Page 23 of Remembering You
6
Despite being ready over an hour early, it was still startling when the doorbell rang at six-fifteen sharp. Marty’s pulse thrummed against the insides of her wrists and she could hear the whooshing of her blood with each step closer to the door.
With a quick glance around her house, her eyes landed on Bolt.Well, here goes nothing.With a final deep breath, Marty opened the front door and found Chris standing there, a bouquet of gardenias clutched in his hand. Literally clutched. He was white knuckling those green stems, which truthfully, made Marty a little more at ease, knowing that he, too, was nervous.
“Chris,” she said, stepping aside for him to come in from the cold.
“You look beautiful, Marty,” he said, and his eyes didn’t once leave her face. No wandering gaze drifted down her body. “Gardenias, for you.”
She took the flowers from his hand, pausing a moment to inhale the light, flowered scent.
Chris’s gaze shifted from her, landing over her shoulder on the wall behind her and his brows pinched, head tilting in question. “Why do you have a ten-dollar bill framed?” he asked with a chuckle.
Marty turned to look at where his eyes were directed and let out a large, barking laugh. “It was an inside joke between my late husband and me,” she said.
Recognition softened his brows and he nodded, smiling. “I’d love to hear the story behind that someday.”
“Someday,” Marty repeated, feeling like they had somehow waded into the ocean’s riptide with no compass to escape. “So…” she cleared her throat, searching desperately for a change in subject. “How did you know that gardenias are my favorite?” She turned away, heading into the kitchen, taking the extra moment to silently inhale a deep, calming breath. With her back turned, still composing herself, she grabbed a vase and filled it with water.
He followed her, hovering in the doorway, not quite stepping all the way inside. “The bushes outside of the hospital,” he said. She paused from where she stood at the sink and glanced over her shoulder at him. He was watching her, his gaze latched onto her face and her breath quickened, her blood softening with the lingering eye contact. “You stop and smell the gardenias almost every day on your way into work. And sometimes, you sit on the bench beside them to eat your lunch. Even if other people are sitting on that bench—that’s where you go. Not to the empty bench near the rose bush.”
Something in her chest flipped at that sweet realization. He paid attention to her.Reallypaid attention to the details. Which was enough to send her already racing heart into overdrive. “I just love the smell of gardenias,” she said, setting the vase on the kitchen counter.
She brushed her finger across one of the velvety petals, and felt rather than saw Chris’s approach behind her. His hand settled gently on her hip. The heat of his touch seared her skin and she felt the flush spread from her chest up her neck to her cheeks.
Clearing her throat, she turned slowly, dragging her gaze up his smooth throat and over his freshly shaved jaw before finally landing on his silken brown eyes. “You seem nervous,” Chris whispered.
She chuckled and just as she was about to break eye contact, Chris caught her chin gently between his thumb and forefinger, not letting her break away. She licked her lips with a nervous swipe of her tongue. “It’s my first date in eighteen years,” she admitted. “I think a little bit of nervousness is inevitable.”
He nodded, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a kind smile. “Just so long as you’re happy to be here. I’m not your boss or anything at the hospital, but I’d hate to think you felt coerced into coming out tonight—”
“No,” she answered quickly. “Not at all.” She smiled back at him, doing her best to ease his mind. It was so sweet. So gentlemanly. “These nerves… they’re excitement. Anticipation. Possibility. The same kind of nerves I felt when I first moved to Maple Grove from North Carolina. Or when I started my first nursing job after I graduated. Or on my wedding day—”
The words choked in her throat and Chris’s eyes widened. Oh, shit. “Not that I mean we are on the course to get married or anything. I definitely don’t think we’ll get married. I mean, if we did, that’s not the worst thing…”Oh, God. What the hell was she even saying right now?
His wide eyes creased as his grin widened and he snickered, lifting his hand to cover the chuckle. “You reallydobabble when you’re nervous.”
Marty sighed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t rub it in.”
Balling that same hand covering his mouth into a fist, Chris shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of it. The good thing about dating when you’re older—things like that? Talk of the future and commitment? They’re not so scary.” He smiled.
“Is that so? I thought it was a divorcee’s worst nightmare being tied back down?”
“Maybe to someone who’s newly divorced. But not me.”
Marty narrowed her eyes at him and a thoughtfulhmbuzzed against her pursed lips.
“You know, my mother always told me that I should never kiss a woman before I’ve bought her dinner.” Chris’s gaze dropped momentarily to Marty’s lips, but in a blink, he brought them right back to her eyes.
The pregnant pause tightened in Marty’s stomach. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her. “Is that so?” He nodded and his brown eyes searched her face. “Do you always listen to your mother?” she prodded.
That same smile curved on his lips. “Not when it comes to kissing. At least, not usually. But then again, she also taught me to always order dessert first. To embrace life and indulge. I’m thinking she might be onto something with that latter lesson.”
“Always order dessert first,” Marty repeated. “Isn’t that the same idea as kissing someone before the date begins? It’s like having a bite of dessert before dinner.”
He tilted his head, considering that for a moment. “It is, isn’t it?”
Something told Marty that he already knew that and was being coy. Then again, coy seemed to be working, so she didn’t challenge him. “I think you should… kiss me, I mean. It’ll save time, too. If it’s bad and there’s no chemistry, we can just go have a nice meal and not stress about impressing each other.” She lifted her brows, a challenging smirk spreading across her expression.
