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Lauren didn’t buy it for a moment, if her scoff told him anything. “What for?”

Blake didn’t hem and haw, because that always gave away more than he intended. “Maybe I just want to kiss you. Maybe I’m anxious to start our Christmas break together. I don’t know. I ran out of work to do, and I wanted to see you.”

She laughed lightly. “You never run out of work to do.”

“Work Iwantedto do.” He smiled and made the left-hand turn. “I’ll find you in Shirley’s.”

“I’m almost there,” she said.

He was about five minutes behind, and he once again couldn’t believe he’d walked away from the country club. She had to have come out the moment he turned his back on the place.

Blake wondered if he could dash into Shirley’s and grab some roses. “No,” he told himself. “Cliché.” Lauren didn’t want cliché. She wanted special, because she was special.

He arrived at Shirley’s, still no plan in mind, and jumped from his SUV. He could get the lemon sorbet she liked and see what floral arrangements they had. He reminded himself that he had adiamond ring, and lemon sorbet didn’t hold a candle to that. At the same time, he was clearly unprepared to propose, and he toyed with putting it off until he could do a better job of it.

He strode through the automatic doors, his focus singular: sorbet, then flowers.

He certainly didn’t expect to come face-to-face with his gorgeous girlfriend two steps into the store.

“You are stalking me,” she teased. She wore a somewhat wary look in her eyes, and she hadn’t grabbed a cart or anything yet.

“I’m not,” he said.

“You look like a man on a mission.” She cocked her eyebrows and folded her arms. Another patron tried to come into the store, and Blake moved out of the way.

“I have to use the bathroom,” he said, taking her elbow and getting her to move aside so the elderly man could enter too. “Grab a cart, baby. I’ll come find you.”

Lauren looked like she might protest, and she was downright mouthwatering in her pencil skirt and nearly sheer blouse. It made him look twice, and he leaned down and kissed her. Short, but oh-so-amazing, the kiss revved him up and gave him courage.

An idea popped into his head, and he took a cart from the rows of them and wheeled it around for her. “I want some salmon kebobs if they have them.”

“It’s on my list,” she said.

“Great.” He grinned at her. “I’ll come find you.” He walked away from her and along the front of the store. He ducked into the men’s room and took a deep breath. Surely she wouldn’t follow him and wait for him. People used the bathroom at the grocery store.

After a minute, he dared to peek out. He didn’t see her, and he ducked out of the bathroom and toward the customer service counter. He happened to know Chloe Wiggins, and her father owned Shirley’s. Her grandmotherwasShirley.

“Chloe,” he said breathlessly. She looked over to him, her face lighting up when she recognized him.

“Just a sec, Blake,” she drawled, turning back to the fax machine.

“Chloe,” he said again. “I need to use the PA system.”

That got her to turn, her blue eyes wide. “Whatever for?”

“My girlfriend is here, and I want to propose to her.” He suddenly remembered the sorbet and the flowers. He pushed them away. The ring and the public address system would have to be enough.

Chloe’s surprise melted away. “You always go big, Blake. What if she says no?”

“Not what a man wants to hear,” he grumbled.

She abandoned the fax machine and came over to the counter. “All right,” she said. “But if I get fired, you have to hire me.”

“You’re not going to get fired,” he said. “I know you let Chief Brownstone use the PA system just last week, to announce to everyone here that his son had just graduated from Georgia Tech with a four-point-oh.”

Chloe pealed out a round of laughter and pushed some buttons. “Shirley’s does seem to be the place for big news,” she said. “Why not a proposal?”

She pressed one more key and held out the receiver. Beeps sounded throughout the store, and Blake drew a big breath.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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