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A bolt of anticipation rushed through me as I took another quick glance at myself in the mirror.
I’d pulled on my favorite pair of jeans and a baby blue lightweight sweater and tennis shoes. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing, but there was something about the rugged man that gave me the hunch that we’d be outside.
Another roll of anticipation tumbled as I grabbed my camera bag.
God, how deeply my heart had squeezed when he’d mentioned me bringing it yesterday, as if he’d taken away every detail he’d learned about me last weekend and stowed it away.
Kept it as important. Unforgotten in the midst of the attack afterward and the turmoil that had ensued after.
And I guessed that was exactly the way I felt every time Ezra Patterson looked at me.
Like I was important.
Like I meant something.
And meaning something to someone both felt amazing and was utterly terrifying, though I guessed it was the amazing part that had me tossing the strap of my camera bag over my shoulder and doing the same with my purse.
Before I made it there, another round of knocking came from the door. A little louder and harder that time.
My grin came at full force as I undid the lock and swung it open.
Ezra stood on the stoop in a pair of denim jeans and another of his white tees, this one plain, which suited him just fine since the man didn’t need a single enhancement or adornment to stop traffic.
Hell, I was considering committing a crime right then for the sake of him handcuffing me. I thought I wouldn’t mind at all if he threw away the key.
“Overbearing much?” I tossed out the tease, deciding to forget all my nerves and allow myself to have a good time.
A smirk lit at the edge of his mouth, though that honey gaze flamed as he let his attention drift over me in a slow slide of appreciation. “Not overbearing. Just anxious.”
Wings fluttered in my belly. Good God, how was it possible a man could give me butterflies? After everything I’d been through in my life? But there they were, scattering and taking flight.
“And what are you anxious for?” I prodded. The mood was light between us, and I couldn’t help but lean into it, loving the way it felt easy with him.
Right.
That didn’t mean that energy between us didn’t pulse. A connection I was starting to understand existed when two people fit together in a special way.
A magnetism.
A pull.
It was something I’d never experienced before. If you had asked me two months ago, I would have said it was bullshit. Fantasy. A fabrication of romance novels and believers in love at first sight.
I couldn’t help but wonder what that feeling had been the first time I’d seen him. If it’d been some kind of fate that had drawn us together. When that awareness had tugged at the deepest, most sacred part of me.
“The thought of spending even one second with you makes me eager.” Ezra’s words rolled low and rough and smooth, skidding over me on a billow of seduction. “I spent all of last night tossing, thinking of you, of seeing you again, and it only grew with every excruciating second that passed during the day until I finally have you standing right here in front of me.”
Oh boy. Was I ever in trouble today. Ezra was not pulling punches.
I was pretty sure the man was set on knocking me out.
A complete TKO because it was then I noticed the small bouquet of tiny purple wildflowers that dangled from his right hand. He followed my line of sight, and one of those soft, affectionate smiles curled his dangerous lips.
“The kids helped me pick these for you. Olivia said it wasn’t a real date if I didn’t bring you flowers.”
Done.
I was done for.
“She knows her stuff, doesn’t she?” I barely managed to croak it.
“Oh yeah. She’s brilliant, that one. She said going on a date with you would make me happy.”
“And is that what you are? Happy?” It was barely a breath.
Ezra reached for me with the hand that held the flowers, taking my index and middle fingers and tugging me closer.
So close that the only thing I could do was gasp, inhaling everything that he was.
Pine and citrus and laundry detergent.
A man.
A father.
Everything that I wanted.
“I forgot what being truly happy was, Savannah, until you came here, and suddenly things don’t feel so bleak. So yeah, standing right here, next to you? I am happy, and I have a feeling this day is just going to get better.”
“Are you trying to wreck me, Ezra Patterson?”
“I guess I’m hoping you’ll meet me there, Savannah, because that’s what I’ve been since the moment I met you.”
I forced some lightness into my voice. “Well, we’d better get going then if we’re going to make this one of the best days of your life.”
