“That is, if you have time?”
Penny thought of the accounts that were desperate for her attention. She hesitated, torn between putting the customer first—not too hard to do with this ruggedly charming cowboy, if she were honest—and giving a polite excuse. Kurt pre-empted her, smiling again in a way that even a saint would have found hard to resist.
“I was particularly interested in the jewellery.” He indicated the collection of antique gold and silver locked in a case near the window. “I need to buy a present for someone.”
That clinched it. Although Penny was knowledgeable about antiques of all kinds, jewellery was her passion. She smiled widely.
“My assistant says when I get onto my jewellery I talk too much, so stop me when I get boring.”
Kurt showed no sign at all of boredom as she displayed the pieces. He listened intently, his eyes following Penny as she gesticulated with animation. When she held up a particularly striking pendant for his inspection, the gemstones caught the light from the window, and he lifted his dark blonde head with a slow smile, enjoying her enchantment. In the glow of enthusiasm, she forgot all about her weariness and her anxiety regarding the accounts.
It wasn’t until they reached the final item that she faltered. She reached a hand toward the last silver chain and then recollected herself, retreating swiftly to pick up one of the gold pendants they had already examined. Her movements lost their fluid grace all of a sudden and became strangely stilted.
Kurt remained where he was, gazing at the last pendant. When he turned to Penny, she thought she saw flash of understanding in him which was at odds with his apparent slowness of movement. She almost reached out a hand to tug him away, but any attempt to move this solid male would be futile. Her heart sank as he tilted his head in the direction of the pendant she was willing him to ignore.
“What about this one?” He slid his hand gently under the gemstones and tilted them up to the window. A cluster of tiny rose diamonds caught the light, and the pendant sparkled against his tanned hand. He lifted it a little higher, allowing the delicate chain to spill over his broad fingers.
“Now this is real beautiful,” he said slowly.
If he’d noticed Penny’s reluctance, he was wilfully ignoring it. He tilted his head and waited patiently for her to speak.
“It’s Art Nouveau,” she said at last. “Turn of the century.”
The stones of the pendant gleamed softly against Kurt’s hand.
“May I take a closer look?”
She gave a reluctant nod, all spontaneity completely flown. She observed Kurt’s careful handling of the pendant with tight constraint. He lifted the chain from its brass hook and let it slip lightly through his fingers until the gemstones came to rest in his open palm. A single strand of silver curled neatly into the shape of a heart, from the base of which trembled several tiny rose diamonds. At the apex of the heart, two further silver strands twined around each other and then parted, one strand curving into a delicate petal, the other dropping downward to hold two pale pink, lustrous pearls right in the heart’s centre. The pearls shimmered in Kurt’s hand, bringing with them all the secrets of the ocean from which they’d been plucked more than a hundred years before. It was magical.
Penny studied Kurt’s expression and bit her lip. Of all the pieces in the shop, of course this had to be the one he admired the most.
“It’s a love token,” she told him. Then she shook herself. “Well, that’s obvious. I mean, it’s a heart...”
She let the sentence trail away. Kurt didn’t need any of her pathetic words to describe the wonderful gems shining in his hand. In any case, after his dismissive remarks about using romance to sell to customers, she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue. The gems positively glowed with romance. It was her favourite item in the whole shop, and she couldn’t
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