Chapter 45

From the delicate curve of the setting to the custom clasp detail, I’d bet my sketchbook it was designed from scratch. And unless Ashton had been carrying it around for fun, it meant he’d pulled this together in the last few hours. For me. My chest tightened like my lungs were being rude and forgetting how to function. Then he leaned in closer, and suddenly the side of my ear went warm. I felt something—light, soft, like lips—but it was gone so fast I wasn’t sure it’d happened. He reached forward and gently touched the necklace now hanging around my neck. ‘That brooch didn’t suit you,’ he said. ‘This fits better. You like it?’ I managed to find my voice, just barely. ‘Yeah… I like it.’ I hadn’t even seen what it looked like on me, but I didn’t need a mirror to know it was stunning. It was the kind of piece that made people stop mid-sentence. Ashton gave a little satisfied smile, then his eyes flicked to the ring box still sitting on my lap. ‘So I gave you a gift,’ he said. ‘Aren’t you