“No,Ineed flip-flops and soft pants,”Iwhined.
“Too late!Goout with your five-alarm fire and be ready to dish all the dirty details when you get back,”Willowsaid as she shoved me out of the bedroom.
Jack stood in the living room wearing a pair of neatly pressed khakis and a breathable white button-up that was cuffed at the elbows.Hishair was slicked in a style that reminded me of oldHollywoodheartthrobs.Thepeonies in his hand made my heart melt.
“Wow,” he whispered as he looked me up and down. “Youlook . . . wow."
Whitney andWillowhigh-fived each other.
“The girls did it,”Iblurted out as nerves began to take over my cognitive function. “It’snot even my dress.Ormy shoes.They’reWhitney’sassistant’s.Ishould probably change.Opheliais terrifying and if something happens to them, she’ll probably use me to sharpen her guillotine.Idon’t know if she has a guillotine.Sheseems like the type.Ifyou knew her, you’d probably agree.Thenagain, guillotines are messy.Noone ever talks about the blood.Howfar does it spray?Isthere a splash zone?Whatif the blade isn’t sharp enough?Doesit just break the person’s neck or?—”
Jack’s mouth was on mine, muffling my spiral.
Jack was kissing me.
Jack was grabbing my ass in front of my friends.
The paper-wrapped bouquet hit the floor as he scooped me up like a bride.
“Have a good night, kids!”Whitneycalled out asJackcarried me to the door.
“Make good choices!”Mileshollered.
“Or don’t!”Willowhollered.
“Goddamn . . .Youlook incredible, baby,”Jacksaid as soon as we were out the door.
We bobbed back and forth as he carried me down the stairs. “Thankyou for not throwing me over your shoulder or dragging me out like firefighters are supposed to.”
Jack chuckled. “Canyou just take the compliment?I’mtrying to tell you how beautiful you are.Stopdeflecting and just say thank you.”
My cheeks pinkened and, for once, it wasn’t because of the summer sun. “Thankyou.”
He gracefully deposited me in the passenger’s seat of his truck and slammed the door.Butinstead of hopping behind the wheel, he went back inside.Aminute later, he was jogging back down the stairs and jumping into the truck.
“What was that for?”Iasked asIfastened my seatbelt.
Jack produced my flip flops. “Figuredyou’d wanna be comfortable in between looking sexy as hell.”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “Myhero.”Iwiggled the high heels off and slid my feet into blissfully comfortable foam. “Thegirls probably went overboard.Ifeel way overdressed.Ijust started freaking out and they swooped in.”
He put the truck in reverse and began to back out of the driveway. “You’renot overdressed,Aurora.”
It was funny howIused to cringe whenever someone called me by my name.Ialways preferredWander.Somehow,Jackhad made it my favorite word to hear.
I pulled at the hem that stopped mid-thigh. “Inever dress up like this.”
His smile was easy as he draped his arm across the back of the seat and trailed his fingers across my shoulder like he always did. “Youcould wear a paper bag or paint clothes or a snowsuit or nothing at all and it’d be just as sexy.Ilike seeing all the different sides of you.Ilike seeing you get out of your comfort zone and explore every facet of who you are.”
I sat a little taller.
“I think you’re sexiest when you’re feeling challenged.”Heshifted his one-handed grip on the steering wheel. “It’swhyIlike seeing you work on the house.It’sa giant puzzle andIget to watch you solve it.It’swhyIlike watching you when you write.Youhave this look of determination thatIsee inOlympians.”
“Jack . . .”
“I’m serious,Roar.Youknow whatIlike most about you?Youhave this . . .This‘figure it out’ mentality.Youshow up at a house that doesn’t have power and you get a grill going to make some food.Youdidn’t know how to do half the stuff that needed to be done in the house, but you did your research, failed a little, learned a lot, and the house is like new.Youpulled yourself out of writer’s block because you had to figure out what the pages your aunt hid in the house meant.Thenyou stuck with it and kept writing in spite of everything you went through.Ilove that about you.Iswear you could do anything you set your mind to simply because you refuse to fail.Yourstubbornness is sexy.”
“I finished it,”Iadmitted.
