My cell phone pings with a notification from the security system, and I call up the video feed of the gate. Sydney is carrying a cake box and a bottle of wine, looking adorably nervous as I press a button to let her in.
“Wow. You should see the look on your face right now.” Ryder chuckles. “You are fucking smitten, man.”
“I am crazy in love with this woman. Sydney has always been it for me.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
“I forgot to tell her you joined us too, but she’ll be cool,” I say, jumping off the stool and heading to the door.
Butterflies dance around my chest when I open the door and see her approaching. My smile is instant when I see her beautiful face. She’s wearing a gorgeous orange-red dress that is fitted on top with a frilled hem over her chest and straps that tie in a bow on her shoulders. It flows softly from her waist to her calves with a similar frill at the hem. Plain white tennis shoes adorn her feet. Her blonde hair is braided on top, almost like a hair band, and the rest of her golden locks hang in soft waves over her shoulders and down her back.
She is effortlessly stunning, and I’m already a puddle at her feet. I smile as she steps up to the door. “Hey, Syd. You look beautiful.”
“J. You look good too.” She leans in to kiss my cheek, and the scent of wild berries and jasmine tickles my nostrils, sending my senses into overdrive.
“You still wear the same perfume,” I blurt because I’ve got zero chill.
Two pink spots bloom on her cheeks. “I wear others, but Marc Jacobs is still one of my favorites.”
I wonder if she wore it for me. As that thought lands in my mind, my gaze lowers to her neck, and my heart swells when I find the silver locket resting against her collarbone. “I like that you still wear my locket.” My heart had swollen to bursting point at the gallery that day when I saw her clasping it around her neck. I lift my eyes to hers.
“I rarely remove it.”
Ryder mentioned vulnerability, and I see it now on Sydney’s face. This is what he means. Opening up and shielding nothing from her.
I extend my right arm where a few leather bands are wrapped around my wrist, singling out a particular one.
“You have yours too.”
I run the tip of my finger over the engraving of our names on the silver panel of the leather band I bought the same time I bought her locket. “I couldn’t always wear it, and mostly I didn’t want to. This was just for us. And I was afraid of it breaking, but it’s one of my most treasured possessions.”
“Are we naïve trying to replicate the past?”
I stare deep into her eyes, wishing I could lace my fingers in all that thick golden hair, pull her face to mine, and show her with my lips there is nothing naïve about reclaiming the spark that has never died, but I’m not going to pressure her before she’s ready.
I will be her friend.
The best fucking friend she’s ever had, and when she’s ready for more, I’ll give it to her.
Shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans to ignore the urge to touch her, I shake my head. “We’re not replicating the past. We’re starting over. It’s a clean slate. We’re writing a new chapter.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Jared
Her full lips pull into a smile. “I like that. I—”
The buzzer rings, cutting her off mid-sentence, and I move to check the monitor. I step aside to let her inside and buzz the delivery guy in at the gate.
“I made dessert.” She hands me the box. “And I brought wine.”
“I have a wine cellar in my basement unless you forgot that part of the tour,” I tease.
“I remember, but I didn’t know if you had any Sancerre.”
I smile at her in amusement. “I might have ordered a few boxes during the week.”
Her mouth hangs open. “A fewboxes?”
