Winter grinned and rested his hand on his cheek. “The most exquisite clarity natural rubies. They’re more expensive than diamonds.” He smoothed his hands down his sides, and I laughed at his small hip wriggle. “I have a full set that has been waiting for someone of your... shall we say, eminence?”
“You mean someone willing to spend a stupid amount of money?”
“Yes,” he said with a laugh.
I sighed, staring at the floor, and nodded. “Show me. Show me anything that would go with pale skin, beautiful brown hair, and pretty pink lips.”
“Oh, sir, rubies it is.” Winter sent an excited flurry of snaps in my direction, and I let myself laugh even though I still felt like shit as he hustled through a doorway behind the display tables. “Come along, Mr. Bouchard,” he called back. “Some things are too expensive to leave lying around.” I couldn’t do anything but comply.
I made it a hell of a day as far as draining my accounts went and left with a large bag. I’d found rubies and emeralds and even a string of diamonds I could put around Noah’s naked waist as a belt. I drove home like a bat out of hell, my mind buzzing. As I parked the car I considered my day and decided I was probably the one who was completely in the wrong the whole way around. Why had I acted this way? What was wrong with me? I sat for too long and stared out the windshield. If I only had a little time left with Noah, why did I want to ruin it?
He deserved better.
I picked up the bag and got out of the car, hoping I could get away with dressing him in jewels and not apologizing, even though I would’ve been pissed if he let anyone else act like a fuck with him.
When I walked inside I checked my watch and it was after nine. Noah wasn’t in the small dining room. He wasn’t downstairs at all. When I went upstairs he wasn’t in our bedroom, so I checked my office. He was nowhere to be found. My heart began to hammer and my fury from earlier sparked and grew in new and horrible ways.
“Looking for someone?” Antoine asked, and I whirled in the hallway to find him standing with his hands behind his back. His blond hair was smoothed with not a hair out of place, despite the hour.
I clutched the handle of the elaborate bag containing Noah’s latest gift. “Where’s my husband?”
Antoine glanced at his fingernails.
“Answer me!”
He switched to inspecting the other hand. “You upset him.”
“I got him a gift.” I held up the bag, and Antoine’s eyebrows twitched. It was a good bet he recognized where the present had come from.
“Be that as it may, you’ll have to wait to give it to him because he’s not here.”
“What?” I asked, and I didn’t care how dangerous I sounded, not even when Antoine’s eyes widened and he backpedaled away from me. “Where the hell is he?”
“He was upset and talked to your mother, and I believe she told him to, and I’m quoting here, ‘go stay with a friend until your husband pulls his head out of his ass.’”
My gut sank. Dear, sweet baby Jesus, I’d never thought he would involve her. “Why did he rat me out to Mama?”
“They talk every day. Weren’t you aware? She called when we were on the way home, and she could tell he was upset. That woman is very persuasive when she wants to know something.”
“I’m gonna ask you once more.” I stormed toward Antoine and just stopped myself from decking him. “Where’s my husband? He doesn’t have any friends!”
Antoine’s expression hardened, and I swallowed down a lump in my throat. “I believe he took his sketching items to Tucker’s and he’s planning to stay there for the night.”
Relief hit me like a freight train, but then the anger was back, boiling the blood in my veins. “Like hell he is.” I stomped down the hall to the right side of the split staircase, then felt stupid. “Uh, where is Tucker’s room?”
“He’s in the carriage house next to mine at the rear of the grounds, sir.”
I slunk off under his narrow-eyed glare.
When I got across the wet lawn to the carriage houses, I scraped some mud from my shoes on the concrete path and went to the one that had a light on. It took me another minute to knock, and poor Tucker almost fainted when he opened the front door.
“Where’s my husband?”
He held up a finger, then rushed inside. A torturous minute dragged by before Noah came out and leaned against the door while glaring at my chest, rather than my face. He was in pajama pants that were adorable and clung just right to his ass, and a long-sleeved shirt that made me want to peel it off him and nibble at everything underneath. Awkwardly, I held the bag.
He didn’t say anything, only lowered his chin to scowl at my feet.
I didn’t say anything either, just shoved the bag toward him. He took it with a frown and reached in to lift the lid on the top box. A beautiful ruby ring was nestled inside. He didn’t have anything that went with his titanium wedding band, but I’d thought the silver would match well enough. He glanced up at me.
