I huff and then take a seat in the stool next to me. “Happy?” I ask, throwing my hands up like a pissed off child.
“Very.” His voice dips just enough to make one simple word sound like a tease. My pulse quickens and I’m reminded again just how much this man affects me.
Niko must sense the effect on me because he shakes his head and laughs. Damn it. Even his laugh sounds like trouble. Smooth and tempting, pulling me right in.
He reaches down into the reusable bag but seems to change his mind about showing me what he bought.
“First tell me about your day. How did it go?”
As quickly as I can, I tell him all about our day. From the house tour to the tea party to our adventures outside. I don’t spare a single detail. He chuckles when I try to convince him to get a few goats.
“What? You have more than enough space for a couple goats.”
He leans his elbows down onto the counter and leans across, closing the much needed distance we had between us.
“I can barely take care of my child on my own, remember? That’s why you’re here.”
How this man thinks he’s not enough for his daughter drives me mad. This isn’t the first time he’s made a comment like that. There’s nothing I’d love more than to reach out and grab his face between my hands and talk some sense into him. Okay, so maybe I’d like to kiss some sense into him, but that’s a terrible idea.
Acting like the responsible adult I am, I clasp my hands in front me on the counter, bumping against his in the process. It’s the simplest touch, but I find myself leaning toward it, like our auras are reaching for each other. Every brush of skin sending energy up my spine, opening channels I hadn’t realized were blocked.
I inhale deeply, trying to calm energy rushing through me.
“You can take care of Sophia just fine. Asking for help doesn’t mean you can’t take care of her. It’s the opposite, actually. It just shows me you know exactly how to take care of her. You’re finally taking care of yourself too.”
Niko stares at me for a moment. His eyes bounce between mine. I watch as they slowly move down to my lips. One second goes by with his eyes on my lips. Two. Three.
He awkwardly clears his throat and pushes his hands off the counter.
“Right. Well. I still wanted to get you a few things to thank you for doing this for me.”
He moves his attention from me to the bag on the counter and I wonder if he’s feeling what I’m feeling. This undeniable energy between us. Our frequencies humming in perfect harmony together. His hand shakes as he reaches into the bag, and I know he feels it too.
Doing my best to ignore what I’m feeling, I smile and wait for him to show me what he bought me. The feeling only intensifies when I see what he pulls out of the bag first.
“You bought me sage?”
Niko rubs the back of his neck, seeming unsure about his purchase. “Uh, yeah. I thought you might want to burn it in your new apartment. Apartment? I don’t know if I’d call it that. But, yeah.”
I reach out and grab the dried bundle from his hand. Before I can thank him, he’s reaching into the bag for something else.
“I also got you this salt lamp. I noticed you had a couple in your office, so during treatment today I did some research. Some people believe they can help cleanse the air in your home and improve your mood and sleep. But you probably already know that since you have some in your office.”
Niko rambling is officially my favorite thing. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing, not wanting to make him feel more nervous than he clearly already is.
“Thank you,” I say before grabbing the lamp.
“One more thing.”
I’m about to argue with him, telling him this is way too much, but words die on my tongue when I see the last item. It’s a gorgeous ceramic pot overflowing with fresh lavender. He sets the pot down in front of me and stuffs his hands in those damn gray sweatpants that nearly ruined me this morning.
“Lavender. Every time I see it, it reminds me of you.”
I focus on the plant sitting in front of me, rubbing a branch of lavender between my fingers and trying like hell to fight the emotion that is creeping up my throat. My eyes sting, and I’m seconds away from sobbing, but I hold it all in. It’s pathetic, but no one has ever done anything like this for me. No one has really understood me enough todosomething like this. Not my parents. Not my past boyfriends. No one.
I’ve always been made to feel like an outcast. A pariah. The quirky girl obsessed with yoga.
Niko has made me feel more seen in the past five minutes than I ever have in the thirty years of my life.
