It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Fine, we can do whatever you want,” I say, kissing her nose. When I pull away, I cup her cheek and stare down into her gorgeous eyes.
“I think that you’ll like what I have planned.”
She looks excited.Happy. I want to ask her what she has planned, but I know that she’d never tell me. She keeps her secrets locked up tight until she’s ready to give them away.
I slowly get up off of her, and she kisses my cheek as she gets up.
“Get ready, I’ll meet you downstairs.”
She opens the door, and Mocha waits patiently outside, huffing like we majorly inconvenienced him by having a few minutes of alone time without him.
She winks at me as she goes down the hall and disappears into her room to get dressed.
Mocha runs to me as soon as he sees me, jumping up into my arms and kissing my face.
“Hey, buddy,” I say, picking him up and giving him some pets and a kiss on the head before setting him back down.
Sloane pours me a cup of coffee and slides it over to me as I sit down at the counter.
“Thanks,” I say with a smile, taking in her outfit. She’s wearing a pair of black leggings that hug her body in all the right places, an oversized t-shirt that she stole from my closet, and her hair is in a braid.
She slides a plate over to me. Biscuits with sausage gravy, eggs, and bacon. The pieces of bacon placed to look like a forty-three.
She dishes herself a plate and hands Mocha a piece of sausage before joining me.
We eat in silence, but she’s jittery. Her hands fidget if she holds them still for too long; she can’t stop smiling. But her eyes say that she’s nervous.
“You ok?” I ask as we finish up. She stands in front of me and takes my hands into hers.
“I’m just a little anxious that you won’t like the gift that I got you.”
“I’m sure that whatever it is, I’ll love it.” I pull her into a hug and kiss her forehead.
She hugs me tighter before letting go of me. She looks up at me, her eyes still showing her anxiety. She takes a slow, deep breath and pulls what looks like a sleeping mask, then holds it out to me.
“What’s this for?”
“Put it on, and I’ll take you to your gift.”
I stare at her for a long moment, her happiness slowly fading into what seems like major anxiety.
“Hey, baby, I swear I’m going to love it.”
She nods, and I grab her trembling hand and press it to my lips before taking the eye mask and placing it over my eyes.
I hear her let out another breath before taking hold of my hand. “We’re going to go out to the shop.”
“Lead the way.”
I lace my fingers with hers and let her guide me out of the house, over the concrete sidewalk to the shop. She types in the code to the garage doors, and I listen to them squeak as they open. She grabs my hand and pulls me into the shop. After a few feet, she stops me.
“Ok.” She spins me gently, stopping me before I feel her step back. She lets out another breath, and I want to pull her into my arms and let her know that everything will be ok.
“You can take the mask off.”
Her voice is shaky, and it comes from a few feet to my left. I reach up and grab the mask and pull it off my eyes. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight, for me to register what sits in front of me.
“Sloane…” I trail off as I stare at the all-black Indian Chief Dark Horse Motorcycle. I’mspeechless. My mouth goes dry as I stare at the gorgeous bike in front of me.
