His eyes met mine, and seeing that I was joking, he smiled back at me.
Damn, if it didn’t make my heart thump.
What was I talking about? Oh, that’s right...
“Ro is doing some remodeling at our place. It was an old ranch cottage or something. It’s super cute, don’t get me wrong, and I love it. But my room is just blank, white walls. And boxes... I’ve been so busy with the store. I’m mostly unpacked, save a few last things. But I’m definitely going to need some floor-to-ceiling bookcases and an amazing chair by the window, reading lamps.”
“Would you get sick of looking at books? All day at work, then in your room as well.”
I looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Never.”
He grinned. “I didn’t think so.”
“You’ll have to come around sometime,” I offered, trying to play it cool. “I’ll return the dinner favor. You can see Merry and Bright and how playful they are now. They’re just the cutest little demons ever.”
Deacon smiled at me, his eyes on mine in that intense way he could just stare right into me.
“Has the show started?” Wayne called out from the kitchen.
Oh.
Yes, that’s what we were doing.
Deacon picked up the remote control and aimed it at the TV then he sat down on the sofa. It was a three-seater so I assumed I was to join him. I gestured to the seat beside him. “Can I?”
“Yes.”
There was a sponsorship break on the TV, so I was still clueless. “Uh, what show are we watching?”
“Antiques Roadshow,” he replied. “It’s our thing. If you’d rather not watch, if you think it’s silly...”
“Are you kidding?” I asked. “I love that you watchAntiques Roadshow. This sounds like so much fun.”
Wayne came in just as the intro music began and he sat in the chair closest to the bookcases. “Ah, good, haven’t missed anything yet.”
Of course, Mildred followed him in and she came trotting over to me, snuffling loudly. I pet her head and earned myself a wag of her stumpy little tail.
“She likes you,” Deacon said quietly.
Not gonna lie. It was an awesome feeling when someone’s dog or cat liked you. But I totally downplayed it. “She can probably smell the kittens on me.”
The TV show began and soon Vicky came in and sat in her chair, and I honestly loved the fact that this was a thing their family did. I hadn’t seenAntiques Roadshowin years and this was the English version, which was even better.
The first item was a brooch in the shape of a bird. It had diamonds and sapphires and rubies.
“1920s,” Wayne said. “French. £3,000.”
“Late nineteen-hundreds,” Deacon said. “English. £4,000.”
I laughed because, oh my god, this was fun.
“Uh,” I hedged. “1820s, Russian, £5,000. That’s a lot of diamonds.”
Deacon grinned at me, and when the expert announced the date and value, I was right.
“Oh my god,” I said. “I guessed that correctly? I love this game!”
“Beginner’s luck,” Wayne said with a smile.
