’d completely stolen his heart, everyone else paled in comparison.
Her lips parted slightly. “But I saw… I saw a jewelry box in your desk drawer a month ago. Just like that one. I thought maybe you were seeing someone…” She trailed off and for the first time since he’d known her, he could see true vulnerability in her dark eyes.
Without looking at it, he clasped it, slid it into her lap. “This is the same one. I bought this for you. I’ve never bought jewelry for another woman. Ever.” He’d never even thought to. He’d had bed partners, that was it. No one he wanted to spend time with outside of the bedroom. Until sweet, sexy Lucy who’d become a bright light in his life.
“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip, still looking unsure.
It drove him crazy. “What?”
“Nothing, just trying to wrap my head around all this. I’ve been into you since we met and I don’t know, I tried to convince myself it was a stupid crush. Then when I saw that necklace I was…insanely jealous. Which I feel stupid admitting. It was gone the next day from your drawer so I assumed you’d given it to someone.”
He decided not to tell her that he found her jealousy hot, but he liked knowing she gave a shit. “Is that why you’ve been frustrated with me the last month?”
“No. Maybe…yes.”
He opened the box and lifted out the piece of jewelry, clasped it around her neck. “I want to fu—make love to you with just this on.” It was totally barbaric but he wanted to claim her while she wore something he’d given her. Like he’d marked her.
She made a soft little moan and shifted in his lap, her eyes going heavy-lidded.
“You like the idea of that?” He knew he should offer to take her out to dinner, to do things a normal couple would do. But the need to be inside her, to claim her, was overwhelming.
Her breathing grew shallower as she lifted a hand to the necklace, gently ran her fingers along it. “This is too much,” she whispered, but there was no conviction in her voice.
“That’s not an answer, baby. You like the idea of me taking you wearing just this?” He leaned down, nipped her earlobe between his teeth. “Maybe fucking you from behind in front of a mirror so you can see us? See how sexy you look when I make you come?” He wanted to do more than just fuck, but the way Lucy reacted to his words told him she liked the way he was talking to her.
She clutched onto his shoulders, her breathing erratic as he scraped his teeth along the column of her neck. “There’s a big mirror in my guest bedroom,” she whispered again, her voice shaky.