Page 42 of Love and Other Trials
“You’re terrible at that. Here, let me show you.”
“No!” She put her hands on his shoulders, like that would stop him.
They both started laughing so hard they were wheezing. A car pulling into the space a couple of cars down had them sobering up. Dax tucked her into her seat, fixing her seat belt for her.
She hissed as his hand slid across her belly in a sexy caress. “Stop that! I’m so hot I might…”
His brows edged up and a satisfied smirk appeared on his face. “Good to know I’m not alone.”
With that, he walked around to his side and let himself in. “Where to next?”
He gave her the same attention he would a fellow poker player, watching for a tell. Intense. Connected. All-consuming. She liked it. Men who listened were sexy. She'd never had her head turned by a pretty face alone.
She thought about her list, telling herself she should have brought a to-go cup of ice water with her. “We’re heading to Home Depot.”
When he took out his phone to plug in the directions, he smiled at the photo of them. “Awesome! Now that’s my kind of place.”
“Excellent!” She kicked her feet out with the hope the action might release some of her trapped sexual tension. “Because I’ll need you to haul a few things.”
A lock of his sandy hair flopped onto his wide forehead as he turned and flexed his incredible forearm. “Me and my muscles are entirely at your disposal.”
Her already heated blood turned white-hot. “Good, because we need to buy some sand.”
“Sand?”
Yeah, that’s what she’d thought when she’d first read about it. “Yes, because it might be windy, and we’ll need to anchor the outside flower arrangements so they won’t topple over.”
He pulled out of the parking lot. “The details you’re juggling blow my mind.”
Indeed.
They bought sand, probably her favorite errand of the day because it involved watching Dax’s muscles flex. Yum! And he had no trouble throwing it over his shoulder. Goodness, that man was strong. He didn’t seem to mind it either.
When they went to the printer, though, Dax started tapping his foot on the floor. Boredom, she knew, but they had to go over every printed place card and sign to make sure everything was correct. Even her eyes were crossing as she studied the list. The truth was he didn’t need to accompany her to all her errands. They were having such a good time together, but even she had to call it.
“Why don’t you head back to the resort?” she asked when the woman went for another round of beverages.
He put his hands on his thighs, looking very manly in the pale green office with fake orchids adorning the gold-leafed tables. Like a large jungle cat let loose in a tea parlor. “If you can take it, so can I.”
Oh, she wanted to tell him how she could take it…
He seemed to know because his sandy brows rose, but then the woman was returning, clearing her throat as if she knew something was going on.
The moment didn’t last long. She began checking her names, as did Dax, and was grateful they only caught three errors. Except they needed to wait for those to be reprinted, of course.
By the time they were finished and headed back to the resort, Ariel had a low-grade headache. “All I want is a margarita,” she practically moaned.
He had his arm resting on the open window, and the breeze felt good. “Well, I need a whiskey, and Ineverneed a drink. Why in the hell do people do this?”
“Get married?”
He choked before laughing. “No, this! The whole printed cards and sandbags for flowers shit.”
She tried to remember the reasons she recited to herself when the spreadsheets seemed to blur and the budget lines made her eyes widen. “Beauty. Immortality. Giving themselves and their guests a day to remember fondly.”
“I would think remembering your wedding day would be pretty easy.” The way the wind ruffled his sandy hair was downright sexy as he glanced over. “The moment you first wake up and know you’re getting married today. The first glance of her coming down the aisle in her wedding dress, looking so beautiful she takes your breath away. The way her eyes soften when you put your ring on her finger and say your vows to each other. The first kiss that seems so new and different, even though you’ve done it a million times. And then holding her hand as you smile at your friends and family because they know you’re the luckiest man in the world because now she’s yours forever.”
She fell back against her seat, stunned. He thought that? She turned to him. “Oh. My. God. You’re totally a romantic.”
