Page 54 of Love vs The Ooze Monster!
“I didn’t know Lew left you the book. I assume there’s some kind of… puzzle or something in it?”
“An inscription that didn’t make a lick of sense, until I knew who you were.”
She nodded. “It must have been an insurance policy, in case he died before he could convince me to meet you. He thought you’d be curious to solve the riddle and eventually find me yourself. He loved games.”
“If you hadn’t come looking for me, I would have gone looking for you, sooner or later.” Boyd pointed toThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz, sitting in its place of honor on his bookshelf. “I was obsessed with figuring out why he gave that novel to me. I got mesmerized by my sexy new bookkeeper, real soon after he died. Otherwise, I probably would have gone hunting for answers from the people who knew him best. And once I saw his daughter, I would have gotten his intentions pretty quick. Ididget them pretty quick, once I understood everything.”
“Well, doing things my way meant you got to know me forme. Not as Lew’s daughter.”
“You know I would have been all in, no matter who your daddy was. You were just stalling.”
Mabel wrinkled her nose, like shedidknow it, but she didn’t want to admit she was wrong. “Maybe I didn’t tell you everything I could have. Maybe there were times my feelings for you were a little overwhelming. Maybe I went into it looking for ways that Lew was wrong about you.”
“Maybe?”
“Probably.” She went back to chewing her lower lip. “But hewasn’twrong.”
“Nope.” Boyd opened his arms and sighed in relief when she stepped into them. “IamThe One, doll.” He kissed her temple.
She rested her forehead against his shoulder, holding on as he swayed to unheard music. “I know. The first time you ever smiled at me, I knew that no other man would ever do. It scared me, but I knew.”
Boyd’s hand fisted around the slinky material of her nightgown, holding her closer. He checked the time. 10:57.
Mabel gave a disgruntled sniff. “Youtook longer to figure things out, though, no matter what you say now.” She groused, still caught up in her reminiscing. “Iwas sure we were building something, right away. Butyouonly knew I was The One for you from ‘practically’the first day we met.”
Boyd laid his cheek against her hair, amused at the pointed words. “Very true. You started work on a Tuesday and I waited until that Thursday before picking out a diamond ring. I was behind the curve, no doubt about it.”
She glanced up at him, slightly mollified. “You really have a ring for me?”
“Yep.” His gaze stayed on the clock. 10:58.
Mabel scowled at his lack of elaboration. “Well, where is it?” She demanded. “It’s my ring. I should have it.”
Boyd bit back a grin and gestured to the desk.
“You didn’t even put it in asafe?” She demanded hotly. “Good grief, Boyd.” Pulling back from his grip, she stalked over to rifle through his desk drawers. “If anything’s happened to my diamond, I’m going to have your head.”
“What could possibly happen to a gigantic diamond?” He meandered after her, his hands in his pockets. “They’re stronger than iron.”
“They can still be stolen.” She slammed one drawer shut and started looking in another. “Or lost. Or squashed between the pages of car magazines, because you have fifty million of them in here.” She heaped some issues ofPopular Mechanicsonto the floor. “And comic strips. And baseball cards. Lord… Don’t you do any actual work at this desk?”
“Nope. I have a pretty little partner who handles the bookkeeping for me.” Boyd came up behind her, boxing her in.
Mabel didn’t seem to notice. “Is this my ring?” She opened up a box and frowned at the medal inside. “Where did this come from?”
“War Department, I guess.”
“You guess?” She sent him a confused look. “You don’trememberreceiving a medal for,” she read the engraving, “exceptionally distinguished service?”
“I try to forget everything about the war.”
Mabel wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “What did you do that was so ‘exceptionally distinguished’? It was something crazy, wasn’t it? Something no one sane would ever do, because it would get them killed.”
“I guess.” He ducked his head to nuzzle her neck, not at all interested in discussing his war medals. “What time is it, doll?”
Mabel automatically glanced at the clock. “It’s 10:59…” She stopped short, realizing what he was getting at. Her lips parted, as the chime began to ring, signaling the top of the hour.
“Eleven.” His teeth grazed her ear. “Finally.”
