Page 92 of The Keeper and I

“Did you at least make the save?”

“Of fucking course, I made the save.”

She smiled gently, then approached to lean over the back of the couch and wrap her arms around him. She placed a kiss on the top of his head.

“My poor baby,” she cooed. “Can I do anything to make you feel better?”

“You can open up your present,” he said. “It’s on the kitchen counter.”

She stood and clapped her hands with a squeal of excitement, then disappeared into the kitchen before coming back with everything he’d laid out for her in hand. The flowers, chocolates, and box wrapped in pink paper.

She took a seat beside him on the couch and placed them on the coffee table. He watched her eyes linger on the flowers for a long moment.

“Peonies,” she said, almost under her breath.

“Of course,” he replied, brow furrowing. “Did you want something else?”

She gave him a long kiss that left him dizzy. When she pulled away, she held his gaze. “They’re perfect.”

He cleared his throat in an attempt to subdue the desire stirring in the pit of his stomach. “Well, open the gift.”

The box fit into the palm of her hand, which had made it a bitch to wrap, but Laci told him at Christmas how much she enjoyed unwrapping gifts, so he promised himself he’d always do it. She tore it from the corner to reveal a small black box. Eyeing him with a sly grin, she pulled the top off. Her mouth fell open.

“Are these…diamonds?” she gasped and pulled out the stud earrings he’d picked out. Princess cut and classic.

“They are,” he told her.

“Jordan, they’re gorgeous! I can wear these with anything!”

“Since the last bit of jewelry I bought you was an occasion thing, I thought I ought to get you something simple you can wear every day and think of me.”

She was already taking the gold hoops out of her ears. “If you continue to get me jewelry like this, I’m definitely keeping you.”

He chuckled as he reached over to hold her hair out of her way. “You weren’t already?”

“I was considering it,” she joked, but it made his heart twist anyway. Perhaps there was some truth to it since she was still planning on leaving for the States. “But you’re a keeper in more than occupation, I think.”

He forced a smile. “Glad to hear it.”

“How do they look?” she asked, turning her head this way and that so he could see them.

They glittered in the dim light of his flat, but he kept looking at her face. “Beautiful.”

She kissed him again. “Thank you so much.”

“I’d give you anything, Laci.”

“I know.”

He held her gaze for a lingering moment, and the tips of his fingers traced along her cheek. How would he go on with this sweet face halfway across the world?

“D’you wanna see what I got you?” she asked.

“If you want. I’m content to look at your gorgeous face all night.”

She shook her head before getting up to get her bag. She retrieved a book from it, a thick hardcover she had to carry with both hands. He appreciated that she hadn’t wrapped it as Jordan hated unwrapping gifts. She must have remembered that conversation as well.

“Here.” She held it out to him. “I found it in a specialty shop.”