Page 62 of Double Deal


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“That sounds about right,” Irving smirks. “It’s the Galloway Opal, as a matter of fact. Discovered about forty years ago in one of our mines. Exceedingly rare. One of a kind.”

“Sort of like you,” Cal adds.

My heart thuds frantically in my chest.

“I wanted something to commemorate this,” Irving explains gently. “You don’t have to accept it. But I want to—weneed to ask you. I know you only came down here to be an assistant… an employee…”

My hands flutter to my mouth, and I press my fingertips hard to my lips.

“I don’t understand,” I whisper.

“That’s because my brother is being ridiculously formal,” Cal chuckles.

He takes me by my shoulders and maneuvers me toward Irving, who repositions his hands in front of me. I watch the opal as it descends before my eyes and feel its warm, sensual weight on my sternum.

“What Irving is trying to say—badly, I might add—is do you want to build a resort with us?”

“Oh, it really is simple when you put it like that,” Irving mutters.

“Do I want to…”

“Hell, yes you do!” Tabby hollers from across the room.

“It’s a lot of work,” Cal smiles. “Really better to be on-site, don’t you think?”

My mind reels. Is this happening? A week ago, I was convinced I was being fired. Now I’m being asked to live on an island to build a dream with two beautiful, billionaire brothers? Can this be real?

“Completely real,” Irving murmurs in my ear, reading my mind.

“Can I… think about it?” I ask, swallowing hard.

I feel them stiffen behind me, but still, Irving closes the clasp behind my neck and squeezes me gently on the shoulders.

“Of course you can think about it. You definitely should.”

I whirl around, grinning. “I’ve thought about it! The answer is yes! Absolutely yes! Let’s build a resort together!”

Irving pulls a face. “Okay, you really scared me for a second there.”

Cal wraps his arms around my waist and dips his head to bite gently at the base of my neck.

“It was a joke, Irving, you see? Don’t you know what a joke is?”

“I’m working on it,” he smirks, raising his hands to cup my cheeks.

He tips my chin toward him, smiling as he slowly, gently covers my mouth with his, taking my breath away.

EPILOGUE

OPAL

The windows dim incrementally as the sun rises. Billions, even trillions of invisible nanobots rearrange themselves in a microscopic void between the glass panels so that the light that enters our bedroom is UV filtered, yet still brilliant and wonderful to be in.

Cal snores softly on my right, while Irving is curled around my left side. His eyes move as he dreams, and his sandy locks fall gently over his eyebrows. I wonder what he is dreaming about, but I’m sure he will tell me later. He comes up with the most wonderful things. His imagination is boundless when awake, but when sleeping, the whole universe is his playground.

I almost want to brush his hair back, and I don’t think I am used to the longer style yet. He used to keep it so short, clipped so neatly at his neck that he had to have someone do it every three days. Over the course of this project, many things about Irving have relaxed. The hair is just one part.

It is still early. I could utter a simple, quiet command to adjust the window shade nanobots to re-darken the room. But I already feel quite awake. Though I would love to simply snuggle here a while longer, I’m afraid my movements might disturb their sleep.

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