Jingle This! (13 page)

She just about fell off her chair, or she would have if she'd been sitting on one. "You've been engaged five times?"

"No."

"Then...?"

"I lied. I wanted to see if you were paying attention." He didn't even crack a smile, his gaze intent on the case. "You were, apparently."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, are you two looking for an engagement ring?" A saleswoman in a very expensive suit and perfectly coiffed auburn hair materialized before them.

Kyle answered before Angie could decline. "We're looking for the perfect diamond, one that says everlasting love."

"Kyle..."

He shushed her. "No, my love. I want you to have it. No more arguing about it."

His love?
Just like that, all her immunity to his charm was shot to hell. Maybe it was because she'd had repeated dreams in which he'd used that exact endearment while telling her he'd made a mistake in dating her sister. Or in the aftermath of their lovemaking.
"Angie, my love, I want to make love to you every night for the rest of my life. I can't live without you."

The saleswoman nodded. "What price range are you looking in?"

"Fifty thousand. Maybe a little more if it's perfect." Kyle dropped the numbers like he was talking about the price of milk, and the saleswoman bought it. She nearly tripped over herself sprinting to another cabinet for a display that would be "more to their liking."

While the saleswoman was off hunting and no doubt wiping the drool off her chin, Angie elbowed Kyle. "What are you doing?"

"Research. Let's find out what kind of love fifty grand will buy us." He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I think we look like a fifty grand ring kind of couple, don't you? You're gorgeous as usual with impeccable taste in clothes."

He thought she was gorgeous? Really? She knew she wasn't. She really did. She was very average. But the way Kyle had said it made her wonder if he truly thought she was gorgeous. Did he? Really? Because that would sort of make her melt a little bit…

Kyle rubbed his jaw. "I should have gotten my hair cut, don't you think? I'm a little shaggy for a big bucks kind of guy." He licked his hand and slicked his hair down, which made no difference at all, and Angie couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked trying to primp for the saleswoman.

"Don't laugh," he grumbled. "You could use a little help too." He pulled a monogrammed handkerchief out of his pocket, pretended to spit on it and then rubbed her cheek. "Just have a little bit of food stuck here."

She laughed and punched him lightly on the arm. "You're such a dork."

"Ah ha. A smile. I didn't think you owned any of those." He slung his arm around her shoulders and hauled her up against him as the saleswoman returned with several trays. "What do you think, sweetheart?"

Oh…it was getting more difficult to remember this wasn't real, that he was just doing it to help inspire her for Swift. It just felt so perfect. And the arm around her shoulders? His hard body pressed against her side? Heaven. But she had to remember it was simply part of the game. He wasn't feeling all sorts of weird zing-zings shooting up and down his body like she was.

Impervious jerk.

Or maybe his ruminations on the walk over had led him to the conclusion that he would only be complete as a man if he kidnapped her for some all-night loving.

Huh.

Unfortunately his decision was too late, since she'd already concluded that there were too many reasons not to shag him.

"So, here are some options you might like. All of these are specifically designed for Tiffany's, so you'll never see any other ring like them."

Angie grabbed Kyle's hand, which was on her shoulder, and threaded her fingers through his. She might as well play the game, since this was only for work purposes, right? Who knew? Maybe pretending to buy a diamond with the love of her life
would
get her back on track. Her muse could be satisfied simply by Angie
pretending
to be in love, instead of actually needing to rely on a man. "Mmm...those diamonds are kinda small." Kyle tightened his grip over hers. How was she supposed to concentrate now?

"Lovey, I want you to be happy." Kyle looked up. "Do you have anything with larger stones?"

The saleswoman nodded and popped another tray right up. "I thought you might say that. These will be much more to your liking I think."

If Kyle hadn't had her wedged against him, she was quite sure she would have dropped to the carpet laughing hysterically at the size of the jewels in those rings. She'd have to lift weights just to heft them around!

"So, which one speaks true love to you?" Kyle asked the saleswoman.

