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I laughed as I left the room, wondering to whom exactly I should be giving hell. The answer came quickly. Josh, of course. Always Josh.
The man himself was sitting on the floor outside my room. My steps slowed. “Hell-o.” I drew it out with hell still on my brain. “What are you doing here?”
He looked like he was going out. He’d changed and was dressed in a shirt, tie, suit jacket, and dress pants pressed so well I could see the sharp lines down the middle of his pants legs even though they were being stretched by powerful muscles.
He scrambled to stand. “Waiting for you.”
His eyes followed me as I stepped around him without speaking and opened my door. He hesitated in the hall, obviously uncertain of his welcome, despite our extreme physical closeness not a half hour ago. “You can come in.” I held the door open for him. “I won’t be doing any more experimental kissing. I’m all cured now.”
He nodded. “Good. That’s good. It’s always good to cure a disease, right?” He cleared his throat. “Hey. It’s fine that we’re done with…experimenting…but I needed to give you something, and you ran out before I could.”
“Oh?” My heart hammered faster, and a spike of curiosity woke up my flagging energy. Josh had something he wanted to give me? I couldn’t picture anything he’d want to give me or any reason that would prompt him to. But I loved presents.
He shook his head, his face turning pink. “It’s not a big deal. It’s actually just a little bit of a Christmas present. I didn’t give it to you before because I had it made here—since I got to New York—and it wasn’t ready until today.”
“Let me get this straight,” I said, stepping closer. “You just got me theonepresent?”
His face split into a grin, and he chuckled. “Okay. I’ll shut up, and you can have it.” He slid his hand into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a jewelry-sized box.
My heart stuttered, and I pinned my arm to my side to keep myself from snatching it out of his hand. The tension was killing me. The box was definitely not a ring box, and it was bigger than the size that usually contained earrings or a toe ring, though maybe if they were really long earrings or jewelry for really oddly shaped toes.
He handed it over, and I held it in my hands, listening to the blood rushing in my ears, feeling it pump with excitement through my body. Josh was giving me a gift.
Unless it was a joke and the box was empty.
“Just open it,” he said, his smile more confident now, probably because he saw my doubt.
There was no gift wrap covering the small hinged box that was still bigger than a ring box. I flipped the lid, and my heart flipped too.
It was a necklace. A small, delicate, gold pendant on a slim gold chain. It was a tiny, detailed, beautifully drawn outline of Manhattan’s skyline.
“Oh!” I breathed and touched my fingers to the tiny sliver of New York that now belonged to me. A sense of wonder and…rightness filled me. “Thank you, Josh. I love it.”
He smiled, and his chest swelled proudly. He must have been able to see just how much I really did love it.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “I know how much this city means to you, and I thought you should have a piece of it.”
My fingers trembled as I lifted it from the box. “Help me put it on?”
“Sure.” He took the necklace from me, pleased. I turned my back to him and lifted up my hair.
He hesitated and threaded the chain around my neck and did the clasp, the backs of his fingertips brushing my skin in a featherlight touch. “There,” he said. “Let me see.”
I turned around dutifully and pushed my shoulders back. “How does it look?”
“Perfect,” he said on a breath. “You look perfect.” His eyes rested on me with a hunger and longing I could have mirrored for the last five years. My twist of feelings for him were too tangled to figure out in this moment. But I loved my Christmas present.
“Oh, thank you again, Josh!” I squealed. I threw my arms around him in a big hug that surprised him enough that he stumbled back a step before cementing his footing.
He laughed. “You’re welcome.”
“Well, you are a doll! And you have excellent taste. Very American. I’m glad London didn’t suck the American right out of you.”
“Uh, yeah. Me too.”
I looped my arm through his and guided him to the door, ignoring the slight ache of guilt in my heart. “My necklace is gorgeous. Wonderful! Thanks again. I’ll see you later! I have to get ready for my date tonight. Bye!”
He was in the hallway wearing a dazed expression probably before he knew it. I closed my door and told my hand to quit it when it tried to grab the handle to open the door again. I really did have a date to get ready for. A thoughtful Christmas gift from Josh—whatever it may or may not mean in relation to us—wasn’t going to change my plans.
