Our Now and Forever(67)

She didn’t want to let the question go, especially when she saw the demons the subject let loose in his eyes. Her always lighthearted husband was hiding a wound she knew nothing about. But before she could push the issue, Caleb slid the straps of her tank top off her shoulders and took one pink nipple between his teeth. Her gasp of pleasure echoed around them as her questions drowned in a pool of desire.



Caleb had never seen Snow this nervous. After weeks of watching her step on stages in Nashville, he’d expect selling a painting at auction to be the less daunting task. But his wife had become a frantic ball of energy in the passenger seat. He’d asked her twice if she needed him to stop for a potty break, and the second time she nearly ripped his head off and told him to drive and keep quiet.

Being the rational man that he was, Caleb followed the directive and clamped his piehole shut.

“This is it,” Snow informed him, as he pulled the Jeep into the auction house parking lot. He didn’t bother to tell her he knew where they were going, seeing as he was the one who had mapped the place out. Today was not the day to correct his better half.

“There aren’t a lot of cars here. That’s a bad sign, isn’t it?”

“Not when the show doesn’t start for ninety minutes.” The e-mail she’d showed him said to arrive by nine, but Snow had demanded they leave the house at seven. He’d talked her into leaving at seven thirty, and that still put them here a half hour early. With only two cars in the lot, Caleb wondered if they were the first to arrive.

Snow reached his side of the Jeep before his feet hit the pavement. “Be careful with the painting,” she said, for the tenth time that morning. “Don’t hurt it.”

“I’m not going to hurt it, darling,” he said, looking forward to this sale being over so he could have his mild-mannered wife back. “You’ve wrapped it well enough to survive the Titanic.”

“I wanted to make sure it didn’t get damaged on the way down here,” Snow defended, hovering around him as he drew the delicate cargo from the backseat. “Don’t put it on the ground,” she ordered, seconds before the painting touched the pavement.

“Honey, it’s wrapped in four layers of brown paper. A little asphalt isn’t going to hurt it.”

“Still,” she said, taking her new obsession out of his hands. The thing was nearly as big as she was, making her look like a giant brown rectangle with feet. “I’ll feel better once we’re inside.”

I’ll feel better once this is over, he thought. Not that he’d say as much aloud. Caleb had learned a lot about being a husband in the last couple of weeks. Determination to keep a woman happy and his own hide out of a sling made a man a fast learner.

“I’ll carry it,” he said as she started hobbling toward the large building with the Premier Auctions sign over the door. “You’re going to break your neck and the painting—now give it here.”

For the first time all day, Snow didn’t argue. She let Caleb take the painting without a fuss and didn’t even remind him to be careful. Maybe she was starting to relax. And then they reached the entrance.

“Be careful,” she murmured, holding the door open for him.

Caleb rolled his eyes, but only because she couldn’t see his face. To his relief, an auction coordinator met them at the small counter not far from the entrance. She introduced herself with a welcoming smile, thanked them for bringing the painting on such short notice, and then explained that she would hand it over to the staff to tag and place with the other items up for bid.

As the treasure passed hands, Snow said, “Be careful,” to the friendly woman, who nodded and maintained her smile. Caleb assumed the employee was used to overprotective owners, but Snow was acting as if she’d given birth to the thing.

“The auction room is the second door on the right,” the woman informed them, nodding toward the back of the room. “Coffee and tea, as well as water, are available on a side table.” To Snow she said, “Don’t worry about a thing. This is the star of our show. We’ll take good care of it.”

As if those simple words were all she needed to hear, Snow visibly relaxed and managed a genuine smile in return. “Thank you. I’m not usually this crazy.”

“No, she isn’t,” Caleb said to back her up, but the woman had disappeared through a doorway behind the counter. “Let’s go sit down,” he said to Snow, dropping a hand to the small of her back.

“She thinks I’m nuts, doesn’t she?”

Caleb shook his head. “I doubt you’re the first person who cared about something of value.”