weekend,” I said against the skin of her neck.
Her hand slipped up, stroked my cheek. “Thank you for the honor of serving you.”
—NATHANIEL—
Abby was scheduled to work only Monday and Tuesday. She took the rest of the week off to help Felicia. Before she left my house on Sunday, we made plans to eat lunch together on Tuesday.
She called on Tuesday morning. Two librarians had called in sick, three second-grade classes were coming for story time, and the library computer was printing out book return dates for June 2007. She felt horrible, but there was no way she could take an hour away from the library for lunch.
So at eleven thirty, I called her favorite Italian restaurant and delivered a picnic lunch at noon.
“Nathaniel,” she said, looking up from the front desk, Martha at her side. “You didn’t have to bring lunch.”
“And if I hadn’t, when and what would you have done for lunch?” I asked.
She stepped out from behind the desk. “I would have had a stale protein bar about two hours from now.” She hugged me. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” I said, delighting in her arms around me.
“Can you stay and eat with me?” she asked. “I can take thirty minutes, if you don’t mind eating in the break room.”
“I’d love to. Matter of fact, I’m counting on it. I have enough for two.” I reached into the bag. “I brought this for you, Martha. A little ‘thank-you.’” I handed the startled librarian a pale yellow rose.
“Why, thank you, Mr. West,” she said, taking the rose. “I can’t remember the last time a man bought me a flower.”
“That was very nice of you,” Abby said, as we walked out of the main room of the library, leaving Martha smelling her rose. “She’ll be all aflutter the rest of the day.”
“It was the least I could do. I told you, I never would have left you the rose in the first place if she hadn’t caught me with it. Speaking of which . . .” I reached back into the bag. “I think this one’s yours.” I took out the pale cream rose, just a hint of pink flush on the petal tips, and handed it to her.
Her mouth formed the most adorable O before settling into a mischievous grin. “Why, thank you, kind sir,” she said, taking the flower. “But I do believe you just gave my supervisor the same token of your affection.”
“I did no such thing,” I said with fake shock. “Hers was yellow. Yours carries considerably more meaning.” I patted my pocket, checking to ensure the box was still there. “Besides, I might have a little something else for you.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“After lunch,” I said.
She pushed open the door to the break room. “We’ll have to eat in here. There’s a grad student working on his thesis in Rare Books today.”
I followed her inside. “I suppose we should let him work.”
“I’d kick him out if I could.”
“It’s a long time until Saturday night. Don’t tempt me.”
I spread out our antipasti and gave her a fork. “How’s Felicia?”
She sat down. “Pissed at me.”
I looked up from my plate. “Why?”
“She’s upset I spent the weekend in New Hampshire.”
“Really?”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “She’s like that. I think every bride goes through it. I’m not sure what I could have done for her over the weekend anyway. She was with Jackson the whole time.”
I forked an olive. “I’m sorry our weekend away caused trouble between the two of you.”
“Don’t be. Like I said, she’s like that about anything and everything these days.”
“What are your plans for the rest of the week?”
“Bridesmaid luncheon tomorrow,” she said. “Dad gets in on Thursday. Elaina and I are taking Felicia to a spa on Friday before the rehearsal.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me. “What about you?”
“Todd and I are taking Jackson away for the day Friday.” Payback for what Jackson did to Todd when he married Elaina.
“You aren’t taking him to a strip club, are you?”
I waggled my eyebrows. “And if we are?”
She looked down at her plate, all nonchalant. “I might have to respectfully protest.”
“Respectfully protest? Not firmly reprimand?”
“If I protest, there won’t be a firmly anything.” Her hand brushed my upper thigh under the small table and worked its way up.
“You better move your hand. Unless you want me to jerk you up from the table, throw you over my shoulder, and bust into the Rare Books Collection, giving that poor graduate student the shock of his life.”
Her hand inched upward, lightly stroking the base of my cock. “You wouldn’t.”
“Abby,” I warned in the tone of voice I reserved for weekends.
She looked up at me for just a minute, perhaps trying to decide if I was teasing or not. I wasn’t. I started counting in my head—she had until three.
She moved her hand. “Stupid grad student,” she mumbled under her breath.
We chatted a bit about the wedding, our plans for the weekend, how Todd and Elaina’s house was being transformed to accommodate the ceremony and reception. Maybe, I thought, we’d be so busy, the time would pass quickly until we could be together again.
My hand grazed hers across the tiny table, and it felt as though the box in my pocket was on fire. I shifted in my seat.
When we finished and cleared the table, she stood up. “I’d better be heading back to work. Thanks again for lunch.”
“Before you go, I have something for you.”
“Right,” she said, picking up the rose. “Something to make up for giving both me and my boss a flower.”
I slipped the pale blue box from my pocket.
Her eyes grew wide. She set the rose on the table. “Nathaniel.”
“It’s just a little something I found and wanted you to have.”
“From Tiffany?”
“Open it,” I said, passing her the box.
She took it with tentative fingers.
“The bow got a little squashed in my pocket,” I said.
She untied the bow and slowly lifted the lid. I knew exactly what she saw when her breath rushed out. Two diamond earrings. Large, flawless ones. My father had exceptional taste.
Her expression changed from shock to amazement. “These are . . . They’re . . .” Her free hand danced around her throat.
“They were my mother’s,” I said. “I want you to have them.”
“Your mother’s?”
I nodded, even though she wasn’t watching me. Her fingertip traced one of the round stones. I’d remembered the earrings on Sunday night, one of the many pieces of jewelry left to me by my mother. Remembered how they sat in the locked box I had that held my parents’ wedding bands. As soon as I remembered the earrings, I knew I wanted her to have them.
