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“I already had Link fix the dent.” He waved his hand, as if it was no big deal.
“Do I have to ask again why there is new clothing on my bed?”
He exhaled and shook his head. “No. I just wanted to do something special for my girls.”
The endearment was like a sucker punch to her chest. His girls?
“I know this past month hasn’t been easy for you. There’s been a lot of transitions. I thought it would be nice to go out together and relax.”
She opened her mouth to tell him this was too much, but he lifted his hand.
“Gifts are a part of being my wife. Maybe we should have put that in the prenup.” He chuckled, his smile easy and relaxed, even a bit amused.
“I’ll be sure to give it all back to you when we . . .”
His smile dissolved as he shook his head. “That isn’t necessary.”
“But—”
“A gift doesn’t come with strings.” Aaron walked over to the other side of the room where a gym bag sat on the floor. He unzipped the pocket and pulled out a velvet blue box with a golden trident on it. He walked back to her and held it out.
With trembling hands, she accepted the box. It was the same type her engagement ring had come in. One of the finest jewelry craftsmen in the whole East Coast owned this company, Poseidon’s Treasure, and he lived right here in Shattered Cove. Brynn had passed his table at the farmer’s market and the local festivals a time or two, her gaze lingering on the exquisite handmade pieces, far out of her price range. “Aaron, I, this is too much.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Deep brown eyes locked on hers. “Wear it or don’t. It’s yours. But know this—nothing is too much for my wife.”
“But I’m a fake wife,” she reminded him. This was beginning to feel too real. She needed to keep the walls up between them. She couldn’t risk believing in more.
He sighed, and was that disappointment in his eyes? “But no one else knows that. I’ve made good money in my life and the right investments. As my legal wife, you’re entitled to reap those rewards too. And when we’re in public, people will expect me to spoil you like my life-long partner deserves.” He took a deep breath. “I like to give gifts, especially to the people who deserve them the most. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop.” His hands dropped from her face as he backed away, his shoulders slumping.
Giving gifts brought him joy? How could she take that from him after everything he’d done for her? Was his happiness worth her pride?
Brynn’s gaze dropped to the box in her hands. She opened it. The silver chain sparkled in the lighting. A silver pendant with pieces cut out in the shape of the continents adorned the center. Her breath caught as she looked up to him. “I’d be honored to wear it.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “May I?”
She handed him the box, then turned her back to him, lifting her short hair off her neck. He stepped closer, and though he wasn’t touching her, she could still sense his heat at her back. His musk was stronger, but if anything, he smelled better. He lowered the necklace in front of her face, his fingers brushing the back of her neck as he attached the clasp, making a tremble rock through her at the intimate contact.
She turned around, grasping the pendant between her fingers. “It’s beautiful.”
He licked his lips. “You are.”
She swallowed, searching his eyes. Her, beautiful? No. She was plain, and if he only knew just how ugly inside, he’d go running the other way.
“Do you know why I chose this?” He fingered the chain from her neck to her collarbone, making a fresh bout of heat ignite within her.
She shook her head, afraid her voice would fail her.
“To remind you, whenever you forget.” He wrapped his big strong hand around hers that held the Earth pendant. “That you deserve the world, and you should never settle for less.”
He’d stolen her breath. His heated eyes locked on hers. Tension rose between them. Her body burned for him. Her mind raced, but one thought screamed louder than all others. This man was a whole other kind of dangerous than she was used to. Because he makes me want to know what it would be like to have everything . . . with him.
