Page 122 of Falling Too Late

Ezekiel dropped me off, and I scanned the parking lot till I found Wren’s car. It was filled to the brim: a cooler, bags of groceries, some soil, and four bags of dog food.

I frowned, staring at everything piled in the back.

I wished I had known what she was doing today; I would have been there to help her. I just wanted to get Ezekiel’s car back to him now that my truck was up and running.

I headed into the mall. The place was bigger than I remembered. I hadn’t spent much time here as a kid, only going when Jon dragged me.

I pulled out my phone.

What are you shopping for?

I ordered a new pair of shoes. Just need to pick them up.

I glanced around the place and started to walk around, hoping to catch her. There was only one department store that sold just about everything if I remembered correctly.

I headed up to the second story, glancing around until I saw the mass of curls.

I only saw her side profile as she picked an item up, looking it over before her face visibly balked and she set it back down, shaking her head.

After she left the table, I picked the same item up. It was a golden German shepherd statute. On the bottom was a tag for forty dollars.

Well shit, I would have put it down too.

With my new job, and new credit limit, money didn’t matter.

I picked the statue up and followed her.

She was gorgeous as always. She wore a thin gray long sleeve shirt, jeans, and her crossbody slung over her. Her hair was in a knot at the top of her head, loose tendrils framing her face, headphones in.

I took pleasure in just watching her, staying out of her line of sight. I had never seen her shop before. We had gone and gotten groceries, but she never window-shopped. She never had her eyes on things we couldn’t have.

She picked things up, then set them back down. Soon we were in the lingerie section, and she was dragging her fingertips over some silk nightdress. I watched her shoulders lift and drop before she moved on, heading to a checkout counter.

When she was far enough away, I went to it. It had black lace over the neck of it and at the hem. It was a deep forest-green color, my favorite. I picked it up along with the handful of other things she had touched.

One thing I had never been able to do was spoil her, and now I would be able to.

I left the store and headed out to wait next to her car, placing the items I had bought for her in the back so she wouldn’t see them. It wasn’t long after that she walked out.

“Hey, darlin’.” I grinned at her as she walked out with one bag in hand, her free hand shading her eyes from the sun.

I took the bag from her and wrapped an arm around her before dipping down and taking her lips. She stood there, wide-eyed and dazed. I grinned, pleased with myself.

She hummed her approval at my greeting. “I could get used to that.”

“I’ll load the car,” I said.

She pulled the keys out of her purse, handing them to me. I went about unlocking the door and guiding her to the passenger seat, opening the door and buckling her in.

After placing her things in the back, I climbed into the car, starting it.

“Anyplace else you need to go to?” I asked.

“No. I’m ready to go home.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Let's go home.”

As soon as we hit the gate, I could hear the dogs barking. Wren was quiet most of the way back to her place. Pulling out her phoneand texting someone off and on. I couldn’t quite make out her mood, but every time she looked at me, she had a smile on her face.

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