"Was offered to the highest bidder."
"People think that I asked y
ou to buy it."
Interested, he angled his head. Yes, her face was definitely flushed, he noted. Her eyes bright and hot. Embarrassment was a new, and not unattractive, look on her. "Since when do you care what people think?"
"I'm trying to learn to care."
He considered. "Why?"
"Because…" She closed her eyes again. "I have no idea. I have no earthly idea."
"All right, then." He slipped the pearls out of his pocket, running them through his hand as he studied them. "Just grains of sand, hunks of carbon, tricked into something lovely by time and nature."
"Spoken like a man."
His gaze lifted, locked on hers, made her stomach tremble. "I made up my mind to buy it when I was inside you, and this was all you were wearing, and you looked at me as if nothing else existed but us. That's spoken like a man, too. A man who loves you, Margo. And always has."
Terrified and thrilled, she stared at him. "I can't breathe."
"I know the feeling."
"No, I really can't breathe." Quickly, she dropped into a chair and put her spinning head between her knees.
"Well, that's quite a reaction to a declaration of love." He slid the pearls back into his pocket so he could rub her back. "Is it your usual?"
"No."
His grim mouth curved a little. "That's something, then."
"I'm not ready." She drew in air slowly, tried to let it out molecule by molecule. "I'm just not ready for this. For you. I love you too, but I'm not ready."
Of all the scenarios he'd imagined when she would finally tell him she loved him, none of them had included her saying the words with her head between her knees.
"Would you mind sitting up and telling me that again. Just the 'I love you' part."
Cautious, she lifted her head. "I do love you, but—No, don't touch me now."
"The hell with that." He hauled her out of the chair and crushed his mouth to hers with more impatience than finesse.
Chapter Eighteen
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Kate opened the door of the storeroom and let out a long, windy sigh at the sight of Josh and Margo locked in a passionate embrace. Maybe it did warm her heart, but there was no reason to let them know that.
"Do you two mind putting your glands on hold so we can finish out the evening with some sense of decorum?"
Josh tore his mouth from Margo's long enough to suck in a breath. "Scram," he ordered and got back to business.
"I will not scram. There are still over a dozen people out there who expect to be bid a fond farewell by the owners. All three owners. And that includes the woman you're currently performing an emergency tonsillectomy on."
Josh gave her a brief glance over the top of Margo's head. "Kate, you're such a romantic fool."
"I know, it's a weakness of mine." She stepped up and pried them apart. "I'm sure the two of you can remember where you left off. Come on, partner. Oh, and Josh, you might want to stay in here until you're a little more… presentable."
He damned near blushed. "Sisters aren't supposed to notice that sort of thing."