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Another laugh. “Red. You’re getting a red one.” He grabbed it and dropped it in the basket, turning us around to the soaps. “What kind of shampoo do you use?”

“You can’t get it at a drugstore.”

“Do you have extra at your house?”

“I think I have a travel size under my sink. Why?”

“Good,” he said, avoiding answering. “We’ll pick it up when we go over to your place.”

“Aha! So we are going to my place.”

He shrugged. “I never said we weren’t. I’ll order some more so I can put it in my shower. Would it be weird if I used it every once in a while?”

I laughed. “I mean, it’s just shampoo, so I’m gonna say no. You have to know I’m also going to ask you why.”

“Because I have dreams about the way your hair smells, and I wouldn’t hate for a second to smell like you for a whole day.”

“That’s fair. I have dreams about how you smell, but I have no idea what it is. Mostly I think it’s just you, which is problematic. I can’t exactly rub you all over myself to make me smell like you.”

“I mean, it couldn’t hurt to try.”

I nestled into his side, laughing again.

“I don’t know what it is. My soap maybe. There’s this fancy lotion my mom uses that I stole from her because it makes my skin super soft.”

“Okay, well, I’ll definitely be using that.”

“My deodorant? But that’s not pH-balanced for a woman. How about we sniff test later and find out?”

“Are you asking me to smell your underarms? Because…okay.”

He kissed the top of my head. “All right, do you want your own soap? Have a special toothpaste you like?”

“No, yours is fine. So, we’re getting stuff for me to keep at your place.”

“Your powers of deduction are astounding.”

“I know, I’m a regular old Sherlock. But…I mean…you’re not…you don’t want to…”

“Move in together?”

I think I could hear him smirking still, which was reassuring because the thought of moving in made my stomach hit my shoes.

“I wouldn’t buy you a new toothbrush, babe. I’d move the one from your place instead.”

“Oh, thank God,” I said on a sigh.

He leaned back to look down at me with that notched brow arched. “I know, wouldn’t that be the worst?”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I love you, but I’m not ready to share a toilet with you.”

He laughed, this time lowering his lips to kiss mine.

We wandered through the grocery store.

“Okay,” he said. “Mimosas or Bellinis?”

“Bloody Marys,” I amended.

“My kinda girl. How about…poached eggs? Do you like eggs Benedict?”

“You know how to poach eggs?”

“I know all kinds of things. Like how to Manhattan Dip you on the dance floor and the fastest ways to make you sigh. So, hollandaise or no hollandaise?”

“Hollandaise, extra Canadian bacon. Okay, so toothbrush, breakfast—brunch? I don’t get it.”

“You will,” he said on a chuckle as he loaded the basket with breakfast stuff.

Our next stop was a liquor store. He sent me in for Bloody Mary supplies, heading for somewhere else in the meantime. Where, I had no idea.

Until I stepped out. There he stood on the sidewalk with a grocery bag in one hand and a gorgeous bouquet in the other. Peonies, pink and salmon and cream, with soft green lamb’s ears, purple thistle, and fern fronds.

But I barely noticed it. All I could see was Sam. The sweetness of his smile, the depth of love in his eyes. The black of his hair, the breadth of his shoulders. The soft pink against the dark of his jacket.

“Sam,” I breathed, stepping into him, setting my bag next to us, so I could take the bouquet with both hands. I saw in the bouquet a few ranunculus, a bit of jasmine. It smelled divine.

He was divine.

I found my throat tight, my nose tickled with tears. I’d never thought I’d be a flower girl, but now, I got it. It wasn’t about the flowers, the beauty or delicacy of them. It was about the man who’d chosen them simply because he wanted to make me smile, simply because he’d been thinking of me.

Simply because he loved me.

“They’re b-beautiful.” I buried my nose in the silky petals to hide the tears as they rolled away.

“I love you, Val. Don’t cry.”

“I love you, too, and I can’t help it. How’d I get so lucky?”

He slipped a hand around my waist. “I’ll be asking myself that every day, maybe forever.” He smiled, searched my face. “So, have you figured it out yet?”

I considered, smelling the flowers again. Jasmine had always been my favorite. “Breakfast, toothbrushes, and flowers. Boyfriend material? Are you boyfriending me?”

He laughed. “Val, I’m gonna boyfriend you so good.” And as he leaned in for my lips, he added, “And that’s only the beginning.”





Epilogue





Val

I tipped the bell of my trumpet to the ceiling of the club, perched on Sam’s shoulders. And I hit that high note with all the joy in my heart.

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