Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
BOOKER
I straightened my shirt and ran my fingers through my hair again, making sure that it was as perfect as the unruly blond lengths could be. Maybe I should have gotten a haircut.
I looked down at my jeans, wondering if I should change, and then remembered that I didn’t, in fact, own anything other than jeans and cursed.
Damn, why was I so damned nervous?
Ever since Camden had trashed the cottage, Reece had lived in my house and slept in my bed every night. We ate every meal together. She was the last thing I saw when I fell asleep and the first thing I saw when I woke. I knew her better than I knew myself. Every inch of her body, everything that makes her breath hitch and her toes curl.
Reece was my favorite subject, and when it came to her, I’d been a diligent student.
So why was I so damned nervous to be taking her to the carnival?
It was just a town carnival. It was barely a date. The picnic at the lookout had been a better date.
Oh god, was this a bad date?
Reece had been over at Delaney’s today, but she should be back soon. They were setting up the social media accounts for Delaney’s business and talking over what the plans were for the next couple of months.
I had no idea about this stuff, but Reece obviously did. The accounts she’d set up for the ranch were doing well, and we had people following Spirit’s story and asking for updates nearly every day.
There was no way I was shaking my ass on that thing, though. Social media was for kids, and I wasn’t about to set myself up to be the laughingstock of town.
I looked in the mirror again and cringed. Maybe I should wear a tie. Except I didn’t own one of those either. I stared into my closet and cursed my past self for not being organized enough to know that I’d need stuff like this.
Damn, it would have to do.
I came downstairs to the sound of Reece moving around the kitchen, and the smile came to my lips automatically. I loved having her here in the house. In my space. Our space.
When I reached the doorway to the kitchen, I found Reece dancing in front of the sink as she washed the lunch dishes that had been left there. Val yipped and pranced around Reece’s feet, making her head fall back as she laughed at her antics.
She was wearing a simple flowery summer dress, and she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
I stood leaning against the doorframe watching the picture of everyday life in front of me, wondering what I could have possibly done to deserve this in my life. To deserve her. When she realized I was standing there, she came dancing over and held out her hands to me.
The old Booker would have turned around and walked away. He’d have grumbled about how only idiots danced when there wasn’t any music playing.
But this Booker looked at the vision standing in front of him and did what the old one never would have dreamed of.
So I reached out, taking hold of her hands, and grabbed onto my future with both hands, spinning her across the kitchen before doing my best imitation of a shimmy which had Reece cackling in glee.
And I knew that no matter what came my way, it would all be all right.
Because I had her at my side.
And what else could I possibly want?
“A Ferris wheel!” Reece squealed, jumping up and down on the spot with a stuffed unicorn under one arm that I won for her on the ring toss.
I’d officially hit the peak of manliness.
Tucking her under my arm, we walked over to the Ferris wheel where the others were waiting for us.
“Aww, what! I want a unicorn!” Blake gushed when she saw the fuzzy pink monstrosity that Reece had been instantly smitten with. “Booker, pleaaaaaaaaase win me a unicorn.”
“Maybe later.” I kissed the top of Reece’s head, and she smiled up at me. “I’ve got a Ferris wheel to ride first.”
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Dex mused, looking at me wide-eyed. “I want to make fun of you for going soft, but I’m genuinely too happy for you to bother.”
Dex shrugged like he hadn’t just said one of the nicest things I’d ever heard him utter.
“Thanks, man.”
He coughed awkwardly. “Yeah, manly feelings and all that…Trace, let’s go and win the girls some stuff with our big muscles.” Dex struck a muscle-man pose, and Cade looked at him, unconvinced.
“Don’t worry, Dex, I’ve got this,” Cade said confidently.
“I always knew you were my hero, Cade,” Blake said happily, taking his hand that he’d offered to her and doing a little curtsy as she did.
“Come on, Dad,” Cade shouted over his shoulder as they headed away. “I need you to spot me a twenty.”
“Spot him a…We need to stop letting our son hang out with Blake,” Trace grumbled as he followed them, digging in his pocket for his wallet as he did.
Delaney just shrugged. “I think he’s learning valuable life skills,” she argued.
“Forgotten about again,” Dex grumbled, sulking after the rest of them.
He was always the dramatic one of our group, but at least it broke the tension that usually always followed us around and had been strangely lacking for the last couple of days.
