I start to laugh. I can’t help it. He’s so cute with his tux and the stormtrooper neck brace, his face all squished and thinking I’d really make him wear it all night.
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbles. “I know. I look ridiculous. You have every right to laugh.”
But I only shake my head and reach for the Velcro strap around his ribs. I give it a tug, and the sharp sound from the Velcro echoes in the confined porch space.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
I move to the halo strap and give that a tug next. Another echoing hiss from the Velcro. “I’m setting you free,” I say. It takes a few more steps to get the whole thing loose, but soon,I’m hoisting the giant thing from his body as Braxton takes a step back. His hair is tousled, and his face is flushed.
“There,” I say, setting it gently on the step. “The fact that you were willing to wear this is enough for me. It’s more than enough,” I add, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him in for a warm embrace.
“I really was a jerk,” Braxton says in my ear as he squeezes me tight. “I shouldn’t have laughed about it. But if it makes you feel any better, I thought you were cute.”
I yank back and smack his arm. “You did not.”
He nods adamantly. “I most definitely did, and man, it feels good to nod again.” He runs a hand over his throat. “I could tell you were pretty despite this big…contraption, and I liked your sass.”
“You’re lying,” I say, not at all convinced.
“I knew you’d say that.” He tugs his phone from his back pocket and pulls up an image on the screen. He shows it to me. At first, I think it’s a picture, but then I realize it’s a video when Braxton taps the screen.
I see a guest signing book and realize, by the last name embossed on the cover, that it’s Chad and Viv’s. “I remember you leaving a funny message on our guestbook,” comes Chad’s voice. “So, Viv and I dug it up last night and thumbed through it. Lo and behold, we found that funny message right here by your signature.”
The camera zooms in. I read a scribbled version of Braxton’s first and last name. Beside that is a note that says, ‘Set me up with neck-brace girl once she gets the brace off. I think I like her.’
I gasp. There are dozens of signatures above, below, and all around it, but my eyes can barely move off that one spot.
Braxton speaks up. “I was laughing, saying it was hilarious, even, because I was attracted to you even back then. I liked how you told me off. I should have apologized, sure, but…” He sighs and tucks the phone back into his pocket. “I had a lot to learn. I still do.”
I stare at him for a blink, perplexed. “Did you really think I’d agree to go out with you after you did that?”
He grins. “Kinda. If I apologized, that is. I hoped.”
“Well,” I say, taking hold of his arm. “I’m going out with younow.”
“Yes, lucky man that I am.” Braxton leans down and hoists the brace off the ground.
He opens the door for me, and I climb into the passenger seat. After he hoists the hefty brace into the trunk, Braxton settles into the driver’s seat and pulls a pair of tickets from his pocket.
“I told you to dress in formalwear, but I didn’t say what we had planned.”
He hands over the tickets, and I read the event line aloud. “Dinner Cruise for Two!” I squeal in excitement and rush in to give him a hug. “You remembered,” I say, bringing a hand on my chest as I bask in that fact.
“Remembered? I booked it the very next day, the platinum package, which means a guaranteed window seat.” He leans over and kisses my lips.
“Mmm,”I mumble,“I can’t wait.”
“You know what I’m excited about?” Braxton says afterbacking up and straightening the wheel. “The whole ride we have ahead of us. Which reminds me—what does that line mean, you know, that whole sky’s the limit thing?”
I tap my lip and pull a perplexed expression. “I think it means potential without end.”
I grin, remembering that I still have the toolbelt to give him when we get home. “Sky’s the limit.”
He smiles in return, his parting lips a cue for me to join him.
“Sky’s the limit, baby,” we say.
Braxton shifts the car into drive and revs the engine.
