Chapter Fifteen #2
Seneca’s feet barely touched the floor as she entered her cabin.
A day spent with her mama and her friends and it was all because of the man closing her front door behind him.
She turned on the lights and sitting in the middle of her coffee table was a big basket-shaped object wrapped in gold foil gift paper.
“What else have you done, Colton? A picnic, a party, and my mom. You’ve done enough to last me a lifetime. I don’t need anything else.”
He moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her from behind. “I could never do enough to show you how much I appreciate you.” He placed a peck on her cheek before setting her free. “Now, go on and open up your gift.”
She gave him one sly look and then walked over to the table, gently touching the curled edges of the ribbons with her finger.
When her curiosity got the better of her, she pulled one end of the bow and watched the layers of paper fall open.
Waiting inside was a beautiful wicker basket filled to capacity with her favorite lotions, soaps, and body fragrances.
“Colton, how did you know to do this?”
He stepped next to her, his eyes dropping just a bit as if he were unsure of something.
“I saw you were running low on some of the bottles around your tub. I didn’t know which products in the line you’d want, so I told the salesperson to give me the whole line for each sent.
There’s a gift receipt in there too just in case you don’t want any of it.
You can take it back and exchange it for something better. ”
She cocked her head, her brow tightly furrowed as she looked at him.
Could he be serious right now? Even if these scents weren’t her favorite, and they absolutely were, there was no way she would take a single thing back to that store.
He’d noticed her, noticed what she liked and needed and did his best to supply her with them.
In my former life you would’ve been perfect for me.
Too afraid she’d speak those words aloud, she smiled at him, rising up on her toes to give him a kiss.
“They’re perfect,” she responded. “Like everything else today, they’re exactly what I wanted. Thank you so much for them.”
She dropped down on the couch, stretching her legs out across its soft cushions. “When we left here, I didn’t expect to spend most of my evening laughing and dancing.”
He hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and moved his weight from one foot to the other. “About that…” His lids lowered, and thick light brown lashes swept his chiseled cheeks. “I’m glad you had a good time, but I’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with you.”
A quick scan of her memories didn’t bring up anything she thought would serve as a source of contention between them. Every time their eyes met, every time they touched, it was always with fondness.
“Did you have a bit too much hooch at the party, cowboy? I didn’t do anything that should’ve gotten on your nerves.”
The way he lifted his brow made her second-guess her recollection of the evening. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Colton. What did I do?”
“You danced with everyone else at the party except me.”
She opened her mouth to dispute his claim, but as she ticked off each partner, she realized he was right.
“Wow, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry. Did you want to?”
He stepped away from her, pulling his phone from his back pocket and heading over to the Bluetooth speaker on the mantel of the fireplace. He tapped his screen a few times, and then a slow, familiar tone filled the room.
“Seneca Daniels,” he said, offering his hand to her. “Would you do me the honor of this dance?”
She tried to fight the smile blossoming on her lips, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t a teenager. She wasn’t unexperienced when it came to men. Yet, whenever he did something simple and sweet like this, it turned her into a grinning schoolgirl who couldn’t do anything but blush in front of her crush.
“I’d be honored.”
He pulled her into the middle of her living room, placing his hand at the base of her spine, as they fell into an easy rhythm. As the song continued past its introductory notes, she recognized it.
“Really?” She looked up at him as amusement took root. “‘We Never Danced to a Love Song’? What do you know about this song?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you weren’t even born when it was released in 1977.”
A twinkle of mischief sparked in his blue gaze as he pulled her closer to him. “Darlin’, if I wasn’t born yet, seeing as I’m five years older, neither were you.”
She shrugged. It was technically true. “What does a country boy like you know about that good old-school R the song long finished by now. With an intensity that made her body shudder in anticipation, he simply said, “Hell yeah.”