Page 89 of Beauty and the Beard

“I’m here. You’re here. I’m so fucking happy to see you.”

Setting him down, I look for the flowers and a kind man off to the side holds them for us.

“I didn’t want the crowd to trample them.” He passes them back to me with a smile. “It’s nice to see two people so in love. You have a wonderful day.”

I thank him and present them to Sasha. The florist asked me for his favourite colours and a little about us. Pink and purple I know Sasha loves, along with black and various shades of green.

The florist put together a mixed bouquet of pink and white roses—Perry will be thrilled—-and added tiny little purple flower things. It’s very pretty, and he assured me Sasha would love it.

“You did this for me?” He brings the flowers to his nose and inhales. A soft smile on his lips as he gently touches a rose petal.

“Yeah. Do you like them?”

“No one has ever got me flowers before.” His voice hitches, but I lift his chin with a finger. Beautiful brown eyes stare back at me and now I understand what the guys meant about romance. He always looks at me in a way that makes me feel like I’m a marshmallow swimming in a mug of hot chocolate, but right now I feel like a god who created the world.

“Beauty, I will give you the world if I can. This is just the beginning.”

His lip trembles, but he doesn’t cry. No, my Sasha is strong. Not that tears would be inappropriate or weak, but it’s no longer his instant response to my words or gestures. Instead, he smirks before kissing me so soundly I’m left breathless.

With the flowers now smashed between us and the arrivals area almost empty, he whispers against my lips.

“And what a beginning it is. Take me home so we can get started.”

“I like the sounds of that.”

Tugging me by the hand towards the luggage pickup, he throws me that magazine worthy smile over his shoulder, and I just about break into a dance.

Sasha was so overwhelmed with the little party at the lodge when he arrived, he could barely speak to thank everyone. Like the social butterfly he is, I watched from the side as he hugged everyone he met the first time he was here and had private conversations with each of them.

Especially Perry.

All the tiny lights that looked like stars left him amazed. The cookies, of course, he was thrilled with, but it was the simple gesture from my brother that left him struggling for words.

“I still can’t believe Perry did that for me. We got off on the wrong foot several times and he’s really a nice guy.”

Sasha sits next to me on the sofa, shower fresh and smelling like coconut. He snuggles up next to me, pulling the quilt off the back of the couch to cover his legs.

“To be fair, I think he’s a closet romantic. He bought you the gift card for the bookstore with ulterior motives. He wants to read what you pick. I guarantee it.”

“Well, don’t make it sound like he wasn’t being thoughtful!” He smacks my leg playfully. “He also gave me the reading journal that was monogrammed. It was lovely.”

“I know. You had a hard time speaking. He does like you, though, and he’s happy to have you back here. We all are.”

Sasha squirms around to face me and places his hand on my cheek.

“I was going to wait, but there’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot. I’d like to show you if I could?”

He scans my face, and he’s so sincere and hopeful. He curls his fingers into my short beard and I hum. I love it when he does that.

“This sounds serious. You sure?”

“Yes. I… it’s been on my mind since before I left here in the summer.”

“Okay. You can show me.”

After placing a soft kiss on my cheek, he retrieves his laptop bag from the living room and pulls out an orange plastic Duotang. He puffs out a breath and turns back to me. His knee bounces just enough that the Duotang jiggles in his hands.

“You’ve talked about Connor a lot. You’ve shared with me how you met and who he was, not just to you, but to this whole town.” He swallows and stares at his lap. “When you took me on the trails at your sugar shack, I noticed the change in you. You had this great longing in your voice I hadn’t heard before. And you told me it was that piece of property that brought you here. It brought Connor to you.”

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