His smile fading, he bent to pluck a small gift box out of the stack beneath the tree. “There’s something I want you to open before we leave,” he said, his heart beating just a bit more rapidly than usual.
Her eyes widened as she studied the gold-and-white wrapped box in his outspread hand. It would have been hard for her to mistake the size; he hadn’t bothered with clever camouflage. She accepted it from him when he held it out to her, but didn’t immediately open it.
“I have a gift for you, too,” she said, her voice a little breathless. “I put it under the tree if you want to—”
Aware that she looked a little nervous—as he was himself, for some reason—he spoke gently. “I’ll open mine later.”
Moistening her lips, she nodded and tugged at the ribbon on the box. Moments later, she opened the hinged lid of the small velvet box she’d unwrapped to reveal the ring displayed in white satin inside. He’d selected a traditional round diamond engagement ring mounted in a platinum setting with three smaller diamonds on each side.
“I hope you like it,” he said, growing a little anxious when she didn’t immediately say anything. “It looked to me as though it would suit you—elegant but not too splashy, fashionable but not trendy.” Again, he was quoting the jeweler, but the words had seemed to fit Tess. “If you’d rather have picked out your own rings—”
“This is beautiful, Scott. I can’t imagine I’d have picked one any more perfect for me.”
She looked up at him then and he was shaken by the sheen of tears in her eyes. He hoped they were happy tears. She’d said she liked the ring, so...
“Um, should I have gotten down on one knee?” he asked with a grimace. “Sorry, I—”
“No.” With a misty smile, she placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “Please don’t. We’ve said we aren’t playing games, remember?”
Had he gotten on one knee when he’d proposed to Sharon? He couldn’t remember. But come to think about it, he wasn’t sure he had officially proposed at all to his former fiancée. He sort of suspected that an engagement had been mostly her idea. He’d just gone along for the ride because he’d thought himself ready to settle down and...well, because he’d been dazzled by her skills in the bedroom. A fascination that had worn off rather quickly when lust had turned to almost constant fighting.
But why was he thinking of Sharon now? Tess was nothing like his ex. He couldn’t imagine his feelings for her ever turning as bitter and angry as he and Sharon had eventually become.
“No games,” he promised. “We’ve already done the proposal and acceptance, even if I was fairly clumsy about it. But I will do this part right,” he added, taking the diamond ring from the box. He slid the rin
g on her finger, then lifted her hand to his lips to kiss it in place. “There.”
“It fits perfectly,” she said in wonder.
“I guessed at your size, but the jeweler said it would only take a couple days to size it if it needs adjustment.”
“I don’t think it will. It’s beautiful, Scott. I love— I love the ring.”
He heard the little stammer and he attributed it to emotion. He thought that had gone very well. He believed Tess when she said she loved the ring. Seeing it on her hand gave him a wave of deep masculine satisfaction. From now on, he thought, all other men would know she wasn’t free for New Year’s Eve or any other night.
It occurred to him again that it wasn’t like him to be the possessive type. At least he knew better than to say it out loud to Tess.
Don’t screw this up.
* * *
“Let’s see that ring! Oh, my gosh, it’s so beautiful!” Clutching Libby’s hand, Christina Prince turned to motion expressively. “Libby, Holly, come see. Scott gave Tess her ring and it’s gorgeous.”
While the men watched indulgently, Tess held out her hand for Scott’s mother and sisters-in-law to examine the ring. All of them pronounced it exquisite, and just perfect for Tess.
“You picked it out all by yourself, Scott?” his mother asked in surprise.
“With a little help from the jeweler you’ve always used,” he admitted.
“Patrick? Oh, yes, he has wonderful taste.”
Tess couldn’t help comparing this family’s reaction to Nina’s last night. Nina had studied the diamond with the shrewd eye of a well-trained jeweler, all but pulling out a loupe to assess the color and clarity before pronouncing it “very nice.”
“Tess wouldn’t have liked a big, gaudy diamond,” she had assured Scott. “You were wise to choose such a pretty little stone for her.”
Amazingly, Scott hadn’t displayed any desire to strangle her tactless sister. He’d merely agreed that the ring seemed to suit Tess well.
Christmas Eve dinner with her family had been very nice, on the whole. With a newcomer in the midst, and with gifts on the line, the kids had been mostly on their best behavior. Scott had chatted easily enough with Ken, who was another college football fan caught up in postseason bowl hype, and it wasn’t long before they’d drawn the boys into the conversation. Nina and her teenage daughter had spent the evening offering increasingly extravagant ideas for the wedding, from Nina’s outlines for possible themes to Olivia’s television-inspired suggestions of a Cinderella carriage with white horses, and doves for the guests to release after the ceremony. Tess had simply smiled and nodded a lot, mentally vowing to stick to the plans she and Scott had made.