Endeared (The Accidental Billionaires #5) - J. S. Scott Page 0,51
sincerely hoping it was the former.
“Breathe, Layla. It’s not going to bite you. It’s just a piece of jewelry.”
I had to admit, Mia had done an incredible job, and I could see why her jewelry was so sought after and coveted.
Even the platinum chain had been carefully encrusted with tiny diamonds, so it sparkled in the light, but not nearly as much as the artisan blue whale at the end of the pendant.
Layla put a hesitant finger to the tiny whale. “Are . . .” She coughed and tried again. “Are these sapphires?”
“No,” I explained. “They’re blue diamonds. They’re kind of rare, so Mia wasn’t sure how long it would take her to get them, but she came through. I wanted you to have this before we left for Paris, but Mia was insistent about not using sapphires. She said the whale wouldn’t be as lifelike without blue diamonds.”
“It’s incredible,” Layla said, still sounding like she’d been mesmerized by the gems. “It’s almost exactly the same color as the blue whale we saw. I didn’t even know that blue diamonds existed.”
“They only exist in a couple of mines in Australia, South Africa, and India,” I said.
I stopped myself from explaining that the mesmerizing blue color came from traces of boron in the carbon composition of the diamonds.
Layla looked like she needed resuscitation more than she needed geological information.
“Owen, this gift is way too dear to give to me. I don’t think I even want to know how much it cost.”
“Layla, I’m a billionaire. It doesn’t really matter how much it cost. And it wasn’t my purpose to make it the most expensive jewelry money can buy. I just wanted it to be special. I wanted you to be able to see it around your neck every day and remember how incredible that experience was for both of us. And fuck yes! I wanted you to think about the guy who gave it to you every damn time you felt it against your skin or saw it in a mirror. Look, it’s not exactly something I can take back or return at a department-store counter. So you’re just going to have to find a way to accept it, whether you like it or not. It would mean nothing to anyone else.”
Her head jerked up, like she’d awakened from her trance, and she pinned me with those beautiful baby blues that were so full of emotion that I couldn’t decipher all she was thinking.
“Owen, are you under some kind of assumption that I don’t like it? God, it’s probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Do you know I’ve never had a single person give me any kind of jewelry? Honestly, I’ve had so few gifts in my life that I can count them on one hand. And now this . . . It’s a little much to take in for a woman like me. It’s incredibly thoughtful. And generous. But I’ve never owned something this nice.”
Well, okay, then. I guess I could deal with that explanation. If she liked it, she could get used to wearing it. “Do you want me to put it on?”
She looked so torn that I simply reached out and snatched the pendant from her, put it around her swan-like neck, and fastened the catch.
“Does it have a safety lock?” she said, sounding half-panicked.
“Yes. I fastened it. Layla, that sucker isn’t coming off. Mia makes high-quality jewelry. She knows how to keep it around a woman’s neck,” I assured her.
“It looks good on you,” I added once I’d leaned back to have a look.
“Seriously, Owen? A Mia Hamilton piece doesn’t just ‘look good.’ It looks absolutely spectacular. I’ve never seen her work in person, but I’ve seen pictures. I’m so flabbergasted right now that I’m not even sure how to thank you.”
I could think of any number of ways she could thank me, but they involved the two of us being naked and sweaty. “Then don’t thank me. I wanted to do it.”
She looked at me with suspicion in her eyes. “How did you know?”
I lifted a brow. “What?”
“How did you know that I’d never gotten a single piece of jewelry?”
“Maybe because you never wear any?” I suggested. “Except for your dollar-store earrings. In high school, you didn’t even have your ears pierced.”
She put a hand to her throat and stroked it over the blue diamonds. “Maybe one of the most touching things about this gift is the fact that you noticed that. Honestly, I think