Still fighting her nerves, she continued to play the game, attempting to guess the contents of the gift bag.  It would be markedly easier if Michael’s intense blue gaze wasn’t boring into the side of her head while the seconds ticked by on the kitchen clock.  Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…each resounded in her head like the stomps of an elephant, smashing the fragile hold she retained on her sanity.  Only the unwavering gentle kindness she found within the calm blue depths of Paul’s eyes kept her fingers steady as she held it in her hands.  One would think playing a guessing game would be easy when the contents was known, but now that she knew what the bag contained there was little else she could think of.  All she had to do was make a guess – any guess – and she could get on with this yet nothing came to her mind except for the diamond ring she was sure was inside. [Read more...]