I looked down at Reece, who was still tucked under my arm, “Ready to ride the Ferris wheel, or do you want to go with the others?”
“Let’s do the Ferris wheel,” she said, looking up at it as her eyes glistened in the lights. “I’ve never been on one before.”
“How is it possible that you’ve never been on a Ferris wheel?” I asked as we got into the queue with everyone else.
She shrugged. “I dunno. I guess the opportunity never really came up.”
It was easy to forget that Reece hadn’t had a good time growing up, either. She hadn’t let it affect her, or at least not in any way that seemed to show. Reece was one of those people who always had a smile on her face and was ready to help everyone around her. I couldn’t help but wonder over the years how many times she’d let people help her, though.
That didn’t matter now because she’d found her way to Willowbrook, and when you lived in this town, there was one thing for definite. You were never alone.
“Make a hole, people!” Mrs. Shulster called out from the queue in front of us before turning to a confused-looking Reece. “Reece has never been on a Ferris wheel, and we need to rectify this injustice immediately.” She jostled the strange little dog she always carried in her arms, and it just flopped about lifelessly.
The surrounding crowd cheered, and we were ushered to the front of the queue. This was just like the people I’d grown up with, and as we were bustled into our seats, I realized I’d never appreciated how lucky I’d been to have them around me growing up.
“Was that dog…”
“It’s best not to think about it,” I told her, not wanting to get into the Titus situation.
“Take her twice around and stop for the view at the top,” Marie told the operator firmly, slipping him a five-dollar bill.
He looked at it disappointingly and then shrugged, reaching over to check the safety bar. “Hands inside the carriage at all times,” he half-heartedly said, and then we were moving.
Reece gasped, peering over the edge before she wiggled in her seat and giggled in excitement. “This is so cool.”
I missed the entire first loop. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She radiated happiness, her blond hair whipping up in the wind as we reached the top and then tipped her head back and stared at the stars.
“I wish we could have one of these at the ranch and ride it every day,” she whispered.
“If you want a Ferris wheel, I’ll buy you a Ferris wheel,” I told her earnestly.
There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman.
She laughed and nudged me with her shoulder. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“Who’s making fun?” My hand came to my chest in faux shock, and she giggled before I leaned forward and kissed her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as I pulled away. “I’d do anything to see this smile on your face every day, Reece. To come down to the kitchen and see you dancing across the room. Finding your books tucked behind my couch cushions that definitely don’t belong to me, and your strange bottles and potions in the shower. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do if it would keep you at my side.”
“Booker,” she whispered, leaning her head against my shoulder. “I don’t need a Ferris wheel. All I need is you.”
“Move in with me,” I said, pulling her closer and running my fingers along her jaw, my thumb brushing over her pouty lips that always seemed to be begging to be kissed.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I kinda already did. Or rather, you moved me in, thinking I wouldn’t notice.”
“True. But let’s make it official. Get you a key, your own hook by the door to hang your hat.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you lock the door.”
“It’s symbolic,” I whispered, finally giving in and kissing her softly. “Say you’ll be mine, Reece. Let me spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you that I deserve you.”
“I love you, Booker,” she said when I pulled away, looking deep into my eyes. “I wish you could see the man that I see when I look at you.”
“Is that a yes?” I asked, ignoring the part that I wasn’t quite ready to think about. But I’d work on it. I’d work on anything if it would make her happy.
“Of course, it’s a yes.”
We missed the entire next circuit of the Ferris wheel, and it was only when the carriage jarred forward that I realized we’d stopped. There was nothing in the universe that could have stolen my attention from the woman in my arms at that moment.
My fingers pushed into her hair, and she sighed happily as she tipped her face up. Her beautiful blue eyes looked like they shone with the light of the stars as I pressed my lips against hers.
The crowd below us cheered, and Reece smiled against my lips.
“Ignore them,” I muttered, kissing her again. “They’re cheering at someone else. They definitely can’t see us from down there.”
She peered over my shoulder, and then that cute blush touched the tops of her cheek as she did a little wave.
“No, they can definitely see us,” she said, ducking her head down. “In fact, I’m pretty sure someone is filming us.”
“Then we should definitely give them something to look at.”
I kissed her again, pulling her close as I did. Everything else in the world faded away because all that mattered was the woman in my arms.
This was perfect.
She was perfect.
And I had to be the luckiest man alive.