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CHAPTER27
QUINCY
Piper and Jewel and several of our friends were hitting the Fly tonight and had invited me since I had the night off. I’d shocked them and myself by saying no. A month ago, I would’ve joined them in an instant, but tonight getting prettied up and being social for hours on end didn’t appeal.
I’d just finished feeding Juniper her early dinner when Knox came out to the kitchen grinning.
“Well?” I asked as I wiped baby carrots from Juniper’s face and hands. “How does it look?”
“It’s perfect. Even better than I was hoping for.”
“Will you show me?”
“I’d love to. It’s incredible, Quince.” His voice was chock-full of the most endearing little-boy enthusiasm.
I finished cleaning the messy princess, then lifted her out of the high chair.
“You’re about done with June Bug duty,” Knox said. “I can take her.”
“As if this is any hardship,” I said, kissing the baby’s rosy cheek. “You’re much more than just a ‘duty’ to me, aren’t you, sweet pea?”
Juniper patted my shoulder and voiced her opinion in baby babble as I followed Knox to his office.
The bookshelf he’d waited weeks for had finally been delivered an hour ago. It’d been crated up tight, so I hadn’t even caught a glimpse as he and the delivery guy had moved it in.
As I followed him into his work haven, I gasped. “It’s a work of art, Knox.”
On the wall opposite his desk stood a tall bookcase made of a dark wood with a gorgeous grain to it. The showpiece part of it though, and the reason it’d taken more than a month to arrive, was a hand-carved dragon out of the same wood that crouched along the top, his head dipping down on the right side as if to guard his books, and his long, glorious tail trailing down the left outer side of the bookcase almost to the floor. Built-in, blue-green lighting under the shelves added to the fantasy-novel aura of it.
I walked over to it, my mouth gaping. When I glanced at Knox, he was smiling hard, his eyes lit up.
“Wow,” I said.
“I know. It’s incredible. Better than I ever imagined. So much more so than the photos on the website could convey.” He shook his head. “It’s perfect. I can’t wait to get my special books unpacked in their new home.”
“Want some help?”
“Really? You want to pull dusty books out of boxes with me?”
“I’d love to.” I wasn’t much of a book person, but I was totally becoming a Knox person, and I loved seeing him so happy.
“Don’t you have plans with the girls?”
“I told them no, so”—I shrugged—“I’m all yours.” I kept my tone light and held my empty hand out to the side, offering myself up.
His brows shot up. “That’s a heck of an offer.”
“I know,” I said, grinning. “I don’t make it to just anyone.”
“I was planning to wait till after June Bug went to bed so I could focus on the task.”
“We can bring the playpen in and start right away. I know you’re dying to.”
“I might be dying to. The boxes are here in the closet. I’ll treat you to pizza delivery afterward.”
While he pulled multiple book boxes from the closet, I brought the playpen from the living room to the office.
Knox relieved me of the playpen and set it up out of the way, though with so many boxes of books, we were running out of space. I set Juniper inside, then went to gather some board books and toys for her. When I returned, she was on her knees, peering out at Knox as he cut the tape on the first box.
