Page 41 of My Grumpy Sweetheart
“Yeah,” I said after a while. “Yeah, okay.”
And I really hoped that it would be.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
DAKOTA
This was either the best or the stupidest idea I’d ever had; there was no in between.
Taking a deep breath, I started my truck, sparing one last glance to the middle console where all the snacks were. Likeallthe snacks. I’d bought so much yesterday that even Bailey’s assortment from two weeks ago paled in comparison.
So yeah, I might’ve gone a little overboard, but I needed to make this right. At first, I’d thought about maybe sending Bailey flowers or other small gifts to his place of work. Well, actually Liam had suggested that, and I’d have almost gone with it if not for Bailey telling me he didn’t want gifts but honesty and reliability. Which was actually a lot harder to give him than a couple of gifts.
He wants you to put in the effort, I told myself.He doesn’t really care about those sweets and snacks. But he will care about the fact that you went out of your way to get them.
Hopefully.
And then there was the whole date-idea thing.
On Monday evening, I’d thought it was a stellar idea. He was still mad, so he needed a valve to let out his emotions. I knew what I usually did when I was mad — I went outside and chopped wood until every muscle in my arms screamed in agony. But I couldn’t very well tell Bailey to chop up my firewood. It wouldn’t be a fun or thoughtful date if I made him work for me — even if the orchard had done exactly the same thing. Except for the fact that we’d gotten to keep the apples, and I highly doubted Bailey needed firewood for his apartment.
I crossed the town line, getting closer and closer to my first destination: Bailey’s apartment.
Then we’d be off to our actual date. The drive took more than an hour, so I was expecting Bailey to take off his shoes like the little lunatic he was. That was okay, though; there was a blanket I’d placed on the passenger seat in case his feet got cold.
The closer I got to his house, the faster my heart beat inside my chest. This was it. My last chance. If I screwed up today, I wouldn’t get another one.
So… it was time for some truth bombs, no matter how much I wanted to just keep them to myself.
Upon seeing Bailey standing at the curb, my nerves spiked, yet a part of me relaxed at the same time. He’d shown up and was waiting for me.
Andholy shit,he’d taken my advice to dress in casual or workout clothes to heart. I’d expected loose jeans or sweatpants — not yoga pants. Yes, they were loose fitting, but they were also a light gray and didn’t do much to hide anything. Not that I minded. Not at all.
Bailey pulled his phone out, glanced at it, then started looking from one side to the other, wrapping his arms around himself. He was wearing a deep purple tank top and some kind of sweater jacket that clung to his arms and torso and looked like it was made out of thin t-shirt material. He had to be freezing.
I stopped the car right in front of him and reveled in the wide smile that lit up Bailey’s face as he saw me. He quickly opened the door and climbed inside my truck.
“Ugh. It’s fucking freezing,” he told me, shivering.
Immediately, I put on the heat and nodded towards the passenger seat he was already sitting on.
“You’re sitting on a blanket.”
Bailey raised his eyebrows but hoisted himself up from the seat, staring at me in disbelief as he picked up the cozy blanket.
“Do you always have a blanket stored away in the car?”
I chuckled. “Nope.”
Well, I did, but not a comfortable fleece one. Rather a thick but itchy wool blanket that I kept in the back of the car in case of an emergency.
“Oh.” Bailey’s smile softened into something warm. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I maneuvered the car back on the road but kept watching Bailey out of the corner of my eye. He spread the blanket over himself and let out a small, happy sigh. Then he put his left foot on his right knee and started unlacing his boots.
I chuckled.
