Page 10 of Lily, Unwritten

“Twenty-nine, hey? Getting on a bit.” He poked me in the side.

I sighed and rolled over, my back turned to him now. “So rude, Zachary.”

He cuddled up close to me and kissed my neck. “Come on, don’t you want to get up and do nice things?”

“Can we do nice things here instead?” I snuggled further under the covers, still sleepy. “Twenty-nine isn’t a big deal, I mean, if it was thirty, then that would be a whole other ball game. That’s really, really old.”

“I wouldn’t know.” He bit my neck and made me gasp. “Good job I’m not there yet, hey? Might not have the stamina for this…”

An hour later, we sat at the breakfast bar, dopey loved-up grins in place. “What shall we do today?” I asked. “Or are we just gonna repeat that? Because I’m good with that as a plan.”

The doorbell rang and Zack jumped up from the bar stool. “I’ll get it!” He was off before I could speak. Thank goodness he’d put shorts and a t-shirt on before we came downstairs.

I swiped through my phone and laughed at a daft birthday picture Cassie had sent me. Something smelled delicious, like caramel and coffee and?—

“Ta-da!” announced Zack with a huge grin. “Birthday breakfast for my special girl.” He placed a venti-sized coffee cup in front of me, along with a breakfast sandwich, a croissant and a blueberry muffin. “Wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for, so I got them all.”

I leant across and kissed him. “Did I mention that I love you? Thank you.” I took the lid off the coffee and let the glorious, rich scent waft into my nose. “That smells amazing; that’s the sexiest present you could’ve given me.”

He took a sip of his own coffee and stroked my hand. “Just want you to have a perfect day. Erm… sorry, the coffee is the sexiest present I could give you?” he said with mock hurt on his face.

I grinned and took far too large a bite of the sandwich; the morning activities had made me ravenous. There were loads of birthday cards to open. I wasn’t used to this; it was exciting. Some had been delivered by the postman, some given to me earlier and saved for this morning. I laughed as I read a cheeky, dirty joke from Cassie. Zack’s mum and dad had written a beautiful message. There was even a hand-drawn one from Zack’s nephews, which was the cutest.

Zack smiled as the doorbell went once again. “You can answer this time.”

I put the cards down and inched the door open, trying to stay to the side as I was only in short pyjamas myself. As it turned out, the man who had rung the bell couldn’t even see me through the massive bouquet he held.

The beauty of those flowers was hard to describe. They were long-stemmed roses, but not like any bloom I’d held before. The heads were large with a few pointed buds yet to open. Their colour was the prettiest I’d seen, a cross between lavender, grey and blue. They smelled like lazy sunshine as you lay in a field of crops, the scent of pollen carried by the bees - one more smell… nutmeg! It reminded me of a being a little girl baking cakes with my mum.

I opened up the card as I headed back towards Zack.

My perfect girl needs perfect flowers

Happy Birthday

Zack xxx

I placed them down on the table and wrapped my arms around Zack’s waist, my head fell onto his chest.

“I love you. I’ve never even seen roses like these, they’re gorgeous.”

“They’re nothing compared to you.” He tilted my face and kissed me; his mouth tasted like coffee, and it was delicious. I slid closer. I wanted more.

“Is it too early to go back to bed?” I asked. “I would slide onto your knee now, but I’m not sure how strong the bar stools are.”

“Nope. No bed yet. You haven’t opened presents.”

“I’ve had sex and coffee and flowers, there’s more?”

“There’s so much more.” Zack grinned, a devilish look of excitement on his face. “I couldn’t decide what to buy you; I decided instead to work my way through the alphabet.”

I continued to press kisses to his face. “I’m a long way from S then?”

“A long way.” He stood up and took my hand. “A is in the living room.”

I skipped through, giddy, and saw a present wrapped in beautiful dusky pink paper on the couch. “Aww, I love that colour!”

“I know you do. I pay attention.”

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