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“I didn’t mean to worry you.”
She worked the oddest hours of anyone he knew. The time at which most people started to peter out, she was just revving up for the creative part of her day. She fit other activities in around it but if anyone came around his house in the middle of the night, they’d be greeted by the sound of her fingers clicking away on her keyboard.
“I have other news for you,” she murmured as she turned to him and nuzzled his lips.
“What’s that?”
“In light of what happened last week, I made an announcement on my blog, and contacted all of the websites and blogs where I had live chats and talks planned and cancelled them, with the exception of one that is coming up late tomorrow night. I felt like that was not enough notice to give them so I plan to do that one but then that is it for a while. I explained in the article what happened last week and told everyone that I would still be on the other forms of social media but I wouldn’t be doing any more live online events for a while. All of the organizers understood after seeing the article and made other arrangements. I think I need to take a little personal time off anyway before I get my plans underway for next year.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Nika.”
“Any word from Duke?”
“He’s working on several leads and multiple projects and will be letting me know as soon as he has details. I’ll call him and let him know about your chat tomorrow night so he can be there, too. Maybe he can draw this BookAddictedWhore person out a little.”
Duke had found multiple threats on her computer that had gone unattended and had fixed several issues for her and set up all the backups and protections that she’d needed all along.
“He has a hypothesis that BookAddictedWhore may be a man. That username has a pretty misogynistic tone,” Hank said.
Veronica said, “I’ve wondered at times, too. In the past I told myself it didn’t matter if I interacted with women or men but yeah…could be a man, which could explain the aggression. Some men really hate romance novels.”
Hank stroked her shoulder as he squatted down in front of her, noticing that her bare skin was cool to his touch. “I got something I think you might like.” He held up the fancy boutique bag in his hand.
The weather had grown a colder and several times he’d caught her shivering in her chair without even being aware of it. They kept the heat turned up for her, but his ranch house was still chilly at times for someone walking around in the nude. He’d told her she could put on his robe, but she’d shook her head and told him that she liked writing in the nude. Said it freed her imagination somehow. It also freed his hands to roam when she took breaks to be with him and Travis. Their original purpose behind having her work in the nude had been fulfilled, as she now seemed much more comfortable with her body. It also seemed to have brought out a little of the sass in her, plus, it was just damned nice to be greeted by her, cuddly and naked, at the end of a long day.
Veronica smiled and said, “Hank, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I think you’re going to like this. Open it.”
He placed the bag from Discretion on the table and turned it so she could see the label and smiled at the way she squealed when she saw the name.
She dumped the contents onto the desk and her eyes got big and shiny as she unwrapped the scented tissue paper, revealing the gown. She lifted the bundle and unfolded it so she could run a fingertip over the fine stitches in the pattern of the crocheted gown.
“This cost a fortune. How did you know?” She looked up at him and her big brown eyes were misty. She leaned forward and kissed him.
“Grace added it to your wish list after she noticed your reaction when you saw it on your shopping trip.”
She stood from the chair and went right into his arms. A warm, sweet bundle of woman. “Thank you. I love it.”
“This way, you’re still a little nekkid, since you say you like that now. But it’ll give you a little warmth since it’s made of cotton. I want to see it on you.”
Dancing a happy little jig, she unfolded it and carefully slid her hands through the sleeves and her head through the deep V-neck opening and tied the laces under the bust into a bow. Hank thought she looked like a goddess in it. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you, Hank. I love it.” Her warm gaze mesmerized him as she stroked his cheek. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
