Page 16 of The Truth About Love

It’s ten minutes later before I finally see her.

She appears in the gentle glow of her porchlight wearing a thin cream jersey tucked into a black denim skirt, fresh-faced and hair pulled into a ponytail. I watch slack-jawed as she walks across her front yard towards my truck. She tugs at the sleeves of her top and keeps her eyes trained on the ground beneath her feet.

Her obvious nervousness makes me smile. Not in a sadistic way, but I find it kind of flattering that she drops the fuck-you mask around me that she wears for the rest of the world. Like she saves her truth just for me.

Maybe she’s not even aware of it, but I can read that girl’s emotions like an old beaten-up paperback.

When she’s a few steps away from the truck, I lean across the passenger seat and open the door for her, moving the flowers off the seat so she can sit down.

“Thanks.” She gives me a small smile, slipping into the seat and eyeing the flowers in my hand. I present them to her with a flourish.

Her eyes widen. “For me?”

“Well, they wouldn’t be for anyone else.” But she doesn’t reach to take them. “They’re for you, Summer-Raine. I got them for you. Picked them myself and everything.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” I nod enthusiastically. “Right from my neighbour’s garden.”

She laughs. It’s a beautiful, melodic sound that I want to hear over and over again.

Finally, she reaches out and takes the flowers. “Thank you. You didn’t need to do that.”

“I know.”

Her eyes meet mine and she searches them, looking for signs of bad intent. But she won’t find anything. There’s nothing behind my actions other than an inexplicable burning need to be near her and make her smile.

I want to see happiness on her face and know I was the one to put it there.

She clinks her heels together in those Doc Martins she wears to school every day. It must be unbearable wearing long-sleeve shirts and chunky boots in the heavy Floridian heat, but I don’t comment.

Instead, I tell her how beautiful she is and instantly turn the music on to stop her from trying to disagree. That earns me the side-eye. Girl knows my game but lets me get away with it.

It isn’t long before I’m parking the truck in the lot of the restaurant I’ve chosen for tonight. She was silent for the entire journey.

“Something’s up, Summer-Raine.” I say gently. “What is it?”

I’m expecting her to blow me off with a shrug or lie, but she surprises me with the truth. “I’ve never been on a date before. I don’t know what to do or how to act. Fuck, I even had to google what to wear tonight and I’m not even sure if I’ve got it right.”

I tuck a non-existent hair behind her ear, losing the fight with myself not to touch her, and stroke my thumb across her cheek. Her eyelids flutter shut.

“You don’t need to be nervous. Not with me, okay? Never with me.” I pull my hand back before I get carried away and start petting her like a cat. “Anyway, I thought you said this wasn’t a date.” I punctuate my sentence with a wink.

“Oh, shut up.” She swats at me, but finally smiles.

There she is.

“Come on.” I hop out the truck and dash to her side to grab the door, taking her hand as she climbs out. “You really do look beautiful. You could wear an orange jumpsuit and still be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“What a line.” She rolls her eyes, reminding me of our very first conversation on the beach a couple of weeks ago.

And because I’ve always been a fan of symmetry and it’s the goddamn truth, I reply with the same words I spoke to her then. “Not a line.”

Hand still holding her tiny one, I lead her into the restaurant and straight over to the table in the window I’ve had reserved for us since last weekend. Overlooking the dock where local fishermen moor their boats, this table is my favourite in the house. I pull out Summer-Raine’s chair, giving her the one with the better view and settle into my own.

“Wow, aren’t you quite the gentleman.” She rests her elbows on the table and smiles at me.

The gentle flickering of the candlelight from the single sconce in the centre of the table catches on her face and turns her skin to gold. I can’t take my eyes off her. Her radiance is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and the fact that she’s so completely unaware of it only makes it more profound.

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