Two Bar Mitzvahs (No Weddings #3)(3)

“Ahhh, yes.” I grabbed my coffee and pressed my hand to her back. “I’d forgotten. It was a surprise for you last night, but it was too dark to see.”

Hannah rushed out her back door before I finished talking. I hurried after her.

Once we were a few feet away, she jerked to a stop and spun around, eyes widening. “Snapdragons!”

I grinned. On our first attempt at a date a couple of months ago, I’d brought her a single rose. She’d pulled off a petal, then revealed her other flower obsession: making snapdragons sing. Nothing in the world would’ve stopped me from trying to make that happen on our first real date.

She knelt down in front of them, blinking. Her voice fell to a whisper. “You remembered how much I liked snapdragons.”

“I did.”

Unable to see what she was doing with her fingers, I squatted beside her. She gripped the back joint of the flower and pinched her finger and thumb together. The two halves opened like a jaw. When she released the pressure, they closed.

She proceeded to pinch the flower open and shut to the rhythm of her exaggerated operatic voice. “La, la, la, la, la, laaa.”

I burst out laughing. She looked up at me, pure joy in her eyes.

My heart warmed at how easily she was her raw, true self with me. “Damn, I love you.”

I blinked hard. What the f*ck was with my spewing out words without thinking? I blamed the snapdragons.

Yet I did love her. And no part of me wanted to take back the admission.

She gave me a wide smile until her lips twisted into a smirk. Probably because if my expression matched what I felt, I looked shocked as hell at my revelation.

But her gaze held mine. “I love you too.” A whispered confession.

I grasped her hand, pulled her up, and held her tight. “You don’t have to say it just because I did.”

“You seemed surprised you’d said it.” She placed a soft kiss along the side of my neck.

“I was.” It’s what happened when love blindsided a guy enough for him to run at the mouth without considering the consequences.

She pulled back to look at me, tilting her head with a tender smile. “I knew last night. Maybe I’d felt it for a while, but last night, I knew.”

“We’ve come a long way in a couple of months after burning bad memories of our past, in this very backyard, to give us a chance at a future together. And now here we are.”

Shit. Memories of my past. Of Madison. The only other woman who I’d ever loved was the person who’d shattered my heart. And that same ghost from my past showed up to haunt me the morning I told Hannah I loved her?

The two were unrelated. Had to be.

I focused back on the woman in my arms.

Her smile was breathtaking, but her brows suddenly drew together. “You okay? You look like you’re deep in thought.”

“Yeah. Sorry. Exorcising a ghost.”

She took a deep breath. “Selfish Bitch?”

I gave her a curt nod. “I guess I’m just rattled today. Her call threw me. And it’s not every day I tell someone I love them.”

She stared at me for a beat, her expression turning hard. “You told her you loved her. But what you feel for me is different, right?”

I gave her a fierce stare. “So different. Beyond compare. I…I’ve never felt this before.”

The corners of her lips twitched, and her eyes narrowed for a split second. Then she poked a finger into my chest. “That’s right. You looove me.”

I smiled down at her. “Yes, Maestro. I looove you.” And I did. That she saw me spiraling again and pulled me out with her quirky humor made my heart ache.

Hannah was different. Madison might’ve gotten the best part of me back then, but Hannah made me feel like the best version of myself all the time.

She tugged me back up to the house. “C’mon. I need to go make the cupcakes, and you’re going to be late to your meeting.” We climbed her back steps, and she turned around as she opened her back door. “What are you doing tonight? Will you come back later?”

I dropped a serious look at her. “Nothing could keep me away.”

She gave me a devastating smile, then tilted her head to the side. “I had the most wonderful time last night.”

I topped off my coffee as I looked out toward the tent. “Camping à la Cade has a certain appeal, doesn’t it?”

“Not sure I’d want to camp any other way.”

“You ever been camping before?”

She shook her head. “No. You?”

“Yeah. Couple times in college. Group of friends. Keg. Loud music.”

She nodded absently and gazed out the window toward the tent with a sad expression.

“That’s it. We’re going camping.”

“Really?” Her face lit up.

I pulled her toward the front door. “Yeah, really. Talk to those two employees of yours and clear your schedule as soon as you can.”

When we reached her car, she turned and kissed along my jaw until her lips found mine. I deepened the kiss, then groaned when my body decided in firm terms that it wanted to stay.

***

A few minutes later, and after a dozen more kisses that would have convinced me to stay on any other day, I finally eased my motorcycle out of her driveway and headed straight to my bar.