than you. It’s not a pleasant feeling.”
“I didn’t say no, exactly. I just—” She stopped, not knowing what she wanted to say.
“Well, to prove that I can be a bigger man, I have something for you.” With that, he walked from the apartment, then reentered a few minutes later carrying a package.
“You can’t keep buying me gifts, Spence. This is getting out of hand.”
“I like getting you gifts, because in a couple of days we’ll be sharing our first Christmas together, and I want you to know that not a single day goes by without me thinking about you. Who needs twelve days of Christmas when there can be twenty-five?”
“Still . . .” she said. With all her so-called intelligence, why didn’t she have another excuse up her sleeve?
Giving up and giving in, she undid the ribbon and took off the lid, then had to fight silly tears. This man was making her crazy. Inside the box was a delicate bracelet. She lifted it and looked at the sparkling jewels. She’d never received jewelry before, and though she shouldn’t accept what looked like an expensive present, she couldn’t seem to keep herself from holding it tight.
“Thank you, Spence. It’s beautiful,” she said, and he took it from her and clasped it on her wrist. It was a perfect fit.
“That’s only part one of the gift. Tomorrow, we’re flying to Vegas for a show,” he said as he lifted her up, then sat and pulled her down into his lap.
“I can’t go to Las Vegas, Spence.”
“Why not?”
“It’s almost Christmas, and I have to work . . .”
“You don’t work tomorrow night, and we won’t stay. We’ll just see the show and come right back. If you have any last-minute gifts to buy, it’s the perfect place.”
“You are ruining me for all other men, Spence Whitman. Who jets off to Vegas just for a date?”
His eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t miss their dangerous gleam. “There will be no other men, Sage.” He pulled her close and kissed her soundly, showing her exactly whom she belonged with.
When she was able to come up for air, she pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I can’t think when you touch me. I can’t make a single decision. I don’t like that—I don’t like feeling so out of control. I always know what I’m doing. I always have a plan. Why do I feel this way with you?”
She wasn’t really asking him the question, just expressing her thoughts aloud. She needed to find the answers, and she needed to find them fast. The last thing she wanted was to lose herself, to be consumed by this fire between them.
“You do realize that both of our families are already planning the wedding, so maybe we should just give in and elope while we’re in Vegas.”
Sage stiffened in his arms. “What?” Her brain tried to compute what he was saying.
“Let me get you some food. We’ve burned off a lot of calories,” he said, removing her from his lap, jumping up, and moving to the fridge.
She followed him. “You can’t make a statement like that, Spence, and not clarify it. I’m not going to be sidetracked this time.”
“It was just a comment, Sage.”
“Have you talked to my grandmother about me?” She wasn’t that upset; she just wanted him to be truthful. Why would he go to her grandma and talk marriage before talking to her?
“No, not exactly,” he said, and she knew he was lying. Like her, he wasn’t very good at it.
“I wasn’t upset, Spence, but I’m fixing to get there. You need to explain,” she told him as he broke several eggs into a bowl and began stirring them so hard that they slopped over the side.
“It was just something my dad and your grandma said about . . . us. They . . . well . . . they sort of threw us together. I didn’t think it was anything to get upset about,” he said, finally putting the whisk down and giving up on his attempt to distract her through cooking.
Sage stared at him, trying to process what he’d just said. “How did they throw us together? I don’t understand this.”
“You’d really have to talk to them, Sage.”
“I want to hear it from you.” But she didn’t need for him to tell her. The pieces were falling together. The reason she’d had to accept the offer for residency in Sterling, the reason Spence, only a few months later, accepted an offer that would