Lone Star Holiday Proposal

As he drove out to the Courtyard, he considered his strategy for getting the truth out of Raina. Sure, he could go in and ask her straight out but he had a feeling that the shield she’d built around her was pretty darn strong and could withstand anything he could metaphorically throw at her. No, he’d go gently, softly. Try to understand where she was coming from and why she was so adamant about not dating.

He shook his head. Why was he even bothering? It wasn’t as if he planned on hanging around after he’d finished his job for Rafiq. There’d be more dragons to slay back in Los Angeles, or maybe even somewhere else.

A smoldering ember of desire sparked deep inside him. That’s why he was bothering. He wanted Raina. It was as impure and as complicated as that. He smiled a little at his twist on the old saying of things being pure and simple. Given that what his boss planned for Royal could mean eviction for Raina’s store, Nolan should stay well back. But he couldn’t.

He had to at least try with her, didn’t he? Maybe it was a just physical thing, something he needed to get out of his system. But maybe it was something more.

As soon as he gave the thought a moment in his mind, its tendrils secured themselves as tightly as a stubbornly clinging vine. The analytical side of him demanded that he define what that “something more” could be, especially when he’d spent the past seven years telling himself he wasn’t interested in long-term ever again. He’d lived the life he’d always dreamed of right up until the day it had turned into a nightmare his family had never recovered from. He owed it to them, to their memory, to keep what they’d had sacred. To keep it in the forefront of his thoughts so that he never let down another person or another family like that again.

He totally understood the pain that had driven Carole to take her own life. After all, didn’t he choose to live with it every day and face it like the demon it was?

All of which brought him back to why he was so persistent about seeing the delightfully warm and sensual Ms. Patterson. Even he knew this attraction was more than a simple itch to be scratched. One look at Raina and he’d seen complicated all the way.

Before he realized it, Nolan was parked in front of Priceless. Through the windows he could see Raina moving about inside. His gut clenched on a swell of need that took him completely unawares.

He wasn’t a man who’d ever taken rejection well, and that was probably what made him so good at his job. If one method failed, then there was always another, and another. Strategy, for him, was all about finding the weak points, then mercilessly exploiting them. His lips pulled into a wry grin. Wow, like that sounded sexy and irresistible. What woman could refuse an approach like that?

He was still smiling as he pushed open the door to the store and heard the chime of the bell above announcing his arrival. Raina lifted her head with a smile on her face to welcome him. Her smile froze for a moment, her blue eyes wide and vulnerable, before she composed herself and straightened from her task to greet him.

“Good morning. What brings you here today?” she asked, setting down the cloth she’d been using to polish the top of a box she was cradling in her other arm.

In pristine condition, the box housed a fountain pen with nibs and a crystal inkwell with an engraved silver lid. It was a beautiful set and, by the look of it, had barely been used. She left the lid open to better display its contents and set the case down on a nearby table.

“Christmas shopping,” he improvised, moving closer to take another look at the writing set. “For my mother. I was hoping you’d be able to help me. Say, that looks interesting.”

Was it his imagination or did her pupils dilate a little as he stepped closer? Raina had her hair pulled back into a ponytail today. The style exposed the delicate curve of her neck and the soft line of her jaw. What he wouldn’t do to be able to take his time and lay a line of sweet kisses along those very contours, and more.

She took a half step back. “It’s a writing set, from the 1920s, I think, judging from the art deco design on the pen.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said, tracing the engraved pattern on the silver with a fingertip. He wondered what sort of price tag she had on the set.

“I recognize that look in your eye,” Raina said on a short laugh.

“Look?”

“Of longing. I feel that way with pretty much everything in my store. Regrettably, I can’t keep it all. Are you looking for something like this for your mom? It’s a bit masculine. Or does your mother collect anything in particular?”