More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Whatever magic Tansy was made of, Gemma wanted to drown in it, revel in the honeyed heat burning her up from the inside out. It was better than the finest bourbon she’d ever had the pleasure of sipping.
Gemma sighed through her nose. “The idea of spending my family’s money on saving a small, independent bookstore from being cannibalized by a behemoth of a corporation warms the cockles of my heart. Whatever the sum, I can guarantee you it’s a small price to pay to make sure my cousin doesn’t run my family business into the ground. So are you going to tell me how much or should I just leave it blank?” Tansy broke out into a cold sweat at the mere idea of having that sort of carte blanche access to Van Dalen funds. She shook her head. “I need”—deep breath—“six.”
Gemma stared. “Six what, Tansy? Hundred? Thousand?” Her lips twitched. “Sheep?” “Sheep?” Tansy balked. “What would I do with sheep?” Gemma laughed. “You tell me. This is basically my dowry we’re discussing.” She rubbed the front of her throat. “Six, um, million.” Gemma didn’t even bat an eye. “You got it.” And just like that she wrote out the check. “There.” She signed it with a flourish. “As you can see, I’m more than willing to put my money where my mouth is.”
“I don’t know.” Gemma smiled, voice lilting. “It’s not so bad, this mess of ours.” Ours. That was nice. Feeling like—knowing that she wasn’t in this alone.
“Anyway, um, if we’re getting all with the heavy, I might as well mention that I want to wear my mom’s wedding dress, okay?” “Of course,” she murmured, heart aching. “I think that’s beautiful.” Tansy laughed. “They got married in the eighties. Adjust your expectations accordingly.” She was pretty sure Tansy would look beautiful wearing a trash bag, but she refrained from saying that.
“A lack of formal education is never something someone should be made to feel ashamed of. And neither is any kind of honest work, even if you yourself wouldn’t personally deign to do it.”
“It’s just a wedding, Mom. It’s not a big deal.” A hassle and a headache and she’d skip it if she weren’t one of the two people who actually had to be there. Three, if she counted the officiant. Five, counting the witnesses.
Her name had never sounded sweeter than it did when Tansy said it. Whispered, shouted—she didn’t care, as long as it was her name on Tansy’s lips. Though she was pretty sure she liked it best this way, breathy, excited, like Tansy was genuinely happy to see her.
Tansy’s mouth opened and shut. “You told me you weren’t looking for romance.” “You’re right.” She nodded. “I wasn’t looking. But lo and behold, lucky for me, I found you anyway.”
Gemma clutched the counter, patience fraying. “Tansy?” “Hmm?” “Come on,” she pleaded. “Say yes.” Heart pounding against the cage of her chest, Gemma held her breath. Waiting. Hoping. Tansy smiled. “I wasn’t aware I’d been asked a question.” Oh thank God. Gemma exhaled roughly, slumping against the counter. “Shit. You scared me.” Tansy snickered softly, the sound like music to Gemma’s ears. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is where you’re supposed to promise me that if I say yes now, you’ll spend as much time on your knees as I want later.” Tansy’s blue eyes were bright, sparkling.
In turn, Gemma had learned that Tansy could moonwalk (a skill she’d been forced to demonstrate), she placed second in the county spelling bee (she’d lost out on nuque of all words), her favorite tropes were fated mates and found family but she also loved a good rake redeemed in historical romance, and she still occasionally had nightmares about having to take the final for a class she couldn’t remember ever enrolling in.
Tansy had turned down a staggering amount of money. For what? For her? She pressed a hand to her chest, heart thundering against her palm. She had no fucking idea what she had done to deserve Tansy, to have earned her loyalty, her trust. She’d be damned if she didn’t do everything in her power to offer the same to Tansy in kind. Whatever Tansy wanted, it was hers. Gemma was hers. From her assets to her heart to everything in between.
“But I don’t want your money,” Tansy whispered. “I just want you.”
