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I unfastened it and handed it over and he held it to the light. My eyes had adjusted and I could see the acute disappointment on his face. His lips parted and he released a heavy sigh.
“Jesus.”
“It’s supposed to be my birthstone.”
He glanced up sharply. “Your birthstone is a sapphire.”
“I know.”
His jaw tightened, already shadowed with stubble. It always was by this time of night.
“I think I’ll make him give you something else,” he said, his tone cool.
“Please, it’s fine. I don’t want to cause problems.
“You won’t have to, that’s my job.”
“Please, Merrick, tonight has been embarrassing enough already.”
I wasn’t sure why that had slipped out. He leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on the necklace as he turned the stone over in his fingers.
“You’re not having a good night?”
“No, I am,” I said, cringing internally. “I just did something really embarrassing earlier and I’m trying to pretend it never happened.”
There was a slight smirk on his face as he fixed his deep blue gaze on me. I hadn’t realized till now, but he’d taken off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up to his forearms. It was hot in the closet and a trickle of sweat etched between his open collar.
He smelled more natural and less like the dark oak cologne he used.
“What did you do, Clara?” he asked, amusement curling in his voice.
I huffed. “Osian has been flirting with me a ton tonight and he came up behind me at the bar and I just ground a little on him. Not a lot, just like…a little bit.”
He cocked his head, brow raised.
“Anyway, so, it was not Osian,” I admitted in a rush. “I have no idea who it was.”
He laughed softly. “That’s not that bad.”
“It’s mortifying. You’d be mortified if it was you.”
“I don’t grind on people at parties.”
“No, I mean, you’d be mortified if some strange woman just ground on you.”
He tilted his head, studying me closely. His mouth was turned up in a smirk, but his eyes seemed so serious. All blue steel and dark, narrowed lashes.
“I’d be understanding of her mistake,” he said. “And depending on how good her ass was, I’d take it as a freebie.”
“Merrick!”
“Just a joke.”
I rolled my eyes, but inside, I was a little thrown off. Merrick never talked about sex with me except for that night when I’d met Osian and asked Merrick about the jewelry on the drive home. And when he’d told me that any birth control I wanted was covered under his insurance.
But even then, it had been nothing more than a throwaway comment. He’d assumed I was sexually active, but hadn’t pried into it.
Of course I knew he had sex. I’d met a few people I was pretty sure he’d been involved with in the past.
