Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“Uh, Olivia…”
Darn it, I’m so busy drooling over him, I forgot to say hello. “Shoot, I’m sorry, Jason. Come in, come in.”
I reach for him, and he holds out a bouquet of daisies and a paper towel holder. I reach for the holder first. “Is this what you made?”
His cheeks are red. “Yes. I know—”
I don’t let him finish. “It’s perfect. I love it,” I tell him and then stop. “I mean, were you bringing it to me? I hope so because I want to keep it.”
He laughs. “Liv, are you more excited about the paper towel holder than the daisies?”
I grab the flowers too. “Actually I love and appreciate them both, but if I had to choose one, I’d choose the holder. Any time you want to bring me a project you made, I’ll always want that.”
He laughs as he follows me in the house. I hold the flowers and the paper towel holder in one hand and then loop my other arm through Jason’s. “Let’s go to the kitchen and we can put the flowers and holder away.”
He walks beside me, and I go slowly. I release my hold on him when we get to the counter and I talk to him as I put the flowers in a vase and then open a new roll of paper towel and put it on the holder.
“You smell good,” he says.
I laugh. “You’re probably smelling the daisies.”
“Nope, it’s you. It’s like jasmine and vanilla. I’ve never smelled the two scents together, but you smell good.”
I lean into him. “Thank you.”
He puts a hand on my waist, and I cover it with my own hand. “So I thought we could go around the house and I’ll show you where everything is. Want to start at the front door?”
He nods, and I take him back through the house. “Okay. Front door. As soon as you walk in the door, there is an entry table. On the right here is the front closet, and I usually put jackets and winter gear in there.”
I take him through the rest of the house, explaining everything as we go. He asks a few questions, and I answer them patiently. When we make it back to the living room, I lead him to the couch. “Let’s sit.”
He clears his throat. “Where would you like to go for dinner?”
“I ordered dinner. It should be here soon.”
His jaw tightens, and immediately I start to apologize. “I’m sorry. Is that okay? I probably should have asked you first, I just thought—”
He reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. At that exact moment, a calm comes over me as my heart starts to race. It doesn’t make sense at all, but I’m learning my reaction to him is not normal. He squeezes my leg. “It’s fine. I don’t care what or where we eat, but you deserve a night out.”
I shake my head. “Honestly, after working all day, having dinner delivered sounds about perfect. But if you’d rather go do something, we can. I can try and cancel.”
He pulls his hand away, and I instantly miss his touch. “No, it’s fine. I just didn’t want you to feel like we can’t go out. It’s not always easy going out, but I would do it… for you.”
“I think you don’t enjoy going out because you haven’t had the right person going with you, that’s all. I’ll show you, the next time, we’ll go out, and you won’t even be thinking about the people around us. You’ll only be thinking of me.”
His voice gets a little deeper, sending a direct zing to my core. “I think you’re right, Olivia. I already think about you nonstop. What you’re saying makes sense.”
When I said it, I meant it as a joke, so to hear him agree with me makes me think all kinds of things I shouldn’t be thinking about. After that kiss last night and running out of there, I half expected Jason to cancel the date tonight. It took me forever to get my head on straight. This is a good time, that’s all this is. That’s all it can be.
The doorbell rings and I jump up, but Jason is right behind me. I get to the door, and he’s right with me. “I got it.”
He’s shaking his head, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. “No, you ordered, I’ll buy.”
I put my hand to his chest. “No way, this is my treat.”
“Olivia,” he says. “You’re not buying dinner. I’m sorry, that’s just not who I am.”
I blow out a breath. “Fine.”
I take his wallet and count out the bills. “I’m taking forty dollars out.”
“Okay.” He shrugs with complete trust.
I hand him his wallet back and open the door. I exchange the money for food and then we go to the dining room. I unpack everything, and Jason asks, “What are we eating?”