Page 20 of Serendipity

“No one has ever told me I’m beautiful,” I whisper.

“What?” he whispers back.

I shrug, a little embarrassed. “Brett wasn’t big on compliments. The girls have told me, so have Corbin Rae and Naomi, but…”

As I am talking, Stone’s expression grows dark and stormy. It’s one I’ve never seen on him before and I don’t know what to make of it.

“I’m trying to remain a little calm here so forgive me if I fail at that but what the hell was wrong with that man?”

I laugh lightly even though there’s not really anything funny.

“I’m serious, Leah. You deserved…” He shakes his head and looks over my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter now. I’m not going to make up for his mistakes, but it’ll be my pleasure to help you see what I see every time I look at you. When you were hiding around the corner, listening to the boys and me chat, it took everything I had to not ignore them and walk over to you.”

Now it’s my turn to widen my eyes. How embarrassing. “You saw me?”

“No. I could feel you.”

I slip my arms around his waist, feeling a little more confident in the fact that I’m on a first date with Stone. “That’s a pretty good line, Mr. Montgomery.”

“It’s not a line, Leah. You’ll find, I don’t need to use lines with you because everything I feel, everything I say, is complete truth. And don’t take me knowing you were there as a reason why I spoke to the boys the way I did. That wasn’t me trying to impress you or them.”

He didn’t need to tell me that, but I appreciate his doing so anyway. “I know.”

“Good. Now, you ready for me to feed you?”

“Definitely.”

He leans down and kisses me lightly before helping me into his truck. The second we’re on the road, Stone grasps my hand, threading our fingers together. He lifts our joined hands and kisses the back of mine.

“I’m glad we’re doing this, Stone,” I tell him quietly.

“Music to my ears, sweetheart.”

ChapterFive

STON

Stone

“I hadno idea how sexy a man in the kitchen would be.” I look over my shoulder and wink at Leah from my place at the gas stove top. She smiles and takes a sip of wine. “Definitely sexy,” she mumbles.

“You’re trying to kill me or make me burn our dinner, aren’t you?”

Leah chuckles. “I’m distracting you?” she asks innocently.

“Always.”

I stir the garlic butter sauce for the shrimp and set it aside so it doesn’t burn then drain the angel hair pasta before mixing it with the sauce.

“It smells amazing in here.”

“Thank you.”

Leah’s been to my house many times so we didn’t need to do the whole tour thing when we got here, which meant we could get right to the date portion where I cook her a meal and we relax together. The first time she came over, she made the comment that my house was perfect for me. Since I picked it out and Malina helped me decorate, I agreed completely. My home isn’t huge, but it’s bigger than I need. My favorite part about it, though, is the lake it’s set on. I spent days on the landscaping and fixing the pool that had been long forgotten. A stone path leads to the lake where I keep my boat. Inside is filled with dark wood and rich brown tones with light tan walls. The wall of windows overlooking the lake let in enough sunlight that it doesn’t feel like a dungeon with all the dark colors. My kitchen cupboards are a deep walnut that remind me of Leah’s eyes.

I glance at her again, barely being able to keep my eyes off her tonight. She really is gorgeous. How I managed to convince her to go on a date with me is baffling. She’s so far out of my league.

“Are you sure I can’t help?” she asks as I’m cooking the shrimp.

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