Page 70 of The Accidental Honeymoon

“I do love you, Calla. I’d be a fool not to fall for you.”

Her eyes shine with tears. She doesn’t say anything for a moment. But then she exhales, and kisses me ever so gently on the lips. “I love you too, baby,” she whispers.

twenty-four

JAY

The warmthof the café washes over me as I hold the door to Java Monkey for Calla, chasing away the chill of the morning air.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t chase away the tension that’s been clinging to us since the hike.

Calla and I haven’t talked about anything deep since that moment when we confessed our feelings for each other while we were naked and vulnerable.

Since then? It’s been markedly awkward between us.

Mr. Lim waves from behind the counter, his ever-watchful eyes sparkling with mischief. “Jay! Calla! Ready to spread some Valentine’s Day love?”

I nod back, offering a tight smile. Calla flashes him a wave, her expression soft but guarded. We make our way to the back of the café, where a box overflowing with decorations waits for us. She glances at me, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip. I wonder what is going on behind those eyes.

“So,” I say, breaking the silence before it swallows us. “We should probably figure out a game plan.”

Calla nods. Her relief at having a task to do isalmost palpable. “I’ll start with the windows. You can handle the tables.”

I grab a handful of decorations and set to work. Calla moves to the windows. She stretches up on her tiptoes to tape heart-shaped doilies to the glass. Her movements are deliberate, almost hypnotic.

She’s tied one of my T-shirts up at the waist and is wearing it over a paint-spattered pair of pants. Her outfit is perfectly innocuous. Work clothes, my grandmother would have called them. But there is something sexy about Calla wearing one of my shirts in public.

It calls to the possessive part of me. If I’m honest, her butt looks amazing in those slightly too tight pants, too.

I catch myself staring. I shake my head and focus on the table in front of me. Fiddling with a centerpiece that looks too sparse for the over-the-top theme is better than being distracted by my wife. She can’t catch me drooling over her.

Not when things are so…undefinedbetween us.

“Jay?” Calla waves a hand, trying to get my attention. “Are you with me? I was saying that we need to make the place look extra romantic if we’re going to have a Valentine’s Day photoshoot.”

I glance up. “Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ve got experience with this kind of thing.”

“Decorating for Valentine’s Day?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Set design.” I smirk. “Less is more.”

Calla snorts, the sound surprising both of us. “You can’t have too much when it comes to Valentine’s. It’s supposed to be over-the-top.”

“There’s a fine line between charming and gaudy.”

“Gaudy can be charming,” Calla shoots back. A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

I can’t help but match it. “As long as it’s not gauche,” I tease. “That would be unbearable.”

She sticks her tongue out at me and I grin wider.

The silence that follows feels different. It feels less like a storm cloud and more like a quiet breeze. She moves from the windows to the tables, inspecting the centerpieces I’ve put together. A single red rose sits in a glass vial, a lone heart cutout standing at attention paired with it.

“Too sparse. Your whole display needs more love.”

Our fingers brush as she hands me the ribbon. I glance at her, amused. “I thought you said I was in charge of the tables.”

“You are.” She crosses her arms, her tone teasing. “I’m just providing suggestions.”

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