Page 92 of All Yours

“What do you think?” Mrs. Pennington asked.

I paced the room, taking everything in. An oriental rug covered the hardwood floor between the couch and the fireplace. “It’s perfect.”

“Wonderful,” she said. “I’ll get Gregory to stoke the fire and light the candles. Give him a few minutes, and then bring her in here.” Mrs. Pennington fluttered out the door.

Camden turned to me, grinning. “You ready to do this?”

“I am,” I said, pulling the velvet box from my pocket. Butterflies flittered in my stomach at the sparkly diamond in the box.I’d been fiddling with it all afternoon.

The door opened and a man wearing a heavy rubber apron over his suit entered. He nodded toward Camden and me and began to work on the fireplace.

“Then let’s go find Sloane,” Camden said, slapping my shoulder.

Back in the ballroom, I scanned the crowd but didn’t see her.

“She and Lauren are sitting over in front of the fireplace with another woman,” Camden said.

Sure enough, they sat on the couch, flanking another woman. All three of them with their heads together, staring at the phone of the middle woman who zoomed in on a photo while speaking. Lauren pointed at the screen and said something lost to the crowd. Sloane nodded, and they all laughed. My god, she was gorgeous. My lungs constricted.

They looked up as we approached. Sloane’s smile widened as her eyes met mine, the blue sparkling in the firelight.

“There you are,” Lauren said. “I was wondering what had become of you. Thought perhaps Mrs. Pennington had set a leg trap for you and had finally ensnared you.”

“Don’t even joke,” Camden grinned.

“Speaking of,” Lauren gestured to the woman beside her. “This is Alice Brennan, she’s Mrs. Pennington’s great-niece. She’s a horticulturist here to work on the gardens.”

After Camden and I introduced ourselves, I stole Sloane away.

“Where are we going?” she whispered as we ascended the grand marble staircase.

“You’ll see.”

“Are we allowed to go up here?”

“Don’t worry. It’s fine.”

“Marble stairs and high heels are not a great combination.”

I slowed my pace and squeezed her hand. “I got you.” At the top of the landing, I took her down the hall to the library and let her go in ahead of me.

Sloane gasped. “Oh my god, Jonah. Look at these.” She let go of my hand and drug her fingertips along the spines of novels. “Leather bound.”

The fire now roared in the fireplace and candles along the mantle now lit. Gregory had made quick work of it all and split.

Sloane stood gawking around the room, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her in that red dress. It was backless, which meant no bra. Was she wearing panties? I pushed that thought from my mind. I was here on a mission.

“Look at this room.” Sloane ran her fingers along the leather-bound volumes. “I would love a library like this.”

“You know I can build shelves, right?”

Sloane stopped and cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Oh? That’s a skill you possess? How did I not know that?” She chuckled, turning toward the Christmas tree. “I think these are antique ornaments.”

Coming up behind her at the tree, I slid my arms around her waist. “I’ll build you anything you want.”

She turned and ran her hands up my jacket lapel and behind my neck. “Come to think of it, you are quite talented with your hands.”

Heat surged through me, and my hand slid under her skirt, up her smooth thigh.

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