by Jessica Gray
Nicole felt her heart melt at his words, and when he dipped his head and gave her a tender kiss, she was helpless to do anything but feel – Loved. Cherished. Precious.
She shivered in reaction at the tenderness of his kiss and then watched him in amazement as he broke their kiss and just looked at her. He is absolutely amazing. I can’t believe this sexy man is mine. And not just for the night. I’m the luckiest woman in the world.
Trevor lifted his hand and cupped the side of her neck, brushing his thumb against the pulse under her ear. “My family loved you.”
Nicole leaned into his touch, wanting more. “And I loved them. They were so nice.”
They both sipped the cool liquid in silence, until he placed his glass on the table, and then did the same with hers.
He nibbled at the pulse point behind her ear and let his hands wander to her back, tenderly molding the muscles of her shoulders before letting his fingertips work their way down her spine.
Nicole squirmed beneath the onslaught of his lips and his hands. She’d been ignoring her need for him all day long, and all of the longing and suppressed sexual tension came to the surface. I need him to touch me! More than I need my next breath!
Trevor lifted his head and whispered against her ear, “I love you. I don’t want to spend one more day without you.”
Nicole hesitated for a moment. Trevor had made similar statements in previous days, but this time it felt different. There was a reverence and solemnity to his tone of voice that had her opening her eyes to search his own.
What she saw caused her eyes to widen as she gasped in wonder.
He was holding a little Tiffany-blue box in his hand. “Open it.”
Nicole slowly nodded her head, meeting his eyes before taking the box from his hands and opening the lid. Inside, nestled amidst the silk was the most wonderful diamond ring she’d ever seen. It was big, much bigger than she’d ever dreamed of wearing, but not so big as to be obnoxious. Not like film-star big, or pretentious-looking.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Do you like it? If not we can…”
Nicole shook her head at him, shushing him with a look. The princess-cut diamond sparkled with the setting sun reflecting in it. The ring itself was crafted in white gold, and there were smaller diamonds set into the sides of the band, bracketing the larger diamond. The effect was stunning, and she gently touched the larger stone with her fingertip.
She’d never seen such a beautiful ring. Not even the overly pretentious one Norman had given her compared to the majestic opulence of the one she held in her hands now.
Before she could put voice to her thoughts, Trevor took a step back and dropped to one knee, causing her tears to flow down her cheeks unchecked as he asked her, “Will you marry me?”
Nicole tried to stem her tears. Tried to think past the objections her mind was throwing at her. I want to say “Yes” but I need to know. I need to be sure...
She took a breath and then put voice to her concerns: “Can I still work in my job if we’re married?”
Trevor looked offended, but then his eyes softened and he grasped her free hand. “Nicole, I’ve told you before, I don’t want to control you. I want to share my life with you, not take yours away from you. Of course you can work. But I want you to know that you don’t have to work.
“I make plenty of money, so if at any time you want to quit your job and stay home, that’s fine with me.”
Nicole smiled at his answer; it was exactly what she needed to hear. Thoughts of little Happy came to her mind and a new worry assailed her. “What if we have kids? What then?”
“Are you asking me if I’ll be okay with you working after we have kids?” When she nodded her head, he rose to to his feet, took her head in his hands and kissed her before saying, “Even then. If we need to hire help when the time comes, we’ll do that. “
And I could go on business trips without you?” Nicole asked, thinking about some of the ideas Cynthia had been throwing out about future talk shows she might moderate. Some of them would include investigative reporting, requiring travel on Nicole’s part.
“Sure. But that doesn’t mean I won’t hate to be without you. Sometimes I have to travel as well, and you’re welcome to come with me if we can work it out.”
What he was describing sounded fantastic! He really does intend to share his life with me. And he wants me to share my life with him, not give everything I am away to fit some predesigned mold or ideal he has.
Nicole was on a roll, and decided she might as well go for broke and get all of her questions and insecurities out in the open. “And I could have a night out with my girlfriends every once in a while?”
“Whenever you want, Precious. Just promise me that if there are male strippers involved, you won’t touch.”
She grinned. His words didn’t fit with the jealousy she’d seen in him before. “You won’t mind me looking?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll mind, but it will just give me a reason to punish you with pleasure.”
Her body heated up by the thought of his “punishment,” and she gave him an impish little grin. “You know your threats of punishment are more likely to push me into misbehaving, right?”
“Yeah. And I’ll show you later what exactly awaits you. But for now, any other concerns rolling around in that beautiful head of yours?”
She thought for a moment and then asked, “I can earn and spend my own money?”
“Precious, you can earn as much money as you want. And you can spend it any way you choose. I don’t ever want you to feel closed in, or confined in our relationship. I want you to tell me if something is bothering you so that we can discuss it and find a solution.”
Nicole looked at him, all of her doubts suddenly fleeing in the face of his love. He really does love me, and I can’t wait to see where the future will take us. “Okay.”
“Good. Now, think hard. Is there anything else?”
