“What?”
“The safe. Aren’t you going to open it?”
She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“The necklace. Why we’re here. Returning it, remember?”
“Well, yeah. I thoughtyouwere returning it.”
He scowled. He had no idea what the combination was to Frances’s safe. “Can’t you just open it?”
She crossed her arms and tilted her head. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I don’t have supersonic hearing and I didn’t bring my stuff.”
“You had it earlier.”
“Yeah. It’s in your car. I didn’t realize I was on call. We can go get it if you want, but Frances is going to wonder what’s going on.”
“Fine. Okay.” Actually, he didn’t remember Emily taking the necklace out of the safe anyway. “We just need to leave it someplace where she’ll notice it, but not realize that it just magically appeared.”
“Like in a vanity drawer?” Grace crossed to theantique vanity and pulled out one of the tiny drawers. Even from across the room, he could see that it was crammed full of cosmetics, hairbrushes, and various other girly things.
“Perfect.” He pulled the box out of his jacket and opened it, then passed the necklace to her. “Just put it under a scarf or something. Not too hidden. We want her to find it.”
“What if she doesn’t?” Grace asked. “What if she just calls the cops and says it’s been stolen?”
“I’ll hear about it,” Kyle said. “She’ll either tell me, or I’ll hear about it from my cop friends. I’ll come over to have a look and—what do you know?—I’ll accidentally run across it.”
“That works,” she said. She started to slide it into the drawer, but then she straightened, her perfectly white teeth worrying her lower lip.
“What?” His senses immediately went on alert. “Do you hear something?”
“No, no. It’s just…” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just being silly.”
Her cheeks bloomed pink, and he thought she looked completely adorable. He was also totally intrigued. “What?”
The color in her cheeks increased, and she spoke to her shoes when she answered. “It’s just that my grandfather wanted me to have this necklace. Notthat he had any right,” she rushed to add. “But I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. And…” She gave a shrug. And when she looked up and met his eyes, he couldn’t help but smile.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Try it on.”
“You’re sure?” She licked her lips and made a face. “It sounds like such a girly-girl thing to want to do.”
“It is.”
At that, she rolled her eyes.
He just laughed. “I’m serious,” he said. “If you want to play the princess, I’m all for it.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He moved up behind her and plucked the necklace from her fingers. She was facing the mirror, and their eyes met in the reflection. Without a word she reached back and pulled up her hair.
He draped the necklace into place, then fastened the clasp, his fingers brushing her neck as he maneuvered the complicated clasp. She shivered slightly, and he fought the urge to bend down and kiss her, ever so softly, right at her hairline. He was being sentimental and foolish, and those were instincts best left unexplored.
She let her hair fall free and then turned to face him. The necklace sparkled and shimmered in the overhead lighting. She’d changed out of her blackturtleneck that morning, and now she wore one of his white button-downs. The top two buttons were unfastened, and the necklace filled the breach, fire and ice resting on a perfectly elegant Hepburnesque neck.
He wanted to run his finger over the fine bones there. To lean in and kiss the tiny indentations and smooth shadows. He stifled the urge, though, and instead simply told her that she looked absolutely beautiful.
* * *
