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Smiling excitedly, she pulled the knot open and unwrapped the ribbon. She handed it to Boone, who stuffed it into his pocket. She plucked the lid from the box, staring at the silver and diamond tennis bracelet. “Oh my God, Boone.”
“Do you like it?” He sounded uncharacteristically shy.
She stared at him before cupping his face and softly kissing him. “I love it. It’s stunning. Will you help me put it on?”
“You want to wear it right now?” he asked.
“Yes, unless you don’t want me wearing it in front of your friends?” she said. She kept her disappointment hidden deep. Just because Boone bought her a very expensive gift didn’t mean he wanted a relationship with her.
When did you become so damn stupid, girl?
“They’re your friends, too,” he said, “and I want you to wear it. I just wasn’t sure if…”
They studied each other silently for a moment before Boone slid the bracelet around her wrist and latched it securely. He shoved the box back into his pocket as Hedra held her wrist up and studied how the diamonds caught the light.
“I love it, Boone. Thank you. Truly.”
“You’re welcome, little lamb.”
She kissed him again, and he purred softly before saying, “Why didn’t you come to my room last night?”
“It was late,” she said. “You had to work today.”
“I was still awake,” he said. “Hedra, if what we did before upset you, or if you’ve changed your mind about being with me, you can say so. I don’t want you to feel trapped or -”
She rested her forehead against his. “I don’t feel trapped, and believe me, I want to have sex with you. But I don’t… I don’t want your grandmother to hear us.”
He didn’t reply, and she said, “I know you’re a grown man, and it’s your house, but I’m her nurse, and I’m supposed to be taking care of her, not fucking you.”
“It’s not like we’d have sex during the day when you’re supposed to be working,” he said. “The evenings are your own, and you should be allowed to do whatever or whomever you want.”
“I know,” she said, “but it feels weird to me, and it’ll be awkward to face Althea when she not only can smell that we’ve had sex but can probably hear it too.”
“Her hearing isn’t that good anymore,” Boone said.
She smiled a little. “You get what I’m trying to say, don’t you, Boone?”
“I do,” he said. “I don’t like it, but I get it.”
“Maybe once I’m finished this job, we could…” It was her turn to feel shy and uncertain. What if Boone only wanted sex? She was about to make things supremely awkward between them if that was all he wanted.
“We could what?” Boone asked.
She took a deep breath but was too cowardly to tell him what she really wanted. “Maybe I could come by after your nan moves out, and we could have sex then?”
He smoothed her hair back from her face. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” She tried to smile at him and mostly succeeded. It was madness to think Boone would want to date when they’d barely been intimate, so why was she feeling such disappointment over her cowardice in asking for what she really wanted?
“We should get back,” she said. “I don’t want to be accused of ditching my own party.”
She tried to slip by him, pausing when Boone slid his arm around her waist and pulled her firmly against him again. “Hedra?”
“Yeah?” She was mesmerized by the soft sound of his purring and the brush of his warm hand up and down her spine.
“I want more than just sex,” Boone said.
Fierce joy washed over her. “You do?”
