Page 119 of Flirting with 40

Her laugh is quiet before she says, “Except peonies.”

Even though she doesn’t say anything else, I can hear her smile over the silence.

“What is it that you do want, Blakely?”

“You.” She makes a strangled sound. “I mean to see you. Like so I can fulfill my end of the deal we made.”

You.

Her first response was the right one.

It’s the same goddamn one I have.

Question is, what does that mean in the scheme of things?

“I think I can manage that,” I say playfully. “In fact, it would be the highlight of my week.”

“Really?”

“Mmm-hmm. Meet me where we first met. Seven o’clock. This Friday night.”

“I’ll be there with bells on.”

I end the call, toss my cell onto the couch beside me, and close my eyes.

I’m fucking exhausted, but hell if that didn’t just make everything all better.

She called.

Thank fuck for that.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Blakely

My breath catches when I see him sitting there. He has on the same black T-shirt and dark jeans that he was wearing the first time we met.

I put a hand to my stomach where butterflies take flight and know it’s now or never.

With my other hand on my purse and the napkin inside, I make my way to the bar and slide onto the barstool beside him, smiling when I notice the whiskey the bartender sets in front of me.

He remembered.

I want to look at him, just drink him in and make up for all the lost time, but instead, I keep looking straight ahead as I take a sip, my heart beating a million miles a minute.

“Now that’s a drink,” Slade says beside me. “I would have pegged you for a red wine type of girl.” His knee bumps against mine. “Or is that whiskey?”

“Mm-hmm,” I murmur.

“Rough day, then.”

“Rough week, actually.”

It’s taking everything I have not to turn to him and see those eyes and that smile of his.

“What happened? Did your boss piss you off?”

“I am the boss now.”