She laughed, the sound echoing across the porch and over the surface of the lake. “No. Now ask me again.”
Trevor stepped closer to her, tipping her head up to meet his kiss and then softly saying against her lips, “Nicole Kendrick, will you share your life with me? Will you build a home and a family with me? Will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes! And Yes!” she told him, placing a kiss upon his lips after answering each question. She wrapped her arms around his neck, welcoming his kiss as he took possession of her mouth and her body.
Trevor finally broke away enough to remove the ring from its box and place it upon her finger. He then scooped her up into his arms and took her to his bed, where he proceeded to make slow love to her all night long.
The last thing Nicole saw before she finally closed her eyes in exhaustion was the beautiful ring around her finger. Not a ring meant to control or steal her identity. But a ring that gave her a family, a home, and the promise of a future she’d never dreamed would be within her grasp.
Committing herself to Trevor hadn’t diminished her life in any respect. Rather, he had expanded her life in ways she’d only yet to understand. All of the sorrows of the past faded away as she closed her eyes and dreamed of the future. With him.
***THE END ***
Please enjoy a preview of the next book in the Armstrong series
Forever My Love
The Armstrongs, Book Two
Jessica Gray
Chapter 1
Kendra O'Neill looked at the young lady standing in front of her and then at the stunning piece of jewelry that was thrust in her face. When the girl made an impatient sound, Kendra pulled her emerald green eyes away from the necklace and gave her half of a smile.
The girl was shifting her weight from foot to foot, and looking around her almost erratically with a tense face. She appeared to be in her early twenties, with wonderful brunette hair, a model figure, and she was dressed in Dior. Her suit probably cost more than I make in a month. She was gorgeous, but she also seemed completely out of he
r comfort zone.
Kendra turned her gaze back to the necklace with a calculating eye. The workmanship was fantastic! A piece that would lighten the eyes of any woman seeing it.
Five massive rubies dominated the necklace, the largest one more than likely weighing in at well over three carats. All five of the stones featured a flawless pear shaped cut and were surrounded by an array of different sized sparkling diamonds.
Her expert eyes examined the reverse S-shape, wrapping itself around one side of the largest ruby, scrolling down to curve around the first of the four smaller ones.
The thin multi-stranded white gold chain was so delicate it looked like the silk of a spider’s web and Kendra briefly wondered how it managed to sustain the weight of the necklace. Each ruby was easily one carat or more.
The diamonds around the largest ruby resolved into three delicate strands of sparkling gemstones, that hung from the base of the larger piece, creating short ropes that ended with another pear shaped ruby surrounded by smaller diamonds at the end of each strand.
Surrounding the main focal point of the piece, the diamonds had been inlayed to sweep around the curve of the largest ruby, making the fire of the gemstone burst as the light was reflected of its vast faceted surfaces. These diamonds were perfect, they possessed the best clarity she’d seen in recent months and she touched the necklace almost reverently.
The necklace was easily worth over half a million dollars. Glancing back up at the nervous girl, it was easy to see that something was off. The girl standing in front of her didn't look anything like the type of woman who would own such a priceless piece of jewelry. Was she some sort of rich dudes mistress? Or one of them young girls who married an older guy just to get to his money?
Kendra tried not to make judgments based upon how a person looked, having seen some pretty weird things in her line of work. She'd recently been promoted to senior specialist in the jewelry department of Percy’s – one of the premier auction houses located in Chicago, Illinois.
Unlike other auction houses that would deal with any type of merchandise, Percy’s specialized in contemporary art and jewelry, and Kendra loved her job. Sure, it was very demanding and kept her working at crazy hours, but it also had some perks. Like the opportunity to not only work with some of the most amazing pieces of jewelry, but also some of the most interesting people.
She'd discovered early on that she not only needed to be an expert in jewelry appraisal, but part psychologist as well. And that was probably the part she loved most. To work with the people.
Many of the pieces that came through the auction house were coming from probate, or had tremendous emotional value to their owners. Sometimes it was extremely hard for the people to let go of their pieces. And it was up to her to help ease the "pain of loss" and reassure her clients the decision to sell was the right thing to do.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Kendra told the girl with a smile designed to make her feel at home and less threatened by what she was doing.
“Uhm…it’s Daisy. How much can I get for that necklace?” the girl asked, shoving the necklace under Kendra’s nose once more. She was becoming more agitated as time passed, and Kendra mentally sighed as she realized the girl was not going to like her answer.
She had been doing this long enough, she knew better than to name a price on a piece of jewelry before a complete appraisal had been done. While she definitely was able to make a guess, give or take twenty percent, there was no way she was going down that road with this client.
“I'm sorry I can't give you a number right now. I need to do a proper appraisal first. We have to check authenticity and provenance. All of that significantly influences the price.”
Daisy sighed, “So how long does it take?”
“To do a proper appraisal?” Kendra asked, continuing when the girl nodded quickly, “A few days. I'll give you a call and when you’re satisfied with our appraisal, then we can move forward and sign the contract form.”
