Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,124

him and hope he understood. Her heart beat in time to his, and she finally managed to say, “Thank you. I’ll treasure it always.”

Fabio wasn’t sure any gift could come close to the ring. It fed to Kelsey’s nerd side, her girly side, and the parts of her that missed being human. For the most part, he knew she was thrilled to be a vampire, but she missed the sun, and she had some regrets over never giving birth to a child. Somehow, the ring had spoken to those parts of her as well.

He shook his head and focused on his own gifts.

From Kelsey, there was a small-ish watch-sized gift, and from Eunice, a heavy box that practically screamed handgun.

And then the gift he’d open from Collosa, which was the size of a shirt box, and about as heavy.

He decided to open Kelsey’s first, but he didn’t rip at the paper like a savage beast. He carefully opened one end and then pulled the box out of the paper, and he stopped breathing when he saw the Audemars logo. He looked up and shook his head. He couldn’t let her spend two hundred grand on a watch for him, no matter how badly he wanted the Royal Oak. And he knew that’s what it would be, because it was the one watch he assumed he’d never add to his pretentious watch collection.

“Open it,” she told him. “No shaking your head.”

He opened it and stared. It was the Royal Oak, and this one cost more than his first estimate. A good bit more. Again, he shook his head. It’s too much. I can’t let you spend so much on me.

I didn’t. It’s preowned and factory recertified. At a guess, I’d say it costs about as much as a brand-new Charger, so hush up about the cost and put it on.

“That’s the one that costs more than the Rolex and the Phillippe one combined, isn’t it?” Eunice asked.

“It is,” Fabio told them. “I’m pretty sure this means she loves me more than you.”

“Oh my gosh!” Kelsey said. “I can’t believe...” She made a growling noise. “Tell them the rest, Fabio.”

He grinned. “Factory certified preowned. Perfect condition. It’s perfect.”

“It’s a frou-frou watch,” Collosa said. “Kiss her and move on to the next present.”

“You’re just grumpy because you got the low toss,” Fabio told him. “I need a moment.”

But he didn’t take more than a few moments to give a proper thank-you kiss and nipple tweak, because Collosa was right. Four times four is sixteen gifts, and their grizzly had cut down on that some by giving a joint gift, but it was still taking a while to do this. They were good on time as far as opening gifts, but then they wanted to take their girl to bed and give her endless orgasms until sunrise.

He opened the ends of the box and then released the tape on the bottom, so the wrapping paper came off all in one piece. He knew they were going to throw it away, but it still bothered him to rip into the pretty paper. Once again, he sat and stared at the logo on the box. It was an Ed Brown custom. He opened the box, and then took out the carrying case, and opened it. Inside was a gorgeous weapon — matte black with a snakeskin texture. It was a 45ACP, and was engraved with the Ed Brown signature, and then lower on the body, Ed Brown Products, the city and state, and his own private custom serial number with the month and year after it. And, as with the scope he’d put on the rifle, the sights were military grade, not yet available to civilians, which meant Eunice had to ask Aaron or Nathan to help him with the purchase.

“Dude. It’s perfect. It’s like you know me, or something.”

Eunice chuckled. “Or something. I sprang for a few extras I know you appreciate. The paperwork is inside, but Collosa will start nagging if we go through it now. I don’t need a kiss, so go ahead and open Collosa’s gift to all of us.”

“Seriously. Thanks. It’s perfect.”

He reached for the gift from Collosa, and this time, when he went to open it, Kelsey stepped forward, grabbed the paper, and ripped through it. “It’s wrapping paper. You’re supposed to rip it off.” She looked to Eunice. “Now you rip some off, and then he can be careful with whatever’s left.”

Eunice chuckled, leaned forward, and ripped another chunk