Chapter 1
Tuesday
“When can you get here?” Alex’s gravelly voice seeps through the receiver like incense, practically hypnotizing me with its familiar tone. After all these years, it makes me almost giddy to learn so much more about him. His different timbres give away his mood. Playful, serious, disappointed, caring, hopeful, and sexy, I love them all. The current one gives away a sense of longing and impatience. These rank among my favorites. Sure, sexy is hella good. But there’s something about that honest sense of neediness that causes me to feel we’re on equal footing in this.
If I have to be honest, I’m still utterly in shock about it all. I have to pinch myself.
“Not much longer. And I’m all packed, so I can head straight to Sycamore Mountain in a few hours when my shift is over.” It’s been several weeks since we’ve seen each other. After speaking with his friend, Trevor, Alex applied for a position with station 12 in North Carolina. Turns out they had an urgent need, so his transfer there came a lot quicker than he’d anticipated.
I’ve turned in my resignation here at Cygnature Blooms. Although I can barely call this a job. It’s more like a guilty pleasure I get paid to enjoy. Nonetheless, they count on me. It only seemed fair to give them some notice before leaving.
I tagged along with Alex after he accepted the position to help him locate an apartment. It’s a big step, moving in together. One I don’t take for granted. But I’m so ready. If a near fatal car accident taught me anything, it’s that life is precious. I’m not wasting a second of it doing things that don’t bring utter joy. So it was a no brainer to move to the little mountain town with Alex.
“You still there? You got awful quiet on me. You’re not having second thoughts are you?”
“No!” I blurt.
He lets out a chuckle before his voice gets all soft and dreamy. “I miss you, Sunny T.”
Dropping my voice to a whisper, I respond, “I miss you, too.”
“Do you have customers?”
I giggle. “No. This is all new territory for me. I guess I just didn’t want anyone walking in and hearing me flirting with my boyfriend.
“I like that.”
“What?”
“Your boyfriend.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Only thing better will be puttin’ a ring on it.”
I snort. “Wow. Mr. Romance.”
“Well, if I’m taking you away from your parents, something tells me they’d prefer I made an honest woman of you.”
I practically palm my forehead at his words. “Do me a favor? When the time comes for you to ask my dad for his permission, maybe come up with something better than I’d like to put a ring on it.”
His chuckle rumbles through the line, making my lower belly do somersaults. How is this even happening? A conversation with my long time crush, my brother’s best friend, Alex Bell, about marrying me. Who am I right now?
Nipping the skin on my upper arm between my nails, I really do pinch myself before laying my hand on my heart. This man. “I really do miss you. Between your schedule and mine this week, it’s been tough.”
“I know. The guys are all giving me a hard time because I can’t knock the grin off of my face knowing you’ll be here tonight. I hate that I won’t be off until six a.m. But we can at least hang out here together. Then we’ll have all day tomorrow. Hope you don’t mind sleeping in.” He teases.
“Sleeping?” I joke.
“Yes. I plan on having my fill of you for breakfast before a long nap.”
Heck yes. Sign me up.
The metallic clink of the bell above the front door steals my attention, and I look up to see an incredibly attractive man entering the shop. There was a time this might have made my pulse jump a bit. But now, this swoony heart belongs only to Alex.
“Hey, I’ll see you tonight. I have to go,” I whisper.
“Get here quick. No, scratch that. Drive carefully, Sunny T. And call me to let me know you’re on the way.”
My eyes connect with the handsome customer before me and I wince. I don’t want to keep him waiting while I’m taking a personal call. “Okay, okay. Bye.”
* * *
Several hours later, I’ve arrived in Sycamore Mountain. Thank heavens I was blessed with easy traffic all the way south. I’d made it here even faster than I anticipated. Standing on the steps of station 12, I wring my hands together nervously. Alex said they didn’t get that many rescue calls here. But when I’d phoned earlier to let him know I was close, the call went straight to voice mail. Once I made it here, it was clear they must be out as the engine and an ambulance were missing. Now, I’ve been sitting here not so patiently waiting for them to return. What’s taking them so long? And why am I so anxious?
Suddenly the bright red engine comes into view and I sit taller, my heart galloping in my chest. God, I didn’t think it was possible to have missed anyone this much.
The engine barely comes to a stop before the back door flies wide, and Alex jumps out, running to greet me. He’s wearing a broad smile, dark blue uniform pants, and a navy-colored T-shirt stretched across his toned arms and chest. I barely have the chance to return his grin before he’s lifted me into his embrace.
“There’s my girl.” He crushes his big beautiful lips over mine, and I melt. I’m living the dream right now. My head is spinning as he drops my feet to the ground, just as his tongue darts into my mouth. The sounds of our moaning over a kiss are almost comical. Until I remember we have an audience.
