Her expression brightens. “Dating?”
“Yes. Dating. That is, assuming you want to.”
In the silence that follows, my stomach performs a death-defying swoop to my feet and back again.
“Are you sure, Alec?” Her brows pinch together. “I thought you didn’t date.”
My lips twitch. “That’s what I thought about you, too.”
She smiles. “I guess that’s true.”
“So, what do you think? If you’d rather just stay friends, that’s okay. Well. I’ll be disappointed, but it won’t change things between us. But I’d like to see where things between us could go. As long as you want to, too.”
“Alec.”Her smile stretches wider. “I’d really like that.”
A burst of joy explodes inside me.
“Okay.” I adjust Hazel in my arms, hugging her close to me. I brush my lips across hers. “So we’re dating.”
She loops her arms around my neck and kisses me back. Then she grins. “Dating. I like the sound of it.”
I smile back at her. “I like the sound of it, too.”
CHAPTER 9
HAZEL
“Remember,don’t go anywhere on your own.”
Alec’s gaze darkens with intensity as he looks at me. His expression is somber, with no sign of the easy smile he wore when he picked me up just half an hour ago.
When he arrived at the front door of my cabin, his eyes were sparkling with humor as he held out a large bouquet of goldenrod to me. “I couldn’t get dandelions this late in the season,” he explained, “but I did some research and found out goldenrod is considered a weed, too.”
As I stared at the bouquet, his cheeks went pink. “I thought it would be funny,” he added quickly. “After the other night. But maybe I should have gone with traditional flowers instead.”
“No, they’re perfect,” I told him. “These are better than any regular flowers.”
And they were. They are. Because they meant Alec was thinking about me. He didn’t rush into the florist just to grab the first flower arrangement he saw. He was intentional about it. He remembered our conversation from three nights ago and acted on it.
Is it weird that my heart got all squishy over a bouquet of weeds? To someone else, it might be. But to me, it’s just another reminder of why I like Alec so much. Of why I’m taking a chance on him after three years of swearing I’d never date again.
Alec takes my hand in his, wrapping his much larger fingers around mine. “I know I’ve said it before. But I worry. And I just want you to be safe.”
“I know.” I kiss his bristly cheek. “And I promise I’ll be careful. Just like I have been.”
He casts a suspicious look around the mostly-empty bar, like he’s expecting an enemy to leap out from under a table or behind the silent jukebox at any second. “No trips to the supply closet by yourself. Or outside to throw out the trash. If you need to use the bathroom, let me know so I can check it first.”
We’ve already been through this the other times Alec accompanied me to work, but I can’t bring myself to be annoyed by the repetition. It’s his job to protect me, after all. And now that we’re dating, I guess it’s natural he’d be evenmoreprotective.
“I will,” I agree. “Frank knows the deal. I’ll stick tothe kitchen and the dining area. Anything else, he’ll ask one of the other employees.”
I felt a little bad asking Frank for the special accommodations, but he brushed aside my worry like it was nothing. “Whatever it takes to keep you safe,” he told me. “You just let me know.”
After years of never asking for help, it’s kind of jarring to be the object of all this concern. Frank, Wendy, all the employees at Blissful Brews, Jess, now that I’ve filled her in on everything, and of course, Alec and all his GMG teammates—but I have to admit it feels nice. Even though there are times I’m still not sure I deserve it.
“Okay.” Alec palms my cheek as he leans in to kiss me. His mouth is soft and warm and tastes slightly of the cider donuts we ate on the way over. He nips at my lower lip before sweeping his tongue across the small sting. Then he teases my mouth open and dips inside, stroking and tasting.
Desire kindles in my belly, igniting into an inferno. My nipples go hard. My skin sizzles with electricity. Need pulses at my core.
