CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I promised we would do something fun before I go back to work. And I also promised we’d go to Mr. Reynolds grave. So, this is what I picked for us. Something light and fun and sincere after a day of explosions.” Alaric tightened his hold around my waist, keeping my body flush with his. “What do you think?”
A gentle smile curved on my lips. “I think I love the way your mind works.”
“Thank you, thank you. I’d like to stop where God’s ashes were scattered, so I’ll be participating too.” He kissed the top of my head and then opened the door for me. “I’m at your service, m’lady.”
I snickered and walked into the flower store.
But it wasn’t any flower store.
It was a build your own store—the high wooden tables in the center of the room where multiple individuals sat working on their arrangements. Vases ran up and down the walls on our left and right on shelves. An entire cooled area was at the back of the room, the glass allowing the vibrant colors of the flowers to be the backdrop of the room.
I inhaled and sighed in pleasure.
It was like walking into a rainforest.
Alaric paid the clerk. And we went to work.
Since these were flowers for gravesites, no vases were needed. We headed straight for the flowers, all their hues making my eyes widen in wonder. The air chilled our flesh as we stepped inside, but it was no different from the outdoors right now. We were still bundled up as we perused the silken petals.
“I think I’m going with the colors of the sea.” I gulped and breathed through my initial panic. I eyed the varieties of blues and greens they had. “Butch would like that.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’m going for golds and yellows and browns. Like his fur was.”
I stood up on tiptoe and kissed his lips softly. “That sounds beautiful.”
“Yes, God’s vain.” He blinked, and corrected himself immediately, “God was vain.”
I kissed his lips again. “It takes a while. It’s okay to slip.”
He shook his head and sighed, then peered down at me. Much more jovial, he teased, “One more kiss?”
“Just one. Then we get to work on our masterpieces.” I jumped up and kissed his lips mid-flight. I landed easily and patted his ass. “Get to it. I want to see your creative side in action.”
Dark brown eyes gleamed. “Prepare to be dazzled.”
“Like you dazzled everyone out of our home last night when they kept peppering me for more information about the bastard?”
He winked. “Just like that.”
“I’m pretty sure you broke Wolfe’s leg.”
“Well, he was pissing me off. We were all covered in ash, you had just been dead for the past five days, then you kindly answered their questions, and you told them you wanted to go to bed. You’d had enough for the day.” He shrugged a massive shoulder. “So I made them leave my mate alone.”
I blinked. “Said like that, I guess you did well.”
“Fuck yeah.”
I kissed him once more—just because. Then I grabbed handfuls of the four choices I picked and kneed him in the butt as I walked out of the cooling unit. We were set for the middle table, so I sat down, placing all the flowers in front me. Delicately, I started arranging the four colored flowers, all their different petals stunning.
Thump.
My head jerked up. “Holy crap.”
Alaric’s chest puffed up. “I’m going to make an arrangement worthy of God.”
I thought I’d picked a lot of flowers. My husband had so many they rose up to my chest on the table. My lips trembled in humor, but I mustered a respectable reply, “I bet it’s going to be stunning.”
