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Her thighs press together for a brief moment before she realizes we have other tasks to complete here tonight.
“Where would you like for them to go?” I ask gently.
Evie picks up the urns. “Follow me, I know the perfect place.”
We walk to the side of the house, a concrete slab where I imagine chairs and an umbrella once sat peeks out through the grass. That is when I see where she is headed.
Stones surround what looks to have once been a small garden, and Evie places the urns beside it.
“My mother loved to grow tulips. The purple ones were her favorite. I remember so many days sitting out here with her, watching them bloom with a smile on her face. She said it was a privilege to help life form. She was convinced that the deeper the colors bloomed, the more love would come from them.”
She gets on her knees and pats the dirt that has no flowers growing from it. “My father called her Persephone. He said that everyone bloomed in her presence.”
I can picture it now, Evie’s mother in a chair, watching the flowers sway in the wind while her daughter sits at her side. It makes sense that Evie would be the daughter of the goddess of spring because she brings life to the underworld.
“I want them here because this is where I would find them looking at one another, more in love than the day before. This was where I learned what love was.”
Her fingers touch the grass in front of the dry flower bed. I kneel beside her, laying the shovel on the ground. My fingers pinch her chin gently, turning her face to look at me.
“And what is love, Princess?”
Her eyes close, a smile forming on her lips as sweet and pure as sunshine.
“Peace.”
I swallow over the lump in my throat, feeling that word in the depths of my soul. That is what this woman makes me feel, and that is why I will never let her go. My demons are calm when they are in her presence as if they know who their true ruler is.
My mind is quiet and my thoughts are focused. If love is peace, then Evie is not someone I love, sheislove to me.
Leaning in, I brush my lips gently over hers. Her warmth helps me release a breath I know I have been holding since the plane landed.
I knew she needed this today, but predicting how Evie will respond to any situation is as reliable as a weatherman predicting rain. Sometimes, there are only a few clouds, whereas other times it is as if a waterfall has opened up in the sky. You never know what you are going to get.
When I pull back, her eyes are sad, but her smile remains. She will get through this, and I will make this a home with a garden full of tulips she will be proud to visit any day.
???
We arrive at the hotel a little after nine in the evening. Evie’s stomach is grumbling, so it is a good thing I have made arrangements for dinner to be delivered to the suite shortly. However, I want to show her the room first.
Opening the door, her hand flies to her chest, a gasp escaping her lips as she takes in the view. Hundreds of candles line a private pool on the balcony with red rose petals leading into the room, while others are sprinkled tastefully around the space.
“I thought we were waiting until we were with everyone to celebrate Valentine’s Day?”
A black satin gown, that I know will hug every delicious curve of her body, hangs in the doorway to the balcony. She approaches it with admiration in her eyes. I try not to look smug, but her surprised face is everything I could ever hope for. I plan to spend the rest of my life shocking this woman because her reactions are so worth it.
The way her eyes light up when I do something unexpected is like a drug. Whether it comes to spanking her ass with my bare hand in front of witnesses, or having a room full of candles with a custom-made dress and a private dinner. I will always find a way to put that joy in her expression.
“This is incredible,” she says, fingers skating over the fabric of the gown I had made for her. Silver shoes that tie up her calves sit below it, and she smiles.
“Is this why you insisted Laney and I have a spa day and get our nails done?”
She is so fucking clever.
“You would have refused to wear the nice shoes if your nails looked like you just got done fighting Damien in the ring.”
My girl is not conceited by any means and usually does not seem interested in having her nails manicured and polished. However, she does not like to wear open-toed heels often. Andwhen I asked Laney about the shoes for tonight, she told me Evie is worried her feet look too manly.
Honestly, the things women worry about astound me. I do not understand how they get through a whole day with so many concerns on their mind and can still be productive.
