Page 60 of Temptation at His Door

Joa, like everybody else, had done her fair share of drooling over the objects she’d first laid eyes on in the vault somewhere way below her feet in the bowels of the building. But she kept coming back to the miniature egg, dotted with diamonds and rubies, edged with gold. She’d asked Keely if she could pull Isabel’s miniature egg pendant from the Mounton sale and Keely had agreed. Joa touched the silver egg that hung in the deep, plunging V of her black cocktail dress and wondered if she could justify owning two miniature eggs by Fabergé.

She was rich, but she wasn’t—she hoped—spoiled.

But damn, it was beautiful.

Joa felt Ronan’s possessive touch on her back and smiled when he dropped a hot kiss on her bare shoulder. Tipping her head to rest it against his, she sent up a quick prayer of intense gratitude...

For this man, for his boys, for her completely extraordinary life.

“Careful, darling, you’re drooling,” Ronan said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Joa leaned into him. “I know, but it’s utterly fantastic.” She bit her lip and shrugged. “I’m thinking of buying it at the auction tomorrow.”

Ronan lifted one eyebrow. “It’s your money, darling. You can do anything you damn well like.” Then he winced, as if remembering something. “But maybe I should tell you that I’ve just heard that this pendant has been withdrawn from the sale by the owner.”

Joa’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Aw, no. Seriously?”

Joa saw Finn and Keely approaching them but, as per normal, quickly returned her attention to Ronan, looking utterly debonair in his classic black tuxedo. The shadows from his eyes were gone and his sensuous mouth was quick to smile. She’d done that, she thought, proud.

She’d made him happy and she intended to keep doing that—she glanced down at her simple engagement ring with its huge diamond—for the rest of her life. Not being able to buy this pendant was the first blip on her completely perfect life.

Maybe shewasbecoming spoiled...

“Has it been sold to someone else?” Joa demanded. “Can I make a counteroffer?”

Ronan shook his head. “Sorry. The new buyer has no intention of selling it. It’s a gift to someone he loves with all his heart and soul.”

“What are you two discussing so intently?” Keely demanded, stopping next to Joa. Then she wrinkled her nose. “But if it’s anything mushy, you can skip the explanation.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed, “between you two and Carrick and Sadie, and Tanna and Levi, you’re making the rest of us feel nauseous.”

“I agree! What’s with the constant PDA? Can’t you keep your hands off each other for more than a millisecond?” Keely demanded.

“Shut up,” Ronan genially told them, not taking his eyes off Joa, whose heart was bouncing around her rib cage. Ronan was teasing her about something, she was sure of it...

What was he up to?

Finn bent down to look at the pendant before standing up and looking at Ronan. “Is this the pendant you bought off the Fabergé collector?”

Ronan released a loud groan. “Jesus, Finn! It was supposed to be a surprise!”

Finn pulled a face at Joa. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Go away,” Ronan told him through gritted teeth.

Joa watched his brother and her best friend walk away, idly noticing that they both darted glances across the room. Finn was looking for Beah and Keely was glaring at Dare...

Situation normal, Joa thought.

Bringing her attention back to her fiancé, she lifted her eyebrows. “Did you really buy this pendant for someone you love with all your heart and soul?”

Ronan cupped the side of her face with his big hand and Joa turned to kiss the palm of his hand. “Yeah, I plan on giving her one as often as I can...”

“That could be quite expensive,” Joa murmured as Ronan’s mouth moved toward hers.

“Trust me, she’s worth every damn cent. She’s, quite simply, my life.”

As he was hers.

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