Tentatively she began to unwrap it, careful not to make a single tear in the paper. She slid her fingernail under the tape and lifted until she was able to free the box with the paper completely intact. She fingered the ribbon a moment as if savoring the satiny texture, much as he had savored the same satiny feel of her skin.
With the box now sitting on her lap, she stared at it as if she had no idea what to do next. He could see her sudden inhale and the fact that she didn’t immediately exhale.
“Open it, Angel,” he said in a husky voice he didn’t recognize.
Her fingers trembling, she slipped the lid off and bit her lip in consternation when she found yet another box, this one a velvet jeweler’s box inside the other. She turned it over and gently shook until the velvet box fell into her palm, and then she turned it over, her thumb clumsily opening the front.
“Oh, Drake,” she whispered.
Tears sparkled in her eyes as she looked up at him, and there was clear distress. What the hell?
“You shouldn’t have. It’s too expensive,” she said in a panicked tone.
And yet her finger trailed over the delicate angel pendant on the gold necklace nestled in the box.
“Do you like it?” he asked pointedly.
“I love it,” she said without hesitation. “It’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever given me.”
The ache in her voice gave him an answering ache in his chest.
“Then it wasn’t too expensive.”
“But Drake, you barely know me,” she protested. “You didn’t need to buy me a gift.”
“And you didn’t need to cook me dinner,” he challenged. “And yet you did.”
She looked flustered as if she had no idea what to say to that.
He knew if he waited for her to take the necklace out and put it on, they’d be there all night, so he took the box from her lap, removed the necklace from the trappings, and then instructed her to turn around.
She shifted immediately and once again, he was assailed by satisfaction that she heeded his commands without thought. This wasn’t a woman who could or would be just anyone’s submissive, and that made her all the more desirable to him. No, she washissubmissive. He didn’t fool himself into thinking she was a natural submissive and would react this way with just any man. That she had chosen him, whether sheconsciously realized it yet or not, was something he would not take for granted, and he would most certainly cherish it for the precious gift it was.
When she turned back around, her gaze and her fingers lowered to the necklace that rested in the hollow of her breasts. He’d nearly laughed when she’d shockingly said it was too expensive. This was the least expensive gift he’d ever given a woman, and yet it was so appropriate that he couldn’t pass it up. And there was also the fact that he knew he had to tread carefully with Evangeline. She wasn’t a woman to be draped with gaudy jewelry and clothing from head to toe. She wasn’t a woman whoneededthose accessories to shine or enhance her beauty. Her beauty needed no such embellishments or distractions.
He slid his hand into hers and picked it up, shifting himself until they were closer, their thighs touching, their hands resting on his leg.
“There are several things we need to discuss tonight, my angel, but first, I want to know what upset you this morning.”
Her eyes flew up, startled as she stared at him in obvious confusion.
“Something was bothering you when you left to go shopping,” he said patiently. “And it had nothing to do with our phone conversation. I’d like to know what it was.”
Her eyes dropped and she fidgeted, her shoulders slumping as he watched her lips turn down into an unhappy frown. Justice had been right, and Drake suspected he knew precisely the source of her unhappiness.
“Did the call to your girls have anything to do with your quietness and the lack of sparkle in your eyes this morning? Because, baby, you shine. You just being you, you shine. Unless something is bothering you or has upset you.”
He cursed beneath his breath when Evangeline flushed and her lips trembled. She turned her head to try to hide her reaction—as if such a thing were possible. She was a woman with no artifice. One only had tolook at her to know what she was thinking or feeling. It was a good thing she was inherently honest, because she’d make a terrible liar.
He gently cupped her chin and turned her back to look at him, feeling like someone had punched him in the stomach when he saw the tears welling in her beautiful blue eyes.
“Tell me,” he said.
“They think I’ve lost my mind,” she said in a weary voice. “They’re worried. I don’t blame them for that.”
“And?” Drake prompted, knowing there was far more to it than just this.
“Steph told me I was a fool to depend on a man so much and asked me how long I thought it would take for you to get tired of me and scrape me off and then where would I be?”