“Contract?” Daisy asked in dismay.
“Yes. We cannot auction off any property without a signed contract form the owner. You are the owner, right?”
The girl nodded immediately.
Kendra smiled at her and then asked, “Do you have any papers, insurance files, or receipts showing when you bought it?”
Daisy shook her head negatively. “It was a gift from my boyfriend and we’re not together anymore. I can’t ask him for the paperwork because we’re not really on speaking terms at the moment.”
And it would be just like him to take it from her! Kendra sighed in frustration. This happened all the time. Young poor girl, old rich man. He spoils her with all the things she never thought she could have and then one day he grows tired of her and finds himself a new toy. The tossed aside woman then had to resort to turning all of her pretty baubles and gifts into cash so that she could afford to continue living in the lifestyle to which she'd become accustomed.
It was harsh and a definite testimony to how far some people would go in the pursuit of material things, but it happened often. Kendra had seen this so many times, it didn’t bother her near as much as it used to.
Daisy sighed and then nodded her head, “Fine.”
Kendra pulled out a form and asked the girl to fill out the top portion. While that was happening, Kendra snapped a few pictures of the necklace from several directions and then printed them out to be attached to the file.
After the girl had left, Kendra took a closer look at the necklace. The piece was enormous compared to what most people felt comfortable wearing, and reminded her of the overdone jewelry one often saw being worn by film stars and celebrities.
It was much too big for her liking. Even though she definitely had the décolleté to show of big jewelry she much preferred small and classy. But this one, though big, was at the same time very elegant, modern, and stylish. Kendra reached for a black velvet form and carefully arranged the necklace around the mock neck. It looked awesome! A true masterpiece.
She reached for her magnify glass, taking a closer look at the stones and how they had been pieced together. After spending a few minutes looking at that largest ruby, she thought it could easily be worth more than $100,000.
She felt a little shiver of elation run down her spine. This was one of those rare pieces the auction house only saw come through its door once every few months. It was precious and Kendra knew that wearing such a piece of jewelry would make almost any woman feel like a princess. They'd sell it off easily, despite the high price tag.
She slid her fingers along the stones, taking in every facet, and how smoothly the stones fit together. She did a preliminary count and smiled when she came up with fifty-eight facets on the largest ruby. Whomever had worked on these stones had done a remarkable job. No not remarkable, outstanding. Brilliant.
No inclusions that she could find, no blemishes either. And the brilliance – it was one of the most beautiful rubies she’d ever seen. The other four stones were comparable in their perfection and she felt a little thrill as she let her fingertips glide over the stones. It was a sensual feeling. Kendra worked with jewelry every day, but when a piece like this came across your desk, it was rare. It was special. It was something to be savored.
Her heart was beating faster, and her breath had sped up just from touching the stones. She lifted the necklace from the velvet form and held it up to the light, watching the rainbow lights dance across her desktop as it was reflected through the various cuts of the stones.
It's beautiful, more than beautiful. How could anyone bear to part with such a lovely piece of jewelry?
She thought about the young woman who'd brought in the necklace. Daisy’d claimed it was a gift from her lover and that she wanted to get rid of it – needing the cash more than she needed the priceless necklace. A familiar story.
Part of her work during the appraisal process was to find out if the necklace was authentic. But in addition to verifying that the stones were rea
l and not well-done pieces of glass, she also had to check up on the provenance of each piece. This more often than not, became a crucial sticking point during a sale at the auction. People who came to the auctions to bid on high end pieces, did not want to find out several months down the road that they'd purchased something that had been stolen or had once been owned by someone of dubious character.
Well, that last statement didn’t always hold true, as some of the country’s most notorious criminals’ art and jewelry collections had brought staggering figures in during an auction. People loved owning something that had once belonged to someone notorious!
But generally, as a rule of thumb, people didn’t bid as high on things with an iffy background. That meant she needed to know who had originally owned it at a minimum. If they were going to be dropping six or seven figures on a piece of jewelry, the clientele of Percy’s wanted some assurance that it was authentic and free from entanglements.
Daisy had told her she didn’t know where the piece of jewelry had come from, but Kendra had worked in this business long enough to recognize the signature of the artist. Ryan Armstrong. Of course! It would have to be him! She felt her heart cramp as old feelings rushed to the surface.
She’d known it would only be a question of time before she'd come across him and his work. There was no doubt in her mind that this necklace was his work. It carried his artistic signature all over it. But, she hadn’t seen this particular piece anywhere in the trade magazines, nor had she seen it being worn by one of his famous clientele. The necklace was stunning, and yet, it wasn’t a piece that people would immediately recognize as being his.
Ryan’s work was very well-known, and surely if this piece had been photographed it would have been talked about as well. Just in case she'd missed something, she did a quick internet search for images of his work that included both rubies and diamonds. Her search yielded several results, but nothing even close to the piece that lay on her desk. This was most likely a commissioned work, and as such, the details surrounding its ownership were probably going to be closely guarded. And that meant she'd need to go directly to the source for answers.