I throw my head back in laughter, and when I right myself, I find Alex staring at me. “What?”
“You’re just so beautiful.”
“Alex, I’m a mess. I didn't take off my makeup last night. I probably have mascara streaked all over my face.”
“I don't see any, but even if you did, you'd still be beautiful. Startlingly so.”
“You can't compliment me like that before I’ve brushed my teeth.”
“Trust me, I think I could power through anything at the moment.” He takes my hand and raises it to his lips. “But I'll wait to kiss you until your hygiene is at whatever level you'd like it to be. Your comfort is my top priority.”
I laugh. “Well, I must care for your comfort too, because I would certainly hate for you to have topower throughanything.” I grin. “So, really, what are we eating? I woke up hungry.”
“I got us sarnies.” He sticks his hand in the bag.
“Um. What?”
“It’s a breakfast sandwich.” Alex hands me my paper-wrapped sarnie. I open it and find a bread roll filled with bacon, egg, and avocado. “I got one without avocado too. I wasn’t sure if you liked it. And, not to brag, but I asked for the bacon to be crispy, like you like it.”
I sit my breakfast on the nightstand, throw off the covers, and rise to my knees. I take a couple of awkward knee steps and throw my arms around Alex’s middle.
He made sure I’d like the bacon.
37
Alexander
Wecouldn’thaveaskedfor a more beautiful day to visit Sissinghurst Castle Gardens. The sky is a bright blue, and the warm sun is casting the gardens in the most beautiful light.
“I bet they have weddings here,” Ivy says as we walk into the rose garden.
“That's the second time you've talked about weddings on this trip. What is it about you and me and … weddings?”
With my arm around her, she gives me a playful shove with her shoulder and chuckles. “I was just saying that because it's beautiful and looks like a great place forsomeoneto get married.”
“Mmm hmm …”
She rolls her eyes. She may not have been thinking about awedding involving the two of us, but I’m happy to make that connection. I can’t help but dream.
I wonder if she’d like a fancy destination wedding. I want to ask, but I have to stop myself. She just now seems to be coming around to the idea of trying to make something real happen with me. I don’t want to scare her.
“Which color roses are your favorite?” I ask.
Ivy had been studying the red roses growing on the brick garden wall, but she stops at my question to let her eyes search for her favorite. “I think those deep pink ones might be my favorite. I’ve never been a big fan of roses but seeing them grow like this may change my mind.”
“What are your favorite flowers?”
“I like peonies. I like how they look ruffled and there are so many colors of them. I wish I could have peonies or an arrangement that included peonies in it at home all the time.”
“You don’t think you’d get tired of them?”
“I doubt it. I mean, the novelty might eventually wear off, but it would take a long time for that to happen, I think.”
Ivy leans down to smell one of the roses on the wall, and I take a photo. I look at it, and I can see it printed in black and white and hanging in my office. I’m not, however, seeing my rarely used office in Malibu. I’m seeing some unknown office in my future. Maybe in North Carolina.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, I retrieve it and find Greyhas responded to a selfie I’d sent her of Ivy and me.
GREY
