Chapter 40
Colin
I don’t remember the last time I got excited about a day like today. Last year, I did the obligatory flowers, candy, and dinner with Esme, but I only went through the motions. It didn’t help that she picked a fight because I sent her chocolates when I should have known she didn’t eat sugar.
I shake my head clear of that. That was a year ago, and I’m in a much healthier place and in a relationship with a woman who doesn’t cause drama just for the sake of causing drama.
God, I’ve missed her these past five days. I had to fly out to a site with another architect earlier in the week, and then I sat in the hospital while Uncle Milton had his surgery. Since they caught the cancer early, he only stayed in the hospital for two nights. His post-op treatment will only include a few sessions of radiation and no chemotherapy. He has twenty-four-hour nurses at home, a chef, and a housekeeper to care for him. He’s home and comfortable and knows I won’t be back to see him until tomorrow.
I still haven’t seen Brynne, and I’ve been back in the office for thirty-three minutes. She’s meeting with a client in one of the conference rooms, and I know if I go in there, I won’t be able to not kiss her.
My door opens, and Heath walks in with a coffee mug. He puts it on my desk, claps like a little girl, then runs around it and practically tackles me while I’m still seated in my chair.
“You won’t believe this,” he whispers. “Ice Princess has two dozen pink roses in her office. There’s also this other bouquet with a strange orange flower I’ve never seen before.”
That strange orange flower is called tiger lily, but I keep my mouth shut. It was hell trying to get them this time of year.
“Who is sending her flowers? Of course, Ernestine has none,” he says with a cackle. I ignore him. “And we’re having a little party here this afternoon. You know what you used to do in school? It was my idea. I have to go set it up.” Thankfully, he leaves without another word.
After about another thirty minutes, I hear her voice in the hallway. I see her say goodbye to the clients at my office door. She looks my way, gives me a sly smile, and goes to her office. I follow her and lock her door.
She runs into my arms, and I lift her off her feet. When I put her down, I kiss her senseless. My body wakes up, and I’d take her here, but she has no couch, and I know how loud she gets. I’m exhausted and don’t have the bandwidth to remember to cover her mouth.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I say against her mouth.
“Me too. Happy Valentine’s Day,” she says. “I want you to come home with me, and I’ll cook you dinner.”
I shake my head no. “I want to take you out.” True to our word, we’ve kept our relationship quiet at work, but outside, we do everything together. We have dinner out, and we haven’t spent a night apart outside these past five days. “Then I want to take you to bed.”
She pulls away and strokes my hair. “But you look exhausted, baby. Have the food delivered, and we’ll stay in. Compromise.”
“My place since it’s closer,” I say as I kiss her neck.
“My place because that’s where your present is.” I groan, but I’m excited to see what she got me. “And I love my flowers.”
“Even the tiger lilies?” She giggles when I ask that, but she nods.
“Especially the tiger lilies.”
“I have something else for you. Close your eyes.” She does, and I pull out the gift from my pocket. I take her wrist and slide it over her hand. “Don’t open your eyes yet.” I take out the matching necklace and put it over her head. “Open them.”
She does and she starts to laugh again. She puts the bracelet to her mouth and bites off one of the candies. Then she puts it to my mouth, and I do the same.
“I love it.” She throws herself in my arms, and we kiss again. “How did you know I love these? They’re my favorites. My mom would get them for me every year.”
“I pay attention.” I kiss her nose and then hold her close. “I have to get out of here before I catch a sexual harassment case because you feel too good.” I kiss her one more time before pulling away from her.
I don’t get to her place until almost seven. I left the office at five and stopped by Uncle Milton’s to check on him for a few minutes before picking up the food.
She’s in black jeans and a sheer red long-sleeved button-down shirt. I whistle when I see her, and after putting the brown paper bags on the table, I take her in my arms. I kiss her slowly, and while I do that, she unbuttons my coat and pulls it off my shoulders.
Instead of kissing her again, I spin her around and pull her back into my body. I grab her candy necklace, break the elastic, and pull it off.
“Hey,” she says in protest.
“I have something better for you.” I pull the other gift out of my pocket and put it around her neck. It’s a Trinity diamond necklace. It has a set of three rings at the bottom, which are white, rose gold, and diamonds. Once I clasp it, she runs out of my arms to the large mirror on the wall.
“Oh my God,” she moans. “I’ve been eyeing this for like two years. How did you know?” She fingers the necklace before facing me again.
“It looks like your style,” is all I say. She flies into my arms again, and I catch her and lift her off her feet.
“I love it,” she says.
“And I love you,” I say back. She gasps.
“What did you say?” she asks.
“I said I love you. I fell in love with you on the island. Maybe from the moment we touched.” She falls back in my arms, and I hold her tight against me.
“I love you too,” she says with her head on my chest. She pulls away and looks into my eyes. “You’re so amazing, and I just love you.” She puts her head back on my chest, and I rub her back.
She finally pulls away and takes my hand. I follow her into the bedroom, eager to fall into bed and work up an appetite, but she takes me into her closet and points. I notice that half of it is empty.
“I made space for you,” she says. Then she pulls me out of the closet and back to the bedroom. That’s when I notice an extra dresser in the corner. It’s the same one she puts her clothes in. “I got this for you, and I’ve already put some of your stuff in it.” She tells me to follow her and leads me to the bathroom. A shelf on the wall holds my extra shaving kit, cologne, and the hand cream Heath gave me.
“I love it,” I say. “Thank you.”
“Now, you look exhausted, so sit down, and I’ll plate our dinner. We can eat in the living room. Then you can take me to bed. I want to make love to you wearing nothing but this necklace.”
“I think I can manage that.”