Two Bar Mitzvahs (No Weddings #3)(75)

She nodded.

“Please be patient with me. Sharing every little thing is new for me. I want to be everything you need me to be, but they don’t make an instruction manual. I’m learning as I go. Just trust in me, no matter what.”

“I will. I do.” She gave me a hesitant smile, and it was all the invitation I needed. I leaned forward, capturing her lips with mine. Warm, salty, trembling, both a reunion and the seal of a promise, the kiss was the best of my life.

When I pulled away, she smiled brighter than I’d ever remembered. I grinned, the happiest man on the planet. “That’s why I came back.”

Laughing, she tilted her head. “My soaking wet kiss?”

I tapped her nose. “Nope.” I arched a brow. “Although I do like you wet…”

She shoved at my chest with little force. “Neanderthal.”

“You know it.” I grinned again. “I came back because I want to be the cause of your smile, every lucky day of my life.” Remembering I had a gift for her, I grabbed her hand and tugged her up off the bench. “C’mere. I’ve something to show you.”

Nervous and excited at the same time, I led her down the walkway to the opposite side of this section of the park. As we rounded the bend, her surprise edged into view.

She gasped the moment she caught sight of the spectacle. Her smile widened and she squealed. “Oh my God…Cade!”

A meadow of rainbow-colored snapdragons in small clay pots stood in rows, stretching across the grass. The hill rose up on the far side, and the flowered pattern on the grass canvas formed the irregular shape of a heart.

Children ran along the edges, playing among the flowers. Butterflies flew above the blooms. Even a few iridescent dragonflies glided by, finding perches on the peaks of the flowered stems.

Instead of running into the middle of the flowers like I’d expected her to do, she pressed against my side, lacing her fingers together with mine. I sighed, comforted by the gentle gesture, happy she wanted to be here with me.

“It’s amazing, Cade.” Her soft words held the tiniest tremble. She sniffed, and I looked down to find her crying.

“Hey, hey. No more tears. Only happiness, okay? I hoped this would make you smile and laugh.”

A choked laugh came out. “It does. I am happy. I’m just overwhelmed. What an incredible bouquet of flowers. It’s just…I’m the luckiest…” She buried her face against my chest when her words started to croak out.

I held her tight. “No, Maestro. I’m the lucky one.”

We stood there for an eternity, both of us holding each other tight. Even Ava respected our need for privacy by stretching out in the long shadows of the flowers for a late afternoon nap.

Finally, I rubbed a hand up Hannah’s back. “Might be hard to stick ‘em in a vase.”

She huffed out a soft laugh, turning toward her snapdragon meadow. “We can collect a few favorite pots. Maybe Chloe and Daniel can deliver the rest to friends and family.”

“I like that idea: share our celebration with others.”

I smoothed my thumb up her arm and tilted my head. “I could’ve done a meadow of cupcakes and run naked through them. But I bake for shit, and arrested for streaking seemed like the wrong message.”

She busted up laughing—music to my ears.

She gazed up at me, her sparkling eyes bright green in the sunlight. “Some fantasies are better left to our imagination.”

My face fell into a pout. “But I like the idea of the cupcake meadow. I’m looking forward to licking frosting off your body.”

Mischief danced in her eyes, and she bit the corner of her lower lip. “I’m looking forward to that too.”

Unable to believe Hannah was really here with me, I pulled her into my arms again, burying my face against her neck, inhaling the tropical scent I hadn’t realized I’d become dependent on until just now.

With soft tender kisses, her lips trailed a line up my neck. Teeth tugged at my earlobe. “What do you say we go back to my place?”

Exhaling, relieved to the point my knees nearly gave out, I squeezed her tighter.

“I say yes.”





31


Sweetest Taste


My heart raced as we entered her dimly lit entry, and I closed the front door behind us. Without saying a word, she slipped her hand into mine and glanced over her shoulder. A gentle smile curved onto her face and lit up my world.

She squeezed my hand, and I couldn’t tell if she did it to make sure I was actually there with her, or because she felt me shake with nervous excitement. Fuck, probably both. The adrenaline of the last couple of hours still had me shaking.

We stood in the dark space for a few seconds, just breathing.

“I have a surprise for you too, Cade.” Her low voice held a sultry note.

She could’ve been talking about something mundane, like last month’s profit and loss statement from Sweet Dreams, and I still would’ve been mesmerized.

My mind guttered. “Does it have anything to do with us naked in a cupcake field?”

She pressed against my side. Her voice softened. “In a way.”

“You’re killing me, Maestro. If you keep me in suspense much longer, I will pass out.”

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “No passing out. I’ve got plans for you, Mr. Michaelson.” She reached behind me and flicked the light switch on.