Page 65 of One Short Summer

Monica

My bedroom lookslike a small bomb exploded right in the middle of it—an Arts & Crafts store bomb, to be exact.

They don’t have one of the big ones here, but thankfully, the small one I found off Main Street had everything I needed. Although I had to admit I might have overdone it a little bit when I waltzed out of there with several huge bags full of stuff. I hope the result will look close to what I have in mind, which will make it all worth it.

Luckily, Gabe was locked away in his office when I got back, making it easy for me to sneak all the bags into the house and up to my room without getting caught and spoiling the surprise.

I’ve been working on my little project for a few hours now, finally about to put on the last touches. My arms hurt from all the work, but since it turned out even better than I imagined, nothing can sour my mood right now.

The sudden knock at the door startles me.

“Monica, are you in there?” Gabe’s deep voice drifts through the thick, brown wood. “Can we talk for a moment?”

My heart skips a beat as I look around me. Panic begins to build in my chest as I stare at the door. There’s no way I’m going to let him ruin this. “Don’t come in, please. Give me five minutes, okay?”

It takes him several seconds to reply. “All right. I’m gonna wait for you downstairs.”

Holding my breath, I listen to his retreating footsteps until I sigh with relief. That was a close call. Not that the world would’ve ended if he’d seen it, but I have this certain expectation of how he’ll look when he sees the surprise for the first time, and now I want to know if I’m correct about it or not.

Less than five minutes later, I’ve finished up and put away all of the evidence. I refrain from rubbing my hands together like a crazy person, but I’m so excited about this, I could burst at the seams.

I hop down the stairs with a big smile on my face, almost running into Gabe when I turn the corner to walk into the kitchen. I can’t help myself and smack his tight butt, startling him for a moment as he turns around to face me.

“Hey, there you are.” He studies me, his eyes roaming over my face. “You okay? You look a little flushed.”

“Me?” I purse my lips. “Of course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be?”

He looks relieved, and I wonder what’s going on. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. How was your day?”

I ignore his question and focus on his statement instead. When I last saw him this morning, everything seemed normal. “Areyouokay? Why are you acting so weird?”

His eyes widen for a moment, and I wonder if he didn’t realize he was acting differently. “What? Yes, everything’s great. I guess I was just worried something was wrong.”

That takes me by surprise because I can’t come up with a single thing that would make him think that. “Why?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I’ve gotten used to you stopping by the office when you come back home. Today, you went straight to your room.”

Ahh, that makes sense, I guess. And here I was, upstairs for the past few hours, trying to put something together to show Gabe how thankful I am. All the while, he was worried I was upset with him for some reason.

I take a step toward him, closing the distance between us. “Charming, everything’s good. But, there’s actually a reason I didn’t stop by your office today. It’s a good one though.”

“Oh yeah?” He still looks a bit wary, but that look melts away as soon as his arms snake around my middle to pull me close to his body.

“Absolutely.” I go up on my toes to press my lips to his, planning on keeping this one light.

What I didn’t factor in was Gabe. Apparently, he has the opposite in mind when he moves one of his hands up my spine and into my hair, holding me in place while he deepens the kiss.

“Tell me more.” He murmurs the words against my lips, neither one of us wanting to pull back.

Staring up at him, I bite my lip. I wasn’t planning on showing him his surprise until later, but I’m so pumped about it, I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.

Looking up at him from under my lashes, I suddenly feel a little nervous. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

At my admission, he stands a little straighter. “You do? What is it?”

I grin at the eager look on his face. “Obviously, I’m not gonna tell you. Plus, describing wouldn’t do it any justice. It’s something you have to see.”

He tilts his head to the side and gives me a silly grin. “You know you don’t have to ask me twice. What are you waiting for? I want to see it.”

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