to argue with her, something he couldn’t do in front of her family.
He’d wanted to buy her a piece of jewelry for months now. Something like a diamond pendant. On a long gold chain so that the diamond would nestle between her breasts. Her bare breasts. He swallowed at the tantalizing image that popped into his mind. Later, he told himself. When they were actually lovers, he would buy her what he wanted. But for now he would have to be satisfied with giving her what he could make a good case for her accepting.
Conal pulled the small black leather box out of his pant’s pocket and shoved it at her.
“Here,” he said. “To help the impersonation.”
Livvy stared at the box as a feeling of longing, heavily tinged with sadness, slipped through her. It had to be an engagement ring. An engagement ring she wanted so desperately to be real. A ring she wanted to mean something to him. To be a promise from him for a future together.
Livvy took the box and slowly opened it. A gasp escaped her as the huge diamond caught the sunlight pouring in through the window and splintered it into a million fragments of rainbow-colored light. The ring was absolutely gorgeous in its simplicity. A single stone set in a plain gold band. It practically shouted good taste and...the money to indulge it, she realized. Anything that beautifully cut, to say nothing of that big, had to have cost a fortune. She couldn’t accept it. Even temporarily. No matter how much she wanted to. It was far too valuable.
“If you don’t like it—”
“It’s the most gorgeous ring that I’ve ever seen,” she said truthfully.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“What if I lost it?” she asked.
“I’d collect from my insurance company. It’s just a ring I bought a few years ago and then didn’t need,” he lied. Somehow, it was very important to him that she accept that ring. Accept it and wear it.
“A few years ago?” Livvy tried to swallow the metallic taste of anger that unexpectedly coated her mouth. Why had he been so willing to marry some other woman then and yet he was now vocally opposed to marriage?
“Uh-huh. There was this gorgeous blonde...” Conal tried to lull her suspicions.
“Why is it always a blonde?” Livvy snapped, not wanting to hear about the woman who had almost tempted Conal into marriage despite his clear aversion to the state. Or had it been the blonde who had soured him on marriage?
“It isn’t always a blonde,” Conal assured her. “There was a redhead named Cindy, who—”
“That was a rhetorical question,” she cut him off. “Not a request for a list of your conquests.”
Conal grinned ruefully. “I think I was Cindy’s conquest if you want the truth. But fascinating as you appear to find my past love life, we need to get going. According to the rental agent, it’ll take us a good three hours to get to Scranton at this time of day.”
“A bad three hours. The traffic is always miserable.” Livvy stalled, suddenly overwhelmed by last-minute doubts about the wisdom of changing the status quo. She had the strangest feeling that once she put on Conal’s ring nothing would ever be the same again, and she was afraid. She might find her hopeless love for Conal emotionally frustrating, but she could handle it. Once she got a taste of what it was like to be physically close to him, could she handle the deprivation which would fill her when they returned to New York and he slipped back into his old role as her boss?
“Sorry, what am I thinking of? I almost forgot.”
Livvy looked up at Conal, wondering what he was talking about. She wasn’t left wondering for long. He grabbed her and pulled her up against his chest. His arms tightened around her, squashing her against him. A hot, tingling sensation sizzled through her breasts leaving them achy. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and savor the sensation. Instead, she forced herself to focus on what he’d said.
“Forgot what?” she mumbled into his sweater.
“That we’re supposed to be an engaged couple. Engaged couples kiss.”
Engaged couples do lots of things, Livvy thought longingly, as a sudden image of Conal’s broad, bare shoulders filled her mind.
Livvy fought against the desire that was eating at her composure and tried to think. It was hopeless. The only thing she could think about was what it felt like to be pressed up against him. Even better than she’d thought it would.
She peered up into his eyes. There were tiny sparks glowing deep in them. Like minuscule explosions of passion were being set off just below the surface. But was it really passion? And if it was, was his passion directed at her personally or was it simply the result of him holding a woman, and any woman would have produced the same results?
The question lost some of its urgency as she watched his head come closer. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at his firm lips. They looked so enticing. So alluring. She wanted to taste them and explore the exact shape and texture of them.
Her eyelids were becoming heavy, weighted down by her growing need. It was all she could do not to grab his head and yank him down to her. Finally when she was ready to scream with frustration, his lips brushed hers and a shower of reaction drenched her. Goose bumps popped up on her arms, and shivers chased after them. To her massive disappointment Conal made no effort to deepen their kiss. Instead, he raised his head, staring down at her, his expression unreadable.
What was he thinking? Unease began to nudge aside the pleasure Livvy felt. Had he found their kiss a disappointment? Chagrin drove the last lingering shreds of desire from her mind. The thought that Conal might find her deficient in the area of lovemaking made her feel confused and uncertain. Her relationship with him to date might not have developed along the lines she’d wanted, but at least it had been fairly clear and uncomplicated. It hadn’t reduced her to this present dithering mass of uncertainty.
Livvy watched as Conal took her hand and gently pushed the ring over her finger. It was a perfect fit. An omen? All it signified was that the girlfriend that Conal had bought it for had the same size hands she did. She mentally chided herself. The idea that she was nothing more than one of an interchangeable line of women moving through his life infuriated her.
“Thanks,” she snapped, and turned to her suitcase, which was sitting open on the sofa.
Conal frowned slightly at her clipped tone, wondering if it was the ring she objected to or if the problem was with the man who had placed it on her finger. Or could it simply be that she was nervous about the coming weekend? He didn’t know. There was so much he didn’t know, he thought uneasily. Starting with how to act around her family. His experience with families was limited to visits to his married friends and what he’d seen on television. He wasn’t so naive as to believe that sitcom characters represented reality. At least he sure hoped not.
Concentrate on what you can do and don’t worry about what you can’t, Conal reminded himself of the motto he’d shaped his life around. He had finally managed to breach Livvy’s seemingly impenetrable professional shield. Or rather, her mother had breached it for him. But whatever the reason, he now had the opportunity to get to know Livvy on a personal basis.
Conal swallowed as his body clenched beneath the onslaught of images he had of just how personally he would like to get to know her. He wanted so much to take her in his arms again.
