But I’m not him. I want her, and I’d never hurt her.
Words won’t be enough to convince her to stay. I have to show her that I mean it.
How? When the repairs to her house are finished, she’ll put it back up on the market. I could delay the repair work, but I don’t want to lie to her any more than I already have.
So I have a month, maybe two.
I need to figure something out.
The next day,after we wrap up our site visits, I drag Sandro to Riverbend Mall. It’s the closest shopping center around here, and since Christmas is in just over a week, it’s bursting with decorations. We walk by a guy in a Santa suit sitting by a gingerbread house and a long line of kids eager for a photo.
“What are we doing here again?” Sandro asks, glancing around the place.
“I need a Christmas gift for Blake.” It’s not much, but it’s a start. If I’ve got somewhere between six and eight weeks to prove to her I’m boyfriend material, I’m going to take every opportunity I have to show her that I’m serious about her.
I have to get her something meaningful. Something that’ll show her I’ve been paying attention and not just trying to get her into bed with me. This isn’t a fucking fling. I’m not going to get bored of her.
Just the memory of her words sends a rush of annoyance through me. She really doesn’t get it. I guess I can’t blame her. She has no idea what my state of mind was before she waltzed into my life and changed everything. She has no idea how she’s saved me.
“What does she like?” Sandro asks.
“Books. I’ve already thought about replacing the ones she lost in the fire, but she has nowhere to put them at the moment. I also don’t have a list of the ones she had. If I ask, it won’t be a surprise, and I want this to be a surprise.”
“I took a picture when we came over.”
I turn to look at Sandro. “You took a picture of the books?”
“Yeah. She had them all organized by color, I thought it looked neat.” He fishes his phone out of his pocket and pulls up the image.
I squint. “The spines are a bit hard to make out.”
Sandro zooms in on the photo. “Yeah. But maybe if you take it to a bookstore they can help you find the right ones.”
“Send it to me.”
I’m about to start searching for the closest bookstore, one of those big ones that could help me find even the special editions Blake was so passionate about, but then my steps halt.
Hold on. What’sthat?
I stop in front of an empty storefront. There’s a sign hanging in the glass window saying it's for lease. It's a small shop with intricate metalwork adorning the window, a heavy wooden door, and checkerboard tile on the floor.
I step up to the glass and peer deeper inside. Shelves line the walls. It takes me a moment to process what I’m seeing. When I do, a grin spreads over my face. “Forget about the books. This is better.”
Sandro steps up beside me. “Huh?”
“This storefront. It’s perfect. Do you remember what Blake told us when we came over for Thanksgiving? She’s always dreamed of opening her own bookstore.” And she’s mentioned it to me a few times since then. Fuck, she’s going to lose it. There’s no way she’ll want to leave Darkwater Hollow after I get her this. She can quit her job at Frostbite and start her own business right here.
“Dude, you started dating her less than a month ago.” Sandro sounds aghast. “Fake dating, to be clear. I’m still not totally sure when it became real. Get her some heart-shaped earrings or something.”
I turn to Sandro and grab his shoulders. When he sees the wide grin on my face, he pales. I probably look like a lunatic. “I’m getting her that store. I’ll lease it for her. You’re going to contact the mall’s leasing office and get an agreement drafted.”
“Wait, hold on—“
“This just became your top priority.”
He groans and shrugs my hands off him. “I’m not sure what’s worse, you burning down her house to get her to move in with you, or this. What the hell is it about this girl that makes you do this insane shit?”
“I like her, all right?”
