Page 79 of Death

“Oh yes, I did.” He tips his head at the table. “Open it.”

I pick up the flat square gift and pull the paper off. It’s another velvet box, and my heart starts beating faster as I slowly lift the lid.

“Oh my god,” I gasp as I stare at the necklace made entirely of diamonds. “This must’ve cost you a fortune!”

Santiago picks up the stunning piece of jewelry, and when he clips it around my neck, I get to take a breath of his cologne with his chest near my face.

Before he can step back to see what the necklace looks like on me, I wrap my arms around his waist and press my face to his shirt. “Thank you so much.”

He brushes his hand up and down my back, and when I pull away, he grins at me and taps his finger against his cheek.

Letting out a chuckle, I stand on my tiptoes again and press a kiss to his cheek.

When I lower myself back to my feet, he reaches for my chest and adjusts the two necklaces. “You were made to wear diamonds.”

My self-esteem gets another boost, and feeling happier than I’ve been in a very long time, I hook my arm through his again.

I hear the roar of the ocean, and when we approach another bend in the path, I expect to see the beach, but there’s another table.

This time, I pull away from Santiago, and letting out a burst of happy laughter, I pick up the gift and turn to look at him. “I want to guess what’s in this one.”

“You can try,” he chuckles. “I’ll give you three guesses, but what do I get if you’re wrong?”

I think for a moment, then ask, “What do you want?”

His expression turns almost predatory, and it has my stomach doing wild cartwheels. “That’s a very dangerous question to ask me. You know what I want.”

Me.

I look down at the gift while thinking of a way to compromise until I’m ready to take the big step with him. I suck in a deep breath, then looking at him again, I ask, “I can give you a kiss?”

Tilting his head, he tugs his bottom lip between his teeth, and the hot sight has my mouth dropping open.

Holy crap.

He narrows his eyes again, then says, “On the mouth.”

When I nod, he raises an eyebrow at me. “I want to hear the words,mi sol. Verbal consent is a big thing with me.”

There’s a burst of respect in my chest, and it makes it so much easier to say, “Yes, I’ll give you a kiss on the mouth.”

He inhales deeply, then gestures at the gift. “What do you think it is?”

I look at the shape and shake it, but there’s no sound. Thinking he probably got me a set of diamonds, I say, “It’s a bracelet.”

He lets out a sigh. “Lucky guess.”

Chuckling, I quickly open the gift, and seeing the tennis bracelet, I begin to feel emotional. Dad got me one with smaller diamonds for my eighteenth birthday, but I lost it.

“You don’t like it?” Santiago asks.

“I love it. I had one, but I lost it.”

He steps closer to me and as he puts the bracelet on my left wrist, he says, “If you lose this one, I’ll just buy you another.”

I set the box down on the table, and turning to Santiago, I move closer. “You’ve made my birthday so special. I’ll never forget it.”

I’m just about to reach up so I can give him the kiss he wants, but he wraps his arm around my shoulder and nudges me to keep walking.