Thorn in My Side (Bunch-A-Blooms 2)

“Hold on, love. We have to take an obligatory selfie.”

She laughs. “Wha

t?”

“I promised Rachel if I could get you to agree to a first date, we’d send her a picture,” I mumble.

Olive laughs and wraps her arm around my waist. “Well, we can’t disappoint her, can we?”

I pull out my phone, and we smile at the camera. I snap the shot and send it to the person responsible for talking me down off the ledge when I discovered my little bird had flown the coop. She gave a female perspective that kept me from shutting down. The emoji-filled response that quickly follows makes us both laugh.

“I think she might be excited.”

“Rachel was born excited.” I shake my head and guide her out of the apartment to my car.

It’s easy being here in the dimly lit room surrounded by soulful music. We’re both working on our second Blind Lemon painkiller, and the distance between us has decreased by the minute. She’s leaning against my side as we take in the band. It’s cozy and comfortable.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” I ask.

“I am. I can’t believe I never knew this place existed.”

“Stick with me, and I’ll teach you a lot of things.”

“I’ve never seen you this relaxed before. I wasn’t sure you ever unwound.”

“I have a problem with that. It’s hard to turn off when you run a business.”

“That I understand and my business is a speck of dust compared to yours. Someone reminded not too long ago, you have to make sure to get in downtime.”

“She sounds smart.”

“She is. She’s also a newlywed, so I took her advice with a grain of salt.”

I throw back my head and laugh. It feels good to let loose. She giggles beside me, and I fall a bit further in like with her.

“I think I’ll have a reason to set work aside now.”

She smiles bashfully, and I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. I lean in until our lips are nothing but a breath apart.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please do.”

I brush her lips, and she leans into me. My lids lower and I allow myself to be fully present. Her lips move against mine, and the music wraps around us freezing the moment in time. I grip her ponytail to anchor myself as our mouths slant over one another. I could eat at her mouth forever. She’s an endless well of sweetness and light a man could get lost in. We part and I swear I’m drugged. Her heavy-lidded expression tells me she’s feeling the same. I cup her face and run my thumb over her cheeks. “I’m going to miss this when I’m gone,” I admit.

“I will too.”

“Guess we’ll have to do a lot of texting and emailing then.”

“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” she asks.

“Did I seem like I wasn’t before?” I ask.

“You’re like nothing I’ve ever experienced, Luka Davenport. I’m afraid this is a dream I’m going to wake up from. Men like you don’t give women like me the time of day.”

“Pretty women who run a successful business and don’t take our crap?”

She smiles and shakes her head. “You’re just as impossible as I thought you were.”