Page 88 of The Ghost of You

I look into his eyes, smiling at his new nickname for me. “I can’t help that I like what I see.”

He growls as he pins me down with his body letting me show him just how much I like what I see.

* * *

Noah is proppedup on one arm, staring down at me, drawing tiny circles around the tattoos on my rib cage.

“Daisies. You have flowers everywhere.”

I brush my fingers through his light brown hair, before tracing them across his lips.

“Flowers to me are magical. There are so many different species all with their own unique colors and scents. I’ve been fascinated with them my whole life.”

“Ever since gardening with your mom?”

I nod.

His fingers trace the daisy under my breast, sending a chill through my body. “This one looks newer.” His fingers move back to my ribs. “Some are faded.”

I bite back the emotion building in me as his fingers touch what feels like my soul. My fingers reach for the necklace I always wear but come back empty. I took it off before I came over. Wearing my wedding rings felt wrong while on a date with Noah.

Noah’s fingers land on my empty ones. “You always grab the necklace you wear when you are nervous. Or talking about your past.” His fingers move, taking mine with, back to my daisy tattoo. “Are these for your fiancé?”

I close my eyes, overwhelmed with emotion. Noah doesn’t know the full story, doesn’t know what Kyle did to me, but he can read me better than Kyle was ever able to. “He used to bring me flowers when we first started dating. He picked them from my mom’s garden. She hated it. But he always said a pretty girl deserves pretty flowers.” I snort.

“What’s so wrong about that?”

I look up at Noah, not sure if I want to let him know all of my insecurities but I feel comfortable with him, more comfortable than I felt with anyone. “Honestly, when Kyle first started to say that I thought he was joking. I mean, why would he be interested in me? I wasn’t the pretty one. Becca was.”

Noah scrunches his brow at me. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re gorgeous.”

I smile and look away as he says it. “I wasn’t always. Or at least didn’t think I was. I was fat. Trust me, Noah, if you saw me ten years ago, you would be looking the other way.”

His hand moves up to my face. “I doubt that.”

I shake my head at him. “I was fifty pounds heavier than I am now. I was made fun of in high school. I never saw myself as pretty but Kyle did.”

“He understood what I see.”

No, he didn’t.I want to tell Noah the whole truth but I don’t want to ruin the moment. I go back to the original subject. “Anyway, when Kyle and I were in college, he took me to a daisy field one day. And it became our place. From that time on he brought me daises on every date.”

Noah’s hand moves back to my ribs, tracing over the daisies. “Six daisies.”

“One for every year that’s passed.”

I nod.

“What about the rings you always wear?”

I sigh. I don’t want to talk about this right now, maybe never. I don’t want Noah to feel like he needs to know everything about my past. Because the more I talk about it, the more memories it brings back.

I roll over to get out of bed but he pulls me back into him, his lips at my ear. “I’m sorry, Anna. I shouldn’t have pried.”

I turn so I am facing him, ready to tell him off, but the look in his eyes gives me pause. I don’t know what to say to him but I know I can’t be mad, not when the sadness in his eyes looks like what I have seen in mine so many times. Instead I press my lips to his with a soft kiss.

He’s hesitant in his return. Probably worried I am using sex to shut the conversation down. I pull away and he smiles at me. “How about dinner?”

“Is it not burned?” I ask.

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