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My heart hammers as I meet his gaze and my heart lifts like a hot air balloon. There’s a blend of appreciation and love in his lake-colored eyes, and it tosses a bucket of water onto my nerves. It doesn’t extinguish them all the way because I still don’t feel one-hundred percent confident in my dress, but it helps.
“You look incredible, Jen.” Seth’s voice is low and slow, like my favorite syrup on my favorite hot blueberry pancake. All I want to do right now is step into his arms and let his embrace wash all my nerves away, but I don’t get the chance. He turns and grabs a bouquet of flowers, all different kinds in various shades ofyellow, that I hadn’t noticed sitting on my entryway table. “These just happen to match your dress.”
“Where is everyone?” I blurt out.
“Joanna said she didn’t think you’d want an audience, but I figured you wouldn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to the kids, so everyone’s waiting out front.”
And just like that, the last of my nerves dissipate as I feel my shoulders relax. I step down the two remaining stairs, taking the bouquet he extends towards me. Because it’s stunning and I love it more than any other bouquet I’ve received, I take a sincere moment of three whole seconds—you know, how long nobody sits at a stop sign for except during your monitored driving test—to inhale their lovely floral aroma. Then I, still holding the bouquet, wrap my arms around Seth’s lean waist and lift on my tiptoes to kiss him lightly. He smells clean and woodsy, and he tastes like coffee and mint.
“Thank you,” I say softly, reveling in the feel of his warm, solid body as I lean into him. “I love them. And you. I love you.”
He smiles as he hugs me tightly, reminding me that this is Seth, the man I feel safer with than anyone else. After a moment and a murmuredI love you toointo my hair, he steps back. Eyes dancing, he bends slightly and offers his arm with a charming grin. Giggling at the historical-gentleman-like gesture but swooning over the man who’s extending his arm, I grab my purse and slide my hand through his arm.
“Jo said she’ll take care of the flowers,” he says, hand on the doorknob. Then he pauses and glances down at me. “Is Alice going to interrogate us on why we tookso longin here?”
Laughing, I squeeze his arm (because it’s a funny gesture, not because I enjoy feeling his muscled bicep.) “I mean, have we given her a reason to ask that?”
“You’re trouble for me, Ms. Williams,” he teases as he turns the doorknob. “And we all know that I do my best to negate trouble, not get into it.”
“Of course, you do.”
Seth shakes his head, and we step out onto the front porch. I’m bracing myself for the obnoxious whistles that Alice and Joanna are bound to let out, but I’m not expecting Seth to sweep me into his arms, dip me backwards, and kiss me. I’m so shocked that I can only hold on for dear life to his shoulders and kiss him back, Joanna and Alice’s whistles and cheers taking second fiddle to this kiss.
I admit it: I think this is probably going to be the best date I’ve ever been on, and we haven’t even stepped off my front porch.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Seth
Oh! We’re going to have a double date with Marshall and Jess?”
It’s cute how hard Jenna tries to pump enthusiasm into her disappointed voice as I pull into my sister and brother-in-law’s driveway. So cute that I try my best not to smile when I kill the engine and go around the truck to open her door.
“Not quite,” I say, offering my hand to help her down. “You’ll just have to continue trusting me.”
She wrinkles her nose. “You’re starting to wear that statement out.”
I laugh and rest my hand on her lower back to guide her up to the front door, the silky fabric of her dress soft against my fingertips. When she came down the stairs twenty minutes ago, I think I momentarily forgot how to breathe. This is only the third or fourth time I’ve seen her with her hair curled, and the way the waves fall over her bare shoulders, a tiny gold necklace resting delicately on her collarbone, only compliments the dress she’s wearing. It’s yellow—of course—and it’s just fitted enough to hint at her feminine curves but loose enough to swish elegantly around her calves as she walks. Basically, I’m deceased and in heaven now.
The way her upper back is left bare means her tattoo is exposed. I love how whimsy the sunflowers on the back of her left shoulder are, because otherwise, despite her straight up sunshine-y outlook on life, she’s a simple woman. To be honest, that’s part of the reason I’m so attracted to her. I love simple. I don’t need anything fancy to have a good life, and neither does Jenna.
Oh, and she has that same swimsuit top on as last Friday because it’s tied around her neck, which means Joanna was successful in encouraging her to wear a swimsuit under her dress.Score one for me.
“Uh, Seth, shouldn’t you knock before we—Seth, what are you doing?” she squeaks.
I grin as she tries to stop me from opening the door. “Going inside, and no. We don’t need to knock. Nobody is home.”
“Then you should, like, text Jess or something. Or not.” She follows me reluctantly as I step inside, as if someone’s going to jump out of the entryway closet. “I guess you don’t have to. That’s fine.”
“Jess is the one who hid with you and your kids in my laundry room to scare me on my birthday,” I remind her, motioning for her to keep going. “So I don’t think I really need to tell her when I’m gonna go into her house.”
“Yeah, but we knew you weren’t home, and Jess is marr—Actually, never mind. Also, we were there to surprise you. Not to scare you.”
“Yeah, no, I don’t think so. Okay, you need to close your eyes for a minute. I promise I won’t let you fall.” I step in front of her and grin. “Except for me.”
A snort of laughter bubbles out of her as she looks up at me. “That’s so cheesy.”
“Thanks. That’s what I was going for.” I tap the skin beside her eye. “Close ’em, sweetheart.”
