Page 77 of Yours, Unexpectedly

I lean in and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You look beautiful, Rebecca,” I whisper in her ear.

And she does. She’s dressed in a loose hot pink cable knit sweater, which falls just above a black leather mini skirt. Her delectable legs are wrapped in tights that have a light stripe pattern, ending in a pair of black studded leather boots. Her curls are pulled back half-way with a few pieces falling from the tie to frame her face, and her lips are turned down in a pout, coated in a sheer gloss of some sort.

Pulling back, I hand her the bouquet. “Do you have a vase we can put these in?”

She dips her face into the flowers and then peeks up at me through her eyelashes. “You got me flowers,” she sing-songs.

“Are you going to make fun of me for that all night?” I ask, rolling my eyes and booping her on the nose as I walk in. “Of course, I got you flowers. Beautiful flowers for my beautiful girl because apparently, I’m being extra cheesy today. Gotta go all out for our first date. Now, let’s put those in some water and then head out.”

“This is not our first date!”

I walk in the kitchen and Luci hands me a vase from under the sink. “Agree to disagree,” I call over my shoulder.

She huffs, her brow furrowing like a cute angry toddler, but she hands me the flowers without saying a word. “Ms. Harriet down at the flower shop was very pleased to hear that Rebecca Bardot was finally going out with a man. I believe her exact words were, ‘I was worried all of those Bardot siblings were going to be single forever!’”

“I’m only twenty-two!” She stomps her foot, waving her now empty hands in the air. “Ms. Harriet has always been too nosy for her own good. She needs a hobby.”

“I think she and Louie have been scheming ever since Louie first ‘introduced’ us. At least, that was the feeling I got when I was in there earlier.”

Bex gasps, hand clutching her chest. “Louie would never!”

“Oh, I think he would.” I finish arranging the flowers in the vase and turn toward her. “Our date today is only going to fuel the fire.” I rub my hands together. “Let’s go!”

Ten minutes later we park outside the local market and butcher shop, aptly called “Market & Butcher Shoppe.” This town has a serious lack of creativity when it comes to naming things. “You brought me to the grocery store?” Her confusion is adorable.

“We need to grab a few things for dinner. Stay there,” I command as I exit the car and come around to open her door.

“Chivalry is not dying with you, huh, killer?”

Ignoring that cheeky comment, I help her out of the car. “This butcher shop makes the world’s best sandwiches, I swear. I came here probably once a week during undergrad just to get their pastrami on rye.”

She follows me inside and we make a beeline to the back corner of the store. There’s the butcher counter but also a separate section of cheeses, dips, fruit, and crackers. The perfect picnic food. It’s still a little cold for an outdoor picnic at dinnertime, but I have the perfect alternative.

We order sandwiches to-go at the counter and then each pick out a side to go with it. Bex grabs a box of water crackers and an herb cheese spread while I go for a premade caprese salad. We’re about to checkout when I spot some chocolate covered strawberries and add them to our pile.

“I have a bottle of champagne and a sparkling grape juice in the car, but is there something else you’d like to drink?” I nod toward the drink fridge next to the cash register.

She shakes her head but asks again, “Where are we taking this?”

“If I told you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”

Her teeth sink into her plush lower lip, that line forming between her eyebrows. I’ve always ached to smooth it out, and now I can do just that. I lift my hand and rub my thumb over it before bending and kissing the same spot. “Don’t worry, just enjoy what I have planned for us, okay?”

Her lip pops out from her teeth and she sighs heavily. “Okay, but I need you to know that I must really like you because I do not like surprises. Last time someone said they had a surprise for me, it ended with Ben locking me in the basement while he threw a party upstairs because Mom and Dad were out of town.”

I let out a horrified laugh. “There are days I really wish I grew up with siblings and then I hear stories like that, and I’m glad no one was ever there to lock me in a basement.”

“Having three older brothers was like living in the middle of a professional wrestling ring. Someone always had a broken bone or a black eye, and Mom could barely keep enough food in the house. But they were also ridiculously sweet when they wanted to be. I can remember playing Barbies with Gabe and Ben… they had the best character voices. And Jules even learned how to braid so he could do my hair on the mornings when Mom worked.” She stares off as if stuck in those memories. “Saying it was chaotic would be putting it mildly, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Playing Barbies sounds like something Gabe would do,” I laugh. “He can be attentive when he wants to be.”

Her smile turns into a scowl. “That’s incredibly accurate. I am glad you guys found each other. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

I pay for our food, grabbing the bag and sliding my hand around Bex’s waist to pull her into me. “He’ll see sense when he’s ready to see sense. But tonight, I want to focus on us.”

We get back in the car and drive a few more minutes. I try to watch Bex’s face out of the corner of my eye as we pull up to—“Louie’s?!” she asks, incredulity lacing every syllable.

As if she realizes how indignant she sounds, she quickly backtracks. “I mean… you know I love Louie, but they have food here, and we also come here all the time. But I do love it here so it’s totally fine if this is what you have planned tonight, I can be a good spor—”

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