Yours for Christmas (Fool's Gold #15.5)(26)

“I remember. Hi.”

Her brows rose. “Helping Chloe with her shopping?”

The question wasn’t a problem. It was the speculative tone that had him shifting his weight. “Uh, yeah.” He passed over a twenty.

“Nice.”

He held in a groan. There were parts of this shopping expedition he hadn’t thought through.

She handed him his change, gave the bag containing the ornament to Chloe and wished them a merry Christmas.

Their next stop was Isabel’s store. Fortunately she was too busy to speculate. She rang up the leather-glove purchase with only a harried smile. Kenny took that bag, then guided Chloe outside.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“Candy.” Chloe smiled. “You have to have candy in your stocking. There’s a store by Morgan’s Books that sells fudge. My friend Allison said they have Christmas candy in little bags. That would be nice.”

“Sounds good.” Kenny glanced at the other stores in the square. One in particular caught his eye. “Chloe, can I put something in your mom’s stocking?”

“Sure. What?”

He pointed to the sign that read Jenel’s Gems, and said, “Let’s find out.”

Like every other business in town, Jenel’s Gems was decorated for the holidays. There were twinkle lights and a Christmas tree in the corner. The inside of the glass display cases had shiny ornaments scattered around.

Jenel, a pretty blonde with an easy smile, approached. “Hello. How can I help you?”

“We’re buying something for my mom,” Chloe told her.

“How nice,” Jenel said. She turned to Kenny. “What kind of jewelry does your wife like?”

Kenny froze. “She’s, ah, not my wife. We’re friends. I was thinking of maybe a...” His gaze fell on one of the cases. “A necklace.”

“Of course.” Jenel moved behind the counter. “We have a large selection. Why don’t you look them over and tell me what appeals to you.”

Chloe joined him. Together they studied the circles and hearts. There was a silver snowflake, but Kenny didn’t think Bailey would wear that.

“I like that one,” Chloe said, pointing to a stylized heart that was hanging a little on its side.

Jenel pulled it out and put it on a velvet tray. “This is sterling silver. An eighteen-inch chain. It comes in different sizes, and different materials.”

He studied it. “I like it better than the hearts that are straight,” he said.

“Me, too,” Chloe told him. “It’s happier that way.”

“What else have you got like this?” he asked Jenel.

“Let me show you.”

She brought out similar hearts in yellow gold. One had a few little diamonds on one side. The last one she showed them was the same heart covered in pavé diamonds, on a platinum chain.

“Look!” Chloe said, pointing to the heart. “It’s sparkling in the light. That’s so pretty.”

“I agree.” He looked at Jenel. “We’ll take that one.”

“Of course. Would you like me to gift-wrap it?”

“Please.”

Chloe clapped her hands together. “My mom is going to love that. I can’t wait to see her open it.”

“You won’t say anything, though, right?”

She pressed her lips together and made an X on her chest. “I promise.”

“Good. Are there any presents under the tree?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ll go look.”

As soon as Chloe was out of earshot, he turned to Jenel. “I’d like that small silver heart, too,” he said quietly.

Jenel nodded. “For the little girl?”

He nodded.

“I have the perfect chain. When she outgrows it, we can exchange it for a longer one.”

“Good. I’ll pay for these now and pick them up later.” He didn’t want Chloe to see the second box.

After he’d signed the credit card slip, he walked over to Chloe. On the way, he saw the display of diamond engagement rings. For a second, he wanted to stop and look. He wanted to dream about possibilities. Because Chloe wasn’t the only Voss female tugging at his heartstrings.

Only he wouldn’t give in. Wouldn’t think about what could be. He was successful in life because he learned from his mistakes. And lesson one was not to repeat them.

* * *

BAILEY STOOD ON the walkway in front of her apartment, prepared to give thanks to whomever had arranged for perfect weather on her moving day. The sun was out, the temperatures had climbed to nearly fifty and there wasn’t any wind. She couldn’t have asked for more.

At some point she was going to have to pause and be grateful. Which she would...just as soon as she managed to recover from the shock of her moving crew.

As promised, Kenny had come through with a rental truck and a few friends to help. But somewhere along the way, the few friends had turned into something so much more.

Sam and Jack were there, along with all the guys from the bodyguard school. In addition, there were Dellina’s brothers-in-law, two of the three Stryker brothers, Tucker Janack, Josh Golden and Raoul Moreno. She thought it was very possible there were more men milling around her place than she had boxes.