Carly Phillips - Brazen

Benches lined the street, along with old lamps and chipped painted signs. He'd been smart to suggest this outing. She'd needed to get away from the bar for a while, not to mention escaping the sizzling sexual tension that seemed never to be far from the surface. Cave Cove sported every kind of tourist shop imaginable. And here, in the outdoors, she was able to relax, to enjoy the day and Mac without pressure.

The town was empty because of the early hour, so they had the streets and shops to themselves. At the end of the sidewalk, she came to a small jewelry store with a hand-carved wooden sign out front. Turquoise-and-silver jewelry was beautifully displayed in a window setting. She paused outside.

He tugged lightly on her hand. "Let's keep walking. There are tons of stores with the same things in all these little alleyways."

A large red sign inside caught her eye. "But this one is offering thirty percent off."

He laughed. "Every jewelry store here offers thirty percent off. Competition. They couldn't stay in business otherwise. It's a gimmick designed to get people like you inside."

She placed her palms on the cool glass. Something about the dangling glass reflectors and wind chimes hanging from the ceiling called to her. "This is the place," she insisted.

"If you say so. Just remember there's plenty of landmarks you'll miss if you spend all your time here."

She frowned. "You mean you're getting bored already."

"Did I say that?" He had the audacity to look insulted.

"It's a well-known fact that men hate shopping."

"A statistic I'm proud to say I'm a part of. But not today. Come on." Keeping her hand tucked in his, he led her inside.

Bells tinkled as they entered a shop smelling of lavender potpourri. Goose bumps prickled along her skin and she shivered, causing Mac to draw her closer and wrap his strong arm around her waist. A strange sensation she couldn't name enveloped her. If she believed in auras and premonitions, she would think she'd reached a turning point in her life. That any decision she made now would chart the course of her future. Silly, considering she didn't believe in any of those things.

Shaking off the ridiculous notion, she walked to the nearest jewelry case and studied the rings. Though the display was filled, one in particular caught her eye. A band of silver, crisscrossed with turquoise…

"See anything you like?" a female voice asked. Sam looked up. Thanks to her internal musings, she'd been expecting a gypsylike woman cloaked in veils and mystery instead of the chic older woman who greeted her.

When she didn't answer right away, Mac nudged her arm. "Sweetheart?"

She started at his use of the intimate name in public. "Yes, sorry." She tapped the glass case. "That one. The one in the shape of an X."

The silver-haired woman smiled. "Aah, The Kiss." As she spoke, she pulled a black velvet box filled with assorted rings from the case. "I'd like to say it's an original, but I commission another each time I sell this to engaged couples like yourselves."

Sam waited for Mac to correct the woman's assumption. When he didn't, she started to do it herself. "We're not…"

"Sure we're ready to buy yet," he said smoothly. "Especially a ring that so many other women are wearing." She tipped her head and sent him a questioning glance. She looked into his eyes. Eyes that were sincere, calming, loving. Loving?

Sam wanted to run from the store in a panic, and she would have if Mac hadn't placed a firm hand on her arm. Swallowing hard, she dared another glance at his face. This time he winked, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. "This week is a time for fantasies. Indulge me."

She didn't know whether to laugh because he was joking or cry because she wished she were free to think of this man in terms of love and marriage.

Apparently taking their silence as indecision, the shopkeeper spoke. "You can rest assured, as long as you wear this ring, you will be wed for eternity. Every other couple who purchased it can attest to the same."

That feeling, that… aura swept over Sam once again and she trembled. "What makes you so sure we're engaged?" she felt compelled to ask. There was no ring on her finger, nor any suntan line where Tom's ring had once been.

"I recognize the signs. The closeness…" She gestured to Mac's hand, draped possessively over Sam's shoulder. "The way he looks at you when he thinks you aren't looking, the way you curl into him… two halves make a whole," she said.

"You don't look like a gypsy fortune-teller," Sam muttered.

Mac laughed. "Give the lady a break, Sammy Jo. You want the ring or not?"

Without waiting for an answer, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a credit card. Sam dared a glance, catching only the last name, Mackenzie, before he handed the worn plastic to the obviously pleased woman. So Mackenzie, Mac, was his last name. Another thing she'd learned about him, she thought, storing the information away with the rest of her memories.

"Excuse us," Sam said to the salesclerk. "And please hold off a minute before ringing that up."

She led Mac to a secluded corner of the store. "About the ring…"

"You changed your mind?"

"No, but…"

"You want to try it on first. I should have realized."

"No, I mean…" She didn't know how to broach this without offending him, but she knew he was a bartender and… "You didn't even ask the price."

"I didn't have to. I saw the look in your eye the minute you saw the ring."

"But Mac…"

He treated her to his sexy grin, meant to turn her on and melt her mind so she couldn't think. The throbbing heat low down in her stomach told her he'd managed the first. She opened her mouth to argue.

"It's thirty percent off," he reminded her. "How expensive could it be? Let me do this one thing for you… Sammy Jo."

Her new nickname, especially on his lips, had begun to grow on her. So did the way his voice dropped an octave when he said it in that husky tone. Gazing into his eyes, she could see how much this meant to him, and she couldn't bring herself to turn him down. A quick try would satisfy them both. Her ring size was unusually small, and the thin silver couldn't be sized easily. She'd have an excuse to refuse it without offending his pride.

They walked back to the counter where the ring waited on a black velvet liner. She looked around, but the salesclerk had disappeared into the back room, leaving them alone. "Trusting," Sam murmured.

"This isn't the city, sweetheart."

He picked up the ring and lifted her hand. "Whenever you look at this ring, think about me, this week, and what could be."

Before she could protest, he'd slipped the ring on her left hand, braced her face in his palms and lowered his head for a kiss. She tipped her head back, moaning as his lips played over hers in a gentle, coaxing motion. He bit gently on her lower lip and she opened at his command, letting his tongue dart inside and possess hers. Sam didn't know where fantasy began or reality left off. As long as Mac held her, touched and kissed her, as long as he treated her as if he loved her, she didn't care.

He raised his head and smiled. She looked into his eyes and her heart leaped in her chest. She'd offend his pride more by rejecting the gift than by letting him pay for it. "Thank you," she murmured.

"My pleasure." His hand went to hers as he lifted her finger. "A perfect fit."

She glanced down, amazed. "Sometimes you get lucky."

"Yes, you do." His gaze bore into hers. She was struck by the intensity she saw there before it quickly disappeared. "Ready to hit the road again?" he asked.

Was he trying to disarm her? If so, it was working. By giving her a glimpse of the generous man inside the sexy male body, he'd managed to charm her as well. She might not know details about the way he lived, but she was beginning to think she knew him in the ways that counted.