Page 21 of Surprisingly Us

I motion to the second bag of petals on the table, suddenly anxious to complete this task and get out of here. “Hand me those, please.”

“More rose petals?” he asks.

“I’ve got a second bag. I’m going to use them.” Sophie will kill me if they go to waste. As the owner of Sustainable Wedding Chic blog and wedding planning service, her goal is to minimize waste associated with weddings and events. I’ve been instructed to return all the packaging as it needs to be properly composted.

“Come on. You can’t tell me that a guy giving it his all to get you off isn’t a romantic gesture.”

I’m thankful that I am faced with the task of sprinkling the petals into the shape of a heart on the bed right now so I can appear not to be affected by Rhys’s comment. Meanwhile, my cheeks are turning as red as the petals in my hand.

“It’s personally what I live for.”

“We all have to have goals, I guess.”

Where Rhys appears to have all the experience, I’ve got none. I’ve never been touched that way by a guy before but there’s no way I’m telling himthat.

“All done,” I say, tossing the last of the rose petals onto the floor before gathering the bag of supplies up.

“That was easy.” Rhys dusts his hands off like he’s satisfied with the job.

“Says the man who hung a banner.”

“I hung the shit out of that banner.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go before your head gets too big to fit out the door. Hannah and James will not be excited to see you in their suite on their wedding night.”

He ignores my comment.

“And look,” he points to the bed, “I made a design.”

I stare at his design and my eyes bulge. The heart I had perfected a few minutes ago is nowhere to be seen.

“Is that a vulva?” I ask.

He bursts out laughing. “Wait, what’s a vulva?”

“You know. All the parts that make up female genitalia.” I motion toward my lower region.

His lips twist with confusion. “I thought that’s a vagina.”

“No,” I shake my head, “it’s called a vulva. The vaginal opening is only a part of it. Clearly, it’s theonlypart you care about,” I murmur under my breath, still staring at Rhys’s rose petal design.

“It’s lips, and not the vulva kind. The red petals are the outline, the pink is the filler.” Rhys smirks at me. “Geez, Princess, get your head out of the gutter.”

I stare at him for a moment. Wondering how I ended up here, discussing vulvas with Rhys.

Then, I reach forward and scatter Rhys’s design.

“No lips. No vulvas. Just sprinkled rose petals, please.”

“You’re the boss.”

“Exactly,” I say, moving toward the door, now that everything is in its place.

“So, what now?” he asks on our way to the elevator.

I shrug. “Back to the reception.”

“That’s boring. Surely there’s something more fun we could do.” He wiggles his eyebrows and I’m wondering if this is a continuation of the conversation we were having in the suite. Or at least Rhys was having it while I worked diligently and tried to ignore the way his words made my lower belly flutter.

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