My heart flutters in my chest. It feels like a lifetime since I last saw him. With all the drama with Duncan and him being gone, there’s so much we need to talk about. But that can wait until later.
“Why’d you ask me to meet you down here?” Resting my hands on his chest, I drop a kiss on his cheek as he wraps his arms around me.
“Like I told you earlier, I have a surprise for you.”
“It’s only because it’s a surprise from you that I’m amenable to it.”
“Good. Then I need to blindfold you for it.”
“Okay, is this a sex club thing? Are we going back?”
Dax laughs, spinning me around. “Not quite.”
“Then what are we doing?”
He ties the material over my eyes. “Where’s your sense of excitement, Chloe?”
“Fine.” I cross my arms over my chest as Dax turns mein the opposite direction. “You know, someone might think you’re kidnapping me.”
“We’re going maybe fifty feet. I don’t think anyone is going to pay attention to us.”
“Just as well. Probably not even the weirdest thing that people will see out here tonight.”
“You got that right.”
Dax steers me farther away from the noise and chaos of Broadway. It’s not more than thirty seconds before he stops. There’s a small jingling and a door opening.
“Where are we?”
“Just wait,” he reiterates.
Wherever we are, it’s cool and smells stale. The lock clicks behind me as a brightness hits my eyes through the soft material.
“Ready.”
Deft fingers undo the bandanna and pull it away. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the light, but when they do, I see I’m standing inside what looks to be an old store. Exposed brick walls line three sides, while windows, covered with craft paper, face the street. There’s a small counter at the back and a table sitting in the middle, but other than that, it’s completely bare.
“Dax. What is this place?” I spin around, facing him, slipping out of my jacket.
“Well, I’m hoping it might be the new storefront for Charms by Chloe.”
“Wait, what?”
I look around again. Old, fluorescent lights flicker from the high ceilings. A love song filters in from one of the nearby bars.
“This is…” I don’t even know what to say. A storefront for my business? “How did you find this place?”
Dax smiles at me. “I found a realtor a few weeks ago. Ididn’t think we could get in and see this place for a few more weeks, but an opening came up and I took it. It’s yours.”
“Wait, seriously?” The hardwood floors creak underneath my feet as I move toward Dax. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Look, if you don’t like it, we’ve only lost out on rent and a security deposit.” He rubs a nervous hand over the back of his neck. “I know you want to do this on your own, so the lease is for a year, and I only paid the first three months. I figured you’d yell at me if I paid for the whole year up front.”
“You figured correctly.” I rest my fisted hands on my hips.
“I know you have some money saved up already from selling online and I know you want to do it yourself, but a little help doesn’t hurt. Not when you and I are trying to start our own lives together.”
“Our own lives, huh?”
