“Always,” she replied, heading to the shower. “I’ll be back.”
I finished my food and returned to the dining table to finish sketches for Louis Vuitton. After sending the mock copy sometime last week, they had a few recommendations, so I decided to tackle them. The table was cluttered with sketches,fabric samples, and colored pencils. I pushed aside the remnants of dinner, focusing on the task at hand.
The room was quiet, save for the occasional scratch of my pencil against the paper. I assumed Inaya had fallen asleep, as I didn’t hear her come out after forty-five minutes. Outside, the night had deepened, casting a soft glow through the window from the streetlights below. The atmosphere was perfect for creativity, and I lost myself in the process of refining the designs.
As I worked, my thoughts kept drifting to my upcoming date with Ronan. A flutter of nerves danced in my stomach, distracting me from the sketches. I paused, staring at the half-finished drawing in front of me.
Why was I feeling this way?
I leaned back, exhaling slowly. The mix of anticipation and nerves confused me. Maybe it was the time that had passed since we last dated or the unresolved emotions from how things ended. A part of me still held onto the memories, the good and the bad.
Ronan had always known how to get under my skin, making me feel things I wasn’t prepared for—his charm, his confidence, his passion. He made me question everything I thought I knew about myself.
Shaking my head, I refocused on the winter collection. I couldn’t let my personal life interfere with my work. But even as I drew, my mind kept drifting back to him—his smile, his laugh, the warmth of his hand in mine. I wondered if he was feeling the same way, if he was as nervous about our date. The thought made me smile.
Whatever happened with Ronan, I would face it head-on, like I always had. After all, he was another part of my story, another chapter in the life I was creating.
One I hoped was worth it.
I prayed to God Ronan wouldn’t break my heart again.
Chapter Thirty-five
RONAN
Present Day
NEW YORK CITY
“Is this enough?” I asked, standing in the middle of the Flower Garden as my team finished the final touches. My phone was still warm in my hand from Nina’s message. It felt unreal, but it was real, and I was not about to let this chance slip through my fingers. We had lost years, but there was no time like the present.
Inside, a small army was setting everything up, but this garden was what mattered most. It had to be perfect. Peonies, her favorite, bloomed around me in soft waves of color. This place had always belonged to her. It was here that we first met, whereour hands had brushed against the same petal and changed everything.
After I left for New York, the original business here had started to fail. I stepped in, invested, then bought it outright and turned it into a dessert shop with a flower garden, naming it The Flower Garden. I even had the sign crafted from preserved peony petals, to keep a piece of her here.
Because even when she was gone, she never really was.
“Yes, Ronan,” Azzaria answered. I dragged her out today to help with this. Dillon wasn’t thrilled about me taking his girl on his ‘day off,’ but he could cry about it later.
“Don’t you think there are too many peonies here?”
“Peonies are her favorite,” I said. “So no, this is perfect.”
“This is beautiful, Ronan. Nina will love it. Speaking of which, I have something to tell you.”
I shot her a look. “What?”
“I met her once. She came by Dillon’s, and she looked shocked to see me.”
“Yeah, we all were and still kinda are.”
“Why?”
“The city’s biggest playboy, Arnoldo asi—”
“A bit of a drastic comparison, don’t you think?”
“Fair, but no one thought Dillon would ever love again. Annalise really fucked him up.”