“I pull back, looking like a cartoon character with little pink hearts floating above her head, when I notice his co-workers beaming at us. Trevor has his hands playfully covering his eyes.
“Oh, gosh,” I whisper. “What were we thinking?”
“I was thinking I wasn’t wasting another second before getting my hands and lips all over you.”
“Alex,” I scold.
“Hell, these guys are all over their girlfriends when they stop by the station. Don’t let them bother you.”
“He’s right, Tuesday. We’re only playing,” Trevor teases. “We’ve been picking on Alex all day because he’s been like a kid at Christmas, waiting on Santa to arrive.”
I can feel a blush stain my cheeks at his words. “Did you guys have a call? I tried to phone and let you know I’d made better time than expected, but couldn’t get ahold of you.”
An odd expression crosses his face causing me to narrow my eyes in his direction.
“We had to take care of something. Sorry to get here late, Tuesday,” Matt says with a grin larger than one would expect for running an errand. What’s going on?
“The guys are going to let me meet them on scene if we get a call. So we can spend the evening together.”
My eyes fly wide in utter shock. “Really?”
“Sure,” Trevor confirms, slapping Alex on the back. “He’d do the same for one of us.”
I can’t contain my glee. Gripping Alex tighter so I don’t start bouncing up and down in delight like a prepubescent teen, I instead blurt, “Thank you.”
Alex drops a chaste kiss on the tip of my nose. “Let me grab my things. Then you can follow me home.”
Home.
Moments later, we both park at the apartment and grab my bags before heading inside. I catch Alex giving me nervous glances as he unlocks the door.
“Wait. Can you give me one sec before you come in? I just want to make sure I didn’t leave my dirty underwear on the floor.”
“What?” I snicker. “You know I wouldn’t care about that.”
“Please, Tues. I want to start this visit off right.” He looks at me with such earnestness, it makes my heart squeeze in my chest.
“Sure. Okay.”
“It’ll only take me a second.” He darts inside, shutting the door behind him and I stand in utter bewilderment. This isn’t at all like the man I knew back home. He never worried about such things. Yet the thought had barely entered my mind before it was gone in a flash as the door swung wide and he ushered me inside.
I walk in to find candles flickering from the dining room table, and the scent of Italian food wafting through the air. But what has me really floored is the flowers. Big beautiful bouquets of sunflowers sit on every available surface. They’re on the island, the table, and in the den.
“Alex,” I gasp.
“You like?” He beams down at me.
A tear comes to my eye. He did all of this for me. My dream man did all of this for me. “I love it. I can’t believe─”
“Well, start believing. Because it’s only the beginning. You make me so incredibly happy, Sunny. I know it was asking a lot for you to move here with me. You left a job you loved and your family. I never want you to think I’m the one holding the cards. It means so much to me that you’d do this. But I honestly believe this is going to be the start of an incredible future.”
Alex is absolutely right. This is all new for us. It’d be easy to focus on the fear of moving somewhere foreign to me. Other than Alex, I really don’t have any friends here yet. I’ve met with Trevor’s girlfriend, Addison, about starting a business alongside hers. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and planning to get a new company off of the ground. But ultimately, we need to go all in on this if we want it to work.
I’ve talked to my parents, and they’ve agreed to contribute a portion of the money they saved for college toward a Cygnature Blooms franchise in Sycamore Mountain. They will be silent partners in the venture. I’ll be working with Addison and a florist in the neighboring town to develop my business plan, based on their experiences here. It’s an exciting time. What’s more, it all seems to be coming together. As if fate had plans for Alex and I to move here all along.
“What’re you thinking about? You look so far away.”
“I’m just happy.” I pull him tighter against my side. “So incredibly happy.”
“Good.” Alex kisses my temple and starts to lead me toward the dining area, but abruptly stops. “Look, Sunny… “ He pauses, an almost anguished look upon his face. What the heck? Is the reality of this starting to shake his foundation? “I know I should be a gentleman. I really wanted tonight to be romantic.” He pulls away, swiping his hand down his face. “But can we keep dinner in the oven a little while longer?”
What? Are we about to have a long talk? “Sure,” I answer anxiously. “I’m not starving or anything.”
“Well, I am.” He says, bending to swoop me up into his arms. “I want dessert first,” he adds as he nearly races for the bedroom.
“Oh, my god.” He places me down, and I throw my head back in laughter.
Alex disappears into the bathroom. Looking about the bedroom, my hand flies to my heart. There are even sunflowers in here.
“Sunny, where are you? Get those clothes off and meet me in the shower.”
“Ha. Now, that’s romance.”