A New Year Marriage Proposal (Harlequin Romance) by Kate Hardy

Author:Kate Hardy [Hardy, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

SHOULD HE GIVE Carissa the present in person, or should he just post it through her letterbox?

Quinn stared at the Christmas-tree decoration.

He’d seen it on one of the stalls last night, but there had been no way at the time he could have bought it as a surprise for Carissa. Not without either letting go of her hand—and he’d discovered that he really, really liked strolling hand in hand with Carissa Wylde—or making some excuse to double back to the stall without her. There hadn’t been the right moment.

Fortunately the peacock hadn’t been sold between last night and the time when Winter Fantasia had opened this morning, so he’d been able to buy it this morning—a glittery confection of turquoise and gold with its little crown and spread-out feathers.

If he gave the ornament to Carissa in person, there was a good chance she might think there were strings attached. He’d bought it simply because he’d thought she might enjoy it. Like the fairy lights for her laptop—though admittedly those had been for a purpose. To persuade her to answer his questions about Project Sparkle. The peacock was simply to make her smile.

And he probably needed his head examined.

In the end, he scribbled the word ‘Enjoy’ on the top sheet of the jotter block on his desk, signed it with his initial, put the note and the unwrapped peacock into a padded envelope, and scrawled her name on the front.

He was pretty sure it was an office day for her, so he simply posted the package through her letterbox—it was just thin enough to fit—and then headed back to his desk, to work on the app he’d been tinkering with all week. At least if he buried himself in work he could concentrate and stop thinking about her, he told himself.

And he knew he was lying.

* * *

Carissa came home from a busy day at the office to find a pile of post on her doormat when she unlocked the front door. Christmas cards, a couple of brochures, a bank statement—and a padded envelope that just had her name written on the front. Clearly it had been delivered by hand, by someone who knew where she lived. And the padded bag had obviously been reused, because the front was rough where an adhesive label had been removed.

She didn’t recognise the handwriting. Curious, she opened the envelope and discovered a beautiful glittery peacock. A Christmas-tree ornament with a little loop to let it hang from a branch.

Who was it from?

She looked inside the bag again and discovered the note. Not exactly verbose: just the word ‘Enjoy’, and it was signed with a single initial.

Q.

Quinn.

He’d bought her a peacock for her tree. A reminder of last night, when she’d fallen for the ice sculpture?

A reminder of last night, when he’d held her hand and kissed her?

And then all his barriers had come back up because she’d said the wrong words at the wrong time.

She couldn’t quite work him out. So what now?

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