made twice his grandmother had used the L-word. His breath caught in his throat. Hell, he could hardly drag enough of it into his lungs, until he reminded himself that he wanted his grandmother to think he was in love. The fact that she did simply meant he was playing his role superbly.
Kudos to me, he decided sourly. If his business ever folded maybe there was a career waiting for him in Hollywood.
“Are you all right?” Elizabeth asked, looking concerned as she laid a hand on his arm.
“Allergies.” He coughed for effect. “Must be a lot of tree pollen in the air around here or something.”
Something being the operative word.
Nana Jo frowned. “Tommy, you don’t have—” She broke off abruptly then. “Goodness, Beth, where’s your engagement ring?”
Thomas would have appreciated his reprieve more if his freedom from the frying pan hadn’t landed him in the fire. He knew where the ring was. It was exactly where he’d left it, in the pocket of the herringbone jacket that was still in Elizabeth’s possession. He cursed himself for the oversight. Meanwhile, Elizabeth looked stricken.
“I … I …” She sent him a panicked look.
“It’s being sized.” He reached for her left hand and caressed its knuckles with the pad of his thumb. Her fingers were so small and delicate that the lie was believable. His mother’s ring never would have fit without a jeweler’s adjustment.
“I see.”
Nana Jo’s gaze made him nervous. When he was a kid, Nana Jo always seemed to be one step ahead of him. But surely she didn’t suspect.
She kept him guessing with her next question.
“I’ll have to settle for a description, then. What does it look like, Beth?”
Elizabeth appeared to be the one suffering a bout of something now. The blush of a moment ago was gone along with most of her color.
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