Page 9 of Family: Posy 4

"Mason Andre Price! That's private talk for the bedroom!"

"Mmm.Aggressivelittle baby," he purred and stroked his index finger down my cheek. "Forget the flea market. Let's go back to the hotel and you can show me how aggressive bunnies can be—"

"No, Mason! We're shopping!" I stomped my foot with a frown.

"Okay, little flower," he laughed. "Let's shop."

In the end, I found a pretty blue wreath made of pine cones cut into flowers, a night light made with a preserved maple leaf, and two vanilla-scented candles in vintage glass jars. We'd just returned to the market after carrying a lovely rose area rug out to the truck when Mason finally caught on.

"And what are you going to do for campfire?" he asked with a little smile, looking proud of himself for figuring it out.

I wanted each of my mates to be represented in my special room, so I had been on the lookout for things that reminded me of their special mate scents. I almost gave up on maple syrup, then I saw the night light, and the fact that it was beautiful only convinced me to buy it.

"Well, I was thinking of those fake fire lights we saw at that one booth with all the Halloween decorations, but I don't want anything scary, even though you can beveryscary."

"Scary?Me?"

His face was blank and I couldn't see his stormy gray eyes behind his sunglasses, but I still knew he was amused.

"Yes, you. I may have to look somewhere else." My bottom lip pooched out. "Grr! I wanted to find them all here with you today."

"Hmm. I might have an idea."

He guided me to a booth with dozens and dozens of paper and silk balls hanging from strings and wires. I didn't know what they were, but they were really pretty. They ranged from deep jewel tones to light pastels and everything in between, some with patterns and others solid colors. There were several different shapes and sizes, too, and I studied them with curiosity.

"They're called lanterns. The smaller ones fit over bulbs on a strand of lights," Mason said. "You could get a string with flicker flame bulbs and pick out lanterns to go over them. Then it would look like the lanterns have a lit candle inside."

"Oh, that's perfect!" I clapped my hands and smiled brightly. "I can hang them up over the balcony doors!"

I looked around for several minutes, but my eyes kept coming back to the same paper lanterns. Round and about the size of baseballs, they had beautiful pink blossoms on pale blue and light green backgrounds.

"Okay, we're getting those." Mason kissed the top of my head. "You've come back to them five times now."

After I agreed, he haggled with the vendor for twenty of the lanterns and two strands of flicker flame lights to go with them. I tugged the hem of his shirt and told him ten would do, but he insisted I needed twenty. Since he was paying, I shrugged and accepted his generosity with a quiet thank-you.

"No need to thank me," he said as he packed everything in our shopping bag. "It's my pleasure to set your world on fire."

"How long have you been waiting to use that line?" I quirked up an eyebrow and held back a grin.

"Since you told me what I smelled like to you." His fingers linked with mine and he reeled me in for a kiss on the lips. "And now, my little flower, let's go. We have just about an hour for lunch, then I need to hand you off to your next date."

"Oh! Who is it? Tell me! Please, Mason?"

"No."

"Can I try to guess?" I asked.

"Sure, but I'm not going to tell you if you're right."

"But Mason!" I pouted.

"All right, I'll give you a clue. Leave those bunny ears on and he'll have you pinned up against the wall in the restaurant's bathroom before you finish saying hello—"

"Wyatt!" I screeched, making several people look at me, but I ignored them as I hopped up and down.

"Aw!" Mason rolled his eyes. "I gave you too big of a clue!"

Mason’s Letter:

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