"True love?" The saleswoman picked up the one with the largest stone—gee, what a surprise—and held it up. "This one."

"Why?" Angie asked.

The saleswoman glanced at Angie. "Um...because...the setting."

"What about it?" This was fun, making the saleswoman squirm. Fun. Fun? She hadn't thought about fun in quite some time. What a novel idea. "What specifically about that setting says everlasting love more than this one?" She picked up another ring that, to her untrained eye, looked pretty darn similar, except the diamond was smaller.

The woman peered at the ring Angie was holding, then at the ring in her hand. "Well, they both declare love. That's what diamonds do. They are about love. They last forever, like love."

Angie snorted. "Since when does love last forever? I mean, sure, sometimes, but not always."

Kyle took the ring from the saleswoman and slipped it on Angie's ring finger. The one she'd scrubbed up nice and clean on Thanksgiving, thinking she'd be modeling a diamond on it. So she was a few days off with the timing, had the wrong guy, and had underestimated the cost by about two zeros? She still had a ring on her finger, didn't she? So life was just as she'd expected.

When Kyle brought her hand to his lips and kissed the ring, her flippant attitude abandoned her. Instead, her knees became wobbly and the flashing holiday lights started making her head spin.
Get it together, Angie. This is only an illusion.

Must.

Remember.

Broken.

Heart.

Kyle wrapped his hand around hers and studied the ring. "I think it says true love because the sapphires go all the way around, like a never-ending circle of love that can never be broken. The diamond in the middle is our hearts, intertwined so closely they look like one." He trailed his finger over the platinum band. "And each engraving on the band represents all the little hardships we've faced in life that have brought us closer together. They create beauty because they deepen our relationship and give our love the power and strength to last forever. And the diamond itself is as clear and pure as our love." He looked up. "Close your mouth, love. You're gaping again."

Angie snapped her mouth shut. What in the hell was that all about? What kind of man had that kind of insight? And how dare he show it to her? There was no chance she could resist that kind of talk. One night with that kind of a man was worth all the broken hearts in the world.

"Well, my, my, that was beautiful." The saleswoman was actually flushed.

Hey! He's with me!
"You can see why I picked him, can't you?" Angie said.

"Oh, yes. What a romantic." She held Angie's hand and inspected the ring. "If I had the money, I'd buy this ring out from under you. My heart is still pounding from that description." She locked her baby blues on Kyle. "You are such a catch. Truly."

Angie noticed then that Ms. Sophisticated Saleswoman wasn't wearing a ring of her own. Was she actually coveting Kyle? Forget that. For now, in this moment, he was her fiancé, and she wasn't going to be sharing him. Angie leaned closer to Kyle...a poor decision, as she got a whiff of him that mixed with the romance still dancing around her brain, a volatile combination that made her desperate for another kiss like the one she'd had at Macy's.

Take me. I'm yours.

Kyle slipped the ring off her hand, and she had to step on her own foot to keep from following it over the counter. He winked at the saleswoman. "Maybe I'll be back later to get it."

She giggled and winked back. "Of course. Maybe I'll set it aside in case you do."

Oh, puhleeze.
Don't be flirting with my man.

Oh my God. What was she thinking? He wasn't her man, and he wasn't buying her a rock the size of New York either.

His arm still over her shoulders, Kyle bid adieu to the saleswoman and then turned Angie away. "So, you still think diamonds aren't about love?"

She eyed him, using amazing self-control to keep from leaning into him and sucking all his maleness into her body before he could steal it away. "I think you should be writing the stories."

He grinned. "I was just having some fun."

"Seriously, I've never heard a man get all lovey dovey like that. Do you write poetry too? Sing love songs?"

His cheeks flushed a faint pink. "No. I was just goofing around to make you smile."

"Ah ha! Mr. Autocrat is getting embarrassed." Well, that was no good. She didn't need to add that he was human enough to be embarrassed on top of all his other appealing attributes. "That's why you're helping me with these stories. Not because of Swift, but because you love to wax poetic about all those emotional things but you're too much of a guy to admit it."

"Hey, look at that. A wedding." Kyle pointed across the room, but Angie didn't even look.

"That was a completely transparent attempt to change the subject." She rested her head against his arm that was still around her. "That's why you and Sheila didn't work out, isn't it? Because she's cold and heartless and wouldn't know love if it smacked her in the head and knocked her into a coma for a few weeks." She frowned, not so much liking the thought of Kyle and Sheila in love. "But really, deep down inside, you're a one-woman kind of guy."

Oh dear, she was getting sucked off her no-sex-with-Kyle pedestal by imagining him to be a romantic. She certainly hadn't stayed there very long, had she? What happened to willpower? Independence? Conviction?

"Seriously, it's a wedding." He pointed toward the Christmas tree, where there were a bride and groom posing in front of the Christmas tree while cameras snapped.

Excellent. She'd focus on the wedding. On getting another couple to interview. Work was a much safer topic. "It's not a wedding. It's a Tiffany's photo shoot. There are..." She quickly counted. "A giant camera and a light person. And a makeup person. It's definitely a photo shoot for the store."

He cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her. "I imagine many wedding photographers have a light person who works with them."

"And the photographer is wearing faded jeans and an old jacket." Mmm...now that she took a look at the photographer, he wasn't half bad. She sort of liked the blond streaks in his hair. And his battered boots? The antithesis of everything Tiffany's. Perhaps he would be a good distraction from her miserable social life.

"Why does it matter what he's wearing?"

"Because a wedding photographer would be dressed up. He'd never show up looking like he just came in from the desert." If she sidled up to him and flashed him a little thigh, maybe he'd take a break from his photo shoot and ravage her for a while. And then Kyle would get jealous and beat him up and declare his love for her...yes. She definitely needed to go over there and strike up a conversation...not to make Kyle jealous, but because she was not going to succumb to her attraction to Kyle. What better way to get over him than to seduce another man?

"His name's Luke."

Angie spun to find the flirty saleswoman leaning over her shoulder whispering. "What?"

"The photographer. His name's Luke. Quite a looker, isn't he?"

As if she was going to succeed in driving Angie into the arms of another man so she could get her grappling hooks into Kyle. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She took Kyle's arm and snuggled close, boxing out the woman.

Still focused on the wedding couple, Kyle was thankfully oblivious to her embarrassing show of possessiveness. He shook his head. "Look at the way the groom is gazing into the bride's eyes. That's not two models. It's true love."

"You're soft. You still have mush brain from that story you made up for the saleswoman." She craned her head to get a better look at the couple. The photographer glanced up, a quirky smile on his face. Was that smile for her? Could he sense her womanly virtues from this distance? And if he could, why couldn't Kyle sense them when he was only two inches away from her?
Focus, Angie.
"As I said, you should be writing the stories, with all the romance you see in everything."

He shot her a sharp look. "I'm only doing it for the story."

"I don't believe you. You're a sensitive guy who is trying to hide it." Good thing she didn't like sensitive guys. She liked men like Roger who were too emotionally stunted to commit. They were where it was at. Yeah…uh, huh…and maybe someday she would actually convince herself of that.

Kyle scowled. "I'm not. It's just about the story."

"Then why are you seeing love when it's just a couple of models?"

He glared at her. "You're the one who's overly cynical and wouldn't believe a couple who'd been married for seventy-five years actually had a good thing going."

"What?" Angie posted her hands on her hips. "I'm just a realist. It's obvious that both the bride and groom are models. What's cynical about that?"

Kyle eyed her for a long moment, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What do you want?" She shifted, a warm heat settling in her body at the feeling of being so caressed by his eyes...er...rather...inspected.

"Let's make a bet," he said.

A bet, huh? That led to all sorts of interesting possibilities in her mind. A bet as to how long they could kiss before one of them passed out. A bet about how long it would take for her to get his clothes off. "What kind of bet?"