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She jumpedin her spot at the sound of the door closing. Nowhere near a whopping slam, but not quite lightly either. It was silly of her to jump in the first place. She already knew Jaxson was coming over because he had initiated contact first. The wimp in her had won. Except, the way he closed the door concerned her, as had the slight sadness in his tone when she talked with him.
The wonderful aroma of pizza drifting her way as he walked into the living room momentarily made her forget to ask why he sounded so despondent earlier.
“That smells divine.”
He produced a wicked grin as he slid the two boxes onto the coffee table then swooped in for a kiss. “It was an excellent idea by you. As soon as I walked into the place, my mouth started to water.”
Then he set a pretty pink bag with white tissue paper sticking out of it next to the pizza boxes.
“What’s this?”
A shy grin, so unlike him to display, emerged. His cheeks shaded a light red as he tossed a careless hand at the bag.
“It’s nothing much. But I saw it and thought of you and couldn’t resist.”
Her heart swelled with joy. It didn’t matter what was inside the bag. The fact he stopped and bought her something because it made him think of her filled her heart with so much love. How could she resist that? She couldn’t. Even though the other part of her heart wanted to so badly. That fear always lingering and causing problems.
Pulling out the tissue paper, she almost giggled picturing him walking around with a bright-pink bag. Well, he bought it that color; it obviously didn’t bother him.
More wonderful delight encompassed her heart.
She pulled out a sketch pad. Not any sketch pad either, but one stamped with a message on the front.
‘Dream big. Because your dreams are worth it.’
Subtle. Way to tell her she could start her own fashion line, though the thought still terrified her.
He had also tossed in a few pencils, an eraser, and a bag of white chocolate-covered pretzels.
“You just happened to see this stuff and couldn’t resist?”
He shrugged, his shy smile turning into one of devious intent.
“It’s my story and I’m sticking with it.”
She giggled and hugged the pad. “I love it. It’s the perfect gift.”
“And now you can work on Gabby’s dress again. And one for you.” Then he twisted around to leave the room. “I’ll go grab some plates and napkins.”
She wasn’t going to argue. In fact, she wasn’t even going to wait for the plate. She needed something to distract her after his beautiful words.
And one for you.
Oh my gosh. Was she doing this? Was she going to marry him?
Well, yes, she was. As long as she didn’t let the fear win. It was a constant battle.
Setting the smaller box from the top to the side knowing it was the cheesy bread, she opened the bottom box and picked up a slice of cheesy, gooey pepperoni pizza sprinkled with olives.
When Jaxson walked back into the room, he still wore a grin, but it wasn’t as vibrant.
Ugh. She hadn’t erased all her erratic emotions she must've displayed when he walked out. She didn’t mean to give off those vibes.
“What’s wrong? You seemed…out of sorts when we talked on the phone.”
He handed her a plate, set the napkins on the table, then grabbed his own slice, setting it onto his plate instead of taking a bite. She could see he didn’t want to answer.
“It’s been a helluva day.”
