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“Now you have me intrigued. What exactly are you up to?”
“I told you, you’ll see soon enough. Just enjoy the sunshine and the walk.” He resisted the urge to take her hand back in his.
Soon they arrived at the shopping area. Now he just had to find the right shop.
“If you would tell me what you’re searching for, I could help.”
At that moment, he spotted it. “No need. I found it.”
They crossed the street and approached the exclusive jewelry store. “We’re here.”
“Here?” Sage glanced at the showroom window and then back at him. “You want to go jewelry shopping now?”
He shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Come on. Let’s have a look inside.”
Without waiting for her to protest, he opened the door for her. Sage hesitated, but eventually she stepped forward.
He knew what he was looking for. He passed by the gemstones, the sparkling diamond rings and the designer watches. And then he stopped in front of a glass case.
A young woman with a blond ponytail and navy blue dress stepped up to them. “Is there something I can show you?”
Sage leaned closer and whispered, “What are you doing?”
“Trust me.” He stared in the brightly lit glass case. His gaze skimmed past gold chains and paused at a bunch of large pendants. There were flowers, animals and other artistic shapes. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Red. A deep wine red.”
He glanced around until he found a silver filigree flower pendant that was accented with rubies. It was large and it was beautiful. It would do.
He pointed to it. “That one.”
The young woman removed it from the case. “Would you like to try it on?”
He gave Sage a quick glance. She was still frowning at him. He turned back to the saleswoman. “That’s okay. We’ll take it.”
With a frustrated sigh, Sage turned for the door.
He knew in this type of store that prices wouldn’t be marked on the jewelry. You didn’t come in here unless you could afford the precious gems. And right now, he’d pay anything to make things right with Sage. But he knew this necklace wouldn’t buy him forgiveness. It wasn’t why he’d purchased it.
Once he’d paid for the necklace, he joined Sage on the sidewalk. “I was worried you wouldn’t wait for me.”
“If you bought that for me, take it back. You should spend your money on someone you care about.”
“I care about you.” The words popped out before he could stop them. Was that true? Did he care about her? Now wasn’t the time to evaluate his emotions. He had to correct his slipup. “You know I care about you getting the magazine turned around.”
She continued to look at him as though not sure she believed him. Finally, she glanced away. “You know you can’t put that through on an expense report, right?”
“I know. It’ll be fine. Trust me.” He reached inside the fancy bag and withdrew the black velvet box. “Let’s try this on.”
Sage continued to mutter about how foolish this was, but once the necklace was on her, she quieted down. “It covers part of my badge.”
“The important part. The magazine’s name.”
She sent him a puzzled look, which was quickly replaced with a smile. “You want people to notice the necklace instead of the name of our magazine.”
“Exactly. First impressions are so important. There’s time later for telling them that you represent QTR.”
She smiled at him. “I knew there was a reason I hired you.”
