Page 25 of Irish Betrayal

“Mom and my aunts actually, but only after I told them I planned on bringing you to see the place. I wanted to surprise you, but I never could have pulled off something this cool on my own,” he admitted.

Her eyes softened. She stepped forward, fingers touching the lapels of his jacket before sliding up to his neck. Then she rose on her toes and kissed him.

It was brief. Gentle.

And somehow it hit him harder than any kiss up until this moment.

When she pulled back, she signed slowly so he wouldn’t miss it. “No one has ever done something like this for me.”

His chest tightened at the look of awe on her face. “Which is why I’ve never been on trial for murder.”

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, and God, there was nothing in the world Daniel wouldn’t do to see that expression on her face again.

He led her inside. Warmth wrapped around them instantly, carrying the scents of rich floral, citrus, pine, and damp earth. Blair moved from plant to plant, fingertips gliding reverently over leaves, pausing to inspect blooms with the fascination she gave to all growing things.

Daniel appreciated plants, but tonight he wasn’t as interested in them as he was in watching her.

He watched the way her whole face was animated. The way the lights caught in her riot of red curls. The way she belonged in places where things grew.

Eventually she noticed him staring and arched a brow.

“What?” she signed, arching her brows in question.

“You’re beautiful.”

Her cheeks pinked, and she glanced away with a bashfulness that never failed to undo him.

While she continued to peruse, he poured champagne and handed her a glass, then fed her a strawberry, laughing when juice dribbled down her chin. He caught it with his thumb, brushing the pad of it across her lower lip.

“This place is a wonder, Dan. Truly. It was the perfect surprise. Thank you.”

“I have a confession,” Daniel started, grasping her hip through the silk of her dress. Thankfully, she’d shed her coat the moment they walked inside the greenhouse.

“Oh?” Blair asked.

No going back now. He only prayed he wasn’t moving too fast. “Well, if you liked the place as much as I do, I planned on making an offer on it in the morning. It’s my hope that when you get back from Oklahoma, we could live here. Together.”

Cue the armpit sweats…

“If I liked it…we could…Daniel? What? Explain now.”

She was so flustered that she was half speaking, half signing until, finally, she raised her hands in surrender.

This was new territory for him too. He never dated anyone with any thought of a future. One night, maybe two, and he was out.

With Blair, it was like the moment he noticed her, noticed her as something besides his cousin Bébhinn’s best friend, he had become increasingly aware that if he didn’t take a chance and put his heart out there for her to break or accept, he might lose the opportunity.

He needed to be honest. If he wasn’t one hundred percent honest with her in that moment, she would know it, and she would walk away.

He took her champagne flute and set it next to his before taking both her hands in his—a good way to silence her until he was finished.

“You aren’t some woman who only cares about her looks and social media likes. You’re a plant genius for Christ’s sake. You’ll be going places in the future, especially once you get your doctorate. I just want to make sure that one of those places is with me.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am. I want this to be our home. Where we eventually marry, and if you want, to have our children grow up here.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted, pulling her hands from his to slowly wrap around his waist.