“Yes, dear,” Aurora replies, her sugary voice sweet.
“Have a good day, dear,” Aspen tells Marshall, mocking us.
“Thanks, snookums,” he croons, and the four of us explode in laughter.
I hold the door for Marshall as we exit onto the sidewalk. “You’re fucked, brother,” he says with a laugh.
“Yep.” There is no point in denying it. I’ve fallen hard and fast for her. It’s amazing the way your heart can latch on to someone in just a few short weeks. Now, I can’t imagine my life without her. I refuse to dig deeper into what that means. I’m not ready to admit it. I know that once I do, I won’t be able to hold back with her. So, instead, I pretend that the beat of my heart doesn’t pound her name in my chest.
I’ve been sitting at the back of the bakery for the last thirty minutes. I left the office a few hours ago to get everything ready for our date tonight. It’s the first Valentine’s Day, where I’ve had plans with a woman who I care about. It’s a big deal. My brothers, the younger two, gave me shit. The older two were too busy thinking about their own plans to worry about mine. That’s fine. I can take the heat. Any amount of time spent with Aurora is worth it.
When the clock turns over to read four-fifty, I can’t take it anymore. Pulling the keys from the ignition, I make my way to the back door. I buzz, and Aspen’s voice greets me immediately.
“Is that you, boyfriend?” she asks.
I chuckle. “Caught that, did you?”
“Yep,” she replies as the buzzer sounds and the lock releases.
I take the stairs two at a time, anxious to get to Aurora. I’m excited about our date and to show her what I have planned for us. I rap my knuckles against the door, and it’s immediately opened. Aspen stands there with a smirk on her face.
“Is she pissed?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “However, word of advice. When you refer to a woman as your girlfriend, you might want to discuss that with her first.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. We’ll be discussing it.” That’s all I’ve thought about all day. I’ve given her time. Hell, it feels as though I’ve given her a lifetime. I need to know she’s mine. That some asshole isn’t going to swoop into her shop like the one today and take her away from me. I just found her.
“Have a seat.” Aspen points at the couch as she takes the chair, pulling her legs under her. “So, what are your plans for the night?” she asks.
“You’ll have to ask your sister when she gets home.”
“Oh, she’s coming home?” she asks coyly.
“The choice is hers.” I don’t tell her that I’ve imagined her sister in my bed beside me every single night since the day I met her.
“Good. She’s not always had that luxury.”
Before I can ask her what she means, Aurora appears, looking so much like the beauty that she is. The only thing I told her about our date was that she needed to dress warm and comfortable. She’s in leggings, fuzzy boots, and a thick oversized sweater. Her long brown hair is curled and falling down her back. I want to bury my hands in those long locks and kiss the breath from her lungs.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Aurora asks.
“Like what?” I ask, slowly making my way toward her.
“Like you want to eat her alive.” Aspen laughs.
Once I reach Aurora, I snake an arm around her waist and pull her into my side, burying my face in her neck, breathing her in. It’s a move I’ve seen my dad, Royce, and Owen do several times, and I never understood. I always chalked it up to them being saps, but that’s not it. Not at all. There is nothing in the world that smells better than Aurora, and her in my arms, that’s something to be cherished. I get it now.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her, pulling back.
“Thank you. Is this okay? You said, comfortable and warm.”
“It’s perfect. You’re perfect,” I say, pressing my lips to the corner of her mouth.
“I’m not perfect.”
“No,” I agree, and her face falls. “You’re not perfect because none of us are. We’re human, we all have our flaws, but,” I add, “you are perfect for me. That’s all that matters.”
“Damn, Rory, he’s good,” Aspen says, fanning her face with her hands.
“Rory?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. This is the first time I’ve heard the nickname.
“It’s what Grandma used to call me. She started the nickname, and my parents and Aspen ran with it.” Her watery eyes find her sister. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard it.” She swallows hard.
“I like it. It suits you.”
She nods, smiling up at me through the emotions welling in her eyes. “We should go,” she says, pulling away and wiping at the corner of her eyes.
“Yes, you should go. You don’t want to keep your boyfriend waiting,” Aspen says, her voice giddy, knowing that she’s giving her sister a hard time. “She turns into a pumpkin at midnight,” she adds.
“I have to work tomorrow,” Aurora says. I’m not sure who she’s reminding, her sister or me?
“She’s in good hands,” I tell Aspen.
“Oh, I’m sure she is.” She grins.
“Come on.” Aurora slides her arms into her jacket. “She can do this all night.”
“What are you going to do all night?” Aspen fires back.
“See what I mean?” Aurora tries to look annoyed, but I know better.
“You two kids have fun,” she calls after us as we leave the apartment and make our way back down the steps to my SUV.
“So, where are we headed?” Aurora asks as I pull out onto the road.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Don’t I get a hint?”
“Nope.”
“I’m not good with surprises.”
“No? Is there a reason?” I know as soon as I ask the question and glance over seeing that she’s biting down on her bottom lip that I’ve hit the nail on the head. “You know you can talk to me about him.”
“Who?” She’s trying to play like she doesn’t know, but we both know her efforts are fruitless.
“The man who tore you down.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because you have no idea how fucking beautiful you are. You worry about what to order when we go out, and you hate surprises. If he treated you right, like a man is supposed to treat a woman he cares about, none of those things would cause you anxiety. That poor lip of yours can’t take much more. And besides, I plan on stealing lots of kisses tonight. I don’t want to hurt you.” I pull up to the Stop sign and reach over and take her hand in mine. “I’m ready to listen whenever you’re ready to talk.”
“What if I’m never ready?”
“It’s going to take more than that to scare me away. However, I want to be the one you lean on when you need to. I want to be there for you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my girlfriend.”
“Ah, I did hear something about that earlier today,” she says, smiling, the tension leaving her body. “Funny, I don’t remember discussing that title.”