Page 87 of Accidentally in Bloom

“That’s some excellent advice. You should probably take it.” He laughed as he sipped his seltzer. “People can make mistakes. I have first-hand experience in making really big ones, Rose. I don’t expect you to be perfect. You don’t expect them to be perfect.”

“You don’t think I’m perfect?” She sent a sly smile at him.

“Your ass, yes, is just…chef’s kiss. But I am fully aware,” he grabbed her hand, “that you, Miss Perfect Rose Parker, have made mistakes. I think you should tell your listeners.”

It resonated with her. She didn’t want to continue the narrative that women had to be perfect. She rolled it around her head, playing with the idea. “Men can make mistakes,” she said, thinking out loud. “Why can’t we fail just like them? And get up, dust ourselves off, and try again without having unfair expectations put on us?” She felt fired up for the first time in a while.

“I probably haven’t told you this,” he took her hand, “but it’s really fucking sexy when you’re passionate about something. I like it on you.” He brought her hand to his mouth and placed a slow kiss on her knuckles.

Rose felt that flutter around her heart. That same movement she’d felt when she visited her dad’s grave and realized who Gray might actually be—a good man who might want her just the way she was.

Gray topped off her drink and jogged downstairs to grab their main course. Rose caught a chill as she waited for him and walked into the bedroom to grab one of the cozy blankets on the bed.

The room was sparse as if it had been recently finished. The modern, dark wood king-size bedframe stood against the snowy white walls, and the industrial, high-end lighting fixture had been dimmed to nearly dark. Rose ran her hands along the rough-hewn mantle over the fireplace.

He noticed the blanket around her shoulders. “Are you cold? We can eat inside.”

Rose considered the last sliver of orange on the horizon. They still had showtime left in the sky. “No, let’s stay out here. You can’t beat the view.”

They talked about their days, his spent planting, harvesting, and potting the next big batch of flowers. Hers spent greeting customers and planning for the Lopez bridal consultation the next day.

Rose realized with a start that it felt like their tenth date, not their first.

Rose finished her steak, and a companionable silence landed between them. “Thank you. For all this,” she said suddenly. “I thought we were going to have a low-key night.” Not a soul-defining, picture-perfect date. An anxiety alarm rang in the back of her head.

You’re not worth this, Rose. You are bossy, and you’ll disappoint him, and you’re leaving.

Not. Worth it.

Gray grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “I don’t get you long, so I wanted to make it count.”

“You care, Gray. A lot. That’s… unusual.”

“Unusual? To care for a beautiful, smart woman?” His eyes met hers with surprise. “You must have had a talent for dating idiots in California.”

Rose chuckled as she speared a piece of caramelized sweet potato. “Let’s just say this is the first, first date I’ve enjoyed in a long time.”

He smiled at her as his eyes danced. “Is this our first? You don’t count all the times you’d yell at me, and then I’d kiss you senseless?”

Rose sipped her champagne, and a smile curled her lips. “I thought this was prom, Roberts? Aren’t you going to ask me to dance?”

Chapter

Twenty-Two

ROSE

“That wasn’t an answer, Rose,” Gray said as he stood up and found a remote, clicking on a speaker to a lo-fi playlist. He walked over to her and offered his hand.

“I know,” she said and stood up. “I’m sneaky like that.”

He tucked her blanket around her shoulders and pulled her close, swaying with her under the stars.

“The one thing Pennsylvania has on LA.” Rose was mesmerized by the sky. “I forgot what a clear night sky is supposed to look like. It’s beautiful.”

Gray pulled back to look at her. “You’re beautiful, Rose. Honest to God, breathtaking.” He stared at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world. As if he’d never seen her before. She couldn’t look away. She was breathless but couldn’t put her finger on why.

“Gray, I—” Gray’s mouth stole her words. He’d pulled her in, his hand gripping her lower back and the other holding her chin. He kissed her as if she was his next breath. She met his mouth, pulling on his lapels and needing more of him. She wound her arms around his neck, her skin hot with need. Scraping her nails through his hair, she heard a low moan escape him as he deepened the kiss. He walked them back into his room